EOB #16: The Four Seasons Orlando Baby

In case you haven’t heard, The Four Seasons Orlando is having their Stanley cup moment. (The good kind. Not the “tainted with lead” kind.)

On May 16th, Stefanie O’Brien posted a TikTok of her niece, Kate, enthusiastically endorsing a plan to vacation at The Four Seasons Orlando. For whatever reason¹ , the algorithm latched on to the video and little Kate went viral.

@sobrizzle

If the @Four Seasons Hotels is looking for a baby ambassador my niece got you 😂🤣😂🤣😂

The back story is that Stefanie’s sister (baby Kate’s mom) had booked a room at the hotel for Memorial Day Weekend and was trying to convince her parents and Stefanie to join by sending a cute video. Stefanie posted the video to her TikTok, where it absolutely blew up.

After seeing the internet’s reaction, the hotel chain went all-in. Their social strategy kicked off before the family even arrived, with the staff using Kate’s catchphrase as a TikTok sound in a little hype video.

@fourseasons

#Stitch with @Stefanie O’Brien Let the adventure begin @Stefanie O’Brien fam 🏰✨@FourSeasonsOrlando #LuxuryTravel #FamilyTravel #LoveFourSeasons

They upgraded the family to a suite and curated a vacation experience most toddlers could only dream of, embracing their luxury hotelier status with a juvenile twist.

Upon arrival, the staff greeted Kate, presenting her with her own key to the suite alongside a golden pacifier. While the adults received chilled champagne, Kate was served a frosty bottle of milk on a silver platter. They filled the closet with a Cinderella-inspired wardrobe (when in Orlando!), brought Kate a heaping bowl of truffle pasta, arranged a spa day for her and her sister, and more.

The room was even decked out in balloons, including an inflated version of her signature catchphrase: MEEE!

@fourseasons

Fully conscious and utterly fabulous at Four Seasons Orlando. 👑 #LoveFourSeasons #LuxuryTravel #FamilyTravel #FourSeasonsOrlando #FullyConsciousBaby

I’ve talked about this before, but these sorts of wildly popular, organic UGC moments are rare. The Four Seasons has been targeting families for the past few years, so a video like this is internet gold for them. And they knocked this opportunity out of the (cartoon-character-themed) park.

Let’s look at how they nailed the execution…

1. They moved fast. The original TikTok dropped on May 16th, and within 4 days the hotel had reached out to the family to collab on this viral opportunity. Any Marketer who has had to get Legal and Finance to approve a campaign can tell you how incredible that is.

2. They lived their values. The Four Seasons believes in “true luxury,” defined as a meaningful sense of belonging, a dedicated focus on how people want to be treated, and genuine care. This entire experience focused on celebrating Kate and her family, not simply promoting the TFS brand.

3. They got in on the joke. Luxury brands can be stuffy as hell.² TFS really leaned into the absurdity of a baby wanting a vacation at a hotel where the cheapest rooms start at $1k+ a night. They even put a collection of shirts together for Kate’s dad, who had gotten ribbed for being semi-undressed in the original video.

4. They made a fair trade. Let’s be real: if this opportunity had landed in pretty much any other hotel’s lap, they would’ve comped the family’s pre-booked room and called it a day. But, much like the RTIC/Stanley situation, The Four Seasons got millions of dollars of free publicity and a huge bump in name recognition from the original video; they could afford to splurge a little in exchange. Not only did the cost of the upgraded suite and special touches cost a fraction of what the paid equivalent of the TikTok exposure would have cost, it also fed the viral engine. The follow-up content basically created itself, and the family’s excitement in sharing it felt genuine.

So, how much juice did The Four Seasons squeeze out of this opportunity? Let’s add it up.

First, here’s roughly what they spent, calculated in their retail prices.

• Lake View Suite at The Four Seasons Orlando, Friday to Monday: $15,721.89

• Celebration balloon bouquet (for normal guests, this is 12 mylar balloons so I 3x’ed it): $300 

• Truffle pasta³ : $30

• Gold pacifier: $?? let’s say $20 on Amazon

• Shirts for dad (I’m estimating 4, one for each day of vacay): $600

• Customized beach towels: $200

• Disney Princess “Royal Treatment” x 2: $630

Total: roughly $17,500

Now, here’s what they got in exchange for that spend:

As of today, the original video and the subsequent content have generated approximately 137 million views. TikTok’s CPM starts at $.50 and averages around $9(!!). If we split the difference and assume a CPM of $4.75, The Four Seasons got over $650k in value from the TikTok views alone— not factoring in the dozens of earned media mentions and huge boost in brand awareness.

I’d take that deal all day long.

Enjoy your weekend, EOB gang. May your bevvies be ice-cold and your pasta full of truffles, baby.

1  The main reason seems to be that people think because this infant toddler is in a diaper, she is actually a very little baby who should not know how to talk or respond with enthusiasm to questions. The running joke is that she is “fully conscious” but, like, yea… she literally is?

2  Cue the Pretty Woman “BIG mistake!” scene.

3  Shockingly, the truffle pasta is the most reasonably-priced item on this whole list.