The Holiday Inn Express partnered with Comedian Jason Jones for the launch of its Smart Thinking platform

ATLANTA, 2013-06-26 — /travelprnews.com/ — IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)], one of the world’s leading global hotel companies, today announced the launch of the Holiday Inn Express® brand’s new Smart Thinking platform which revolves around StaySmart.com, an online hub where consumers are invited to engage with the brand by showcasing their smarts in a light-hearted and amusing way through videos, images and tweets. Leading the charge is The Daily Show’s go-to correspondent and comedian Jason Jones, who has partnered with the brand to lend his Smart Thinking and sharp wit.

“The Stay Smart^® campaign is a fun and humorous exaggeration of how smart it feels to stay in a Holiday Inn Express hotel, and Jason Jones embodies the humorous ingenuity that perfectly aligns with the brand’s personality, making him the ideal brand spokesperson,” said Heather Balsley, senior vice president, Americas Holiday Inn^® Brand Family. “The Smart Thinking platform serves as an extension of the the brand’s incredibly successful and beloved Stay Smart advertising campaign, and gives us an opportunity to invite guests to be part of the Stay Smart story, all while showcasing the Holiday Inn Express brand in an entirely new way.”

The Holiday Inn Express brand understands that when you stay smart, you knowstuff, and so the brand wants to give consumers the chance to share their smarts with others through popular social media outlets. Consumers can submit theirSmart Thinking content in just two easy steps: (1) Create and post a Smart Thinking Vine video, 15-seconds or less YouTube video, Instagram photo or Tweet. (2) Tag content with #staysmart, so the content can be featured on StaySmart.com. Jason Jones will share his own smart and funny advice in the form of short videos and photos, as well as a call to action for consumers to share their Smart Thinking in return. While on the site, visitors will also be prompted by weekly Smart Thinkingquestions such as “What’s the best advice your dad gave you 100 times?” or “What’s the smartest way to wrap a present?” to encourage participants to help make the world a little wiser, and grab a few handfuls of inspiration at the same time.

“The Holiday Inn Express brand is known for great service, comfortable beds, all you can eat ice from machines at EVERY hotel, so I was pretty excited when they asked me to be a part of their Smart Thinking Platform,” said Jason Jones. “But honestly, the real reason I decided to partner with them was for the unlimited access to cinnamon rolls from the Express Start^® breakfast bar. Those things are addictive.”

The Holiday Inn Express brand is also collaborating with other humorous powerhouses, including creating highly shareable and engaging Smart Thinkingposts with BuzzFeed, a series of CollegeHumor original Smart Thinking videos, and several comical Vine videos with improv comedians from Second City Communications, with content for all partnerships scheduled to launch later this summer. For more information, or to submit your own #staysmart content, please visit www.StaySmart.com

About The Holiday Inn Express^® Brand
Holiday Inn Express^® hotels are modern hotels for value-oriented travelers.  Fresh, clean and uncomplicated, Holiday Inn Express hotels offer competitive rates for both business and leisure travelers.  Guests at Holiday Inn Express hotels enjoy a free hot Express Start^® Breakfast Bar, free high-speed Internet access and free local phone calls (U.S. and Canada only).  There are currently more than 2,200 Holiday Inn Express hotel locations around the globe.  For more information about Holiday Inn Express hotels or to book reservations, call 1-800-HOLIDAY or visit http://www.holidayinnexpress.com. For our latest news visit, www.facebook.com/HolidayInnExpress and www.twitter.com/HolidayInnExpress.

Media Contacts:
Sarah-Ann Soffer, Holiday Inn® Brand Family,  sarahann.soffer@ihg.com, +1(770) 604-2707
Courtney Quattrini, Hill+Knowlton Strategies,  courtney.quattrini@hkstrategies.com, +1(415) 281-7187

Notes to Editors:

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organization with nine hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE™ Hotels & Resorts. IHG also manages Priority Club® Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty program with over 73 million members worldwide. The program will be renamed and relaunched as IHG Rewards Club in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns over 4,600 hotels and more than 674,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories. With more than 1,000 hotels in its development pipeline, IHG expects to recruit around 90,000 people into additional roles across its estate over the next few years.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.priorityclub.com for more on Priority Club Rewards. For our latest news, visit www.ihg.com/media,www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

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