ATLANTA—IHG has hired actor/comedian Rob Riggle as the Holiday Inn Express brand’s first creative director and breakfast excellence honcho. In this newly created role, Riggle will be responsible for delivering comedic genius and driving Express Start breakfast enthusiasm for the brand through a variety of programs and content rolling out over the summer and fall of 2015.
“Guests have told us that breakfast is one of the most influential factors when choosing where they stay, so the creation of this new position was a no brainer,” said Jennifer Gribble, vice president of the Holiday Inn Express brand in the Americas at IHG. “In this role, Rob’s sole focus is to tell the world about our Express Start breakfast bar experience in the humorous and engaging way guests have come to expect from the Holiday Inn Express brand. His creativity, wit, and colossal appetite for pancakes make him the perfect addition to the Holiday Inn Express team.”
The Holiday Inn Express brand will feature Riggle in its latest Stay Smart campaign spots. As his first order of breakfast business, Riggle is crowdsourcing a name for the brand’s one-touch pancake machine—the first of several contributions to follow. Throughout the month of July, Riggle is challenging pancake lovers and breakfast aficionados to submit their best ideas for a chance to win a trip to Montreal or Vermont, or as Riggle calls them, “maple syrup Valhalla.” Entries will be judged based on their creativity, humor, and breakfast-relevancy.
“I’ve eaten breakfast my entire life, so I feel like I’ve been training for this job for quite some time, and it’s that commitment to the morning meal that has prepared me for brilliance in this role,”
Riggle said. “I’m excited to use the skills I’ve been honing for years to bring breakfast at Holiday Inn Express hotels to the next level, starting with their freaking awesome one-touch pancake machine.”
Riggle is collaborating with the brand to contribute big ideas around when, where, and how travelers experience the Holiday Inn Express brand’s breakfast, which will be introduced in the coming months. Over the summer and fall, Riggle’s breakfast innovations will be featured on staysmart.com as well as the Holiday Inn Express brand’s YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
