a&o Hostels
TikTok Ad Awards Winner 2025: Greatest Performance
Through TikTok first creativity, creator-led storytelling, and strategic paid amplification, a&o Hostels successfully turned cultural relevance into bookings and revenue.
Culture to Bookings
a&o Hostels turned a TikTok-first creator campaign around its “Where to Go” song into measurable business results: 30M+ impressions, 830 bookings, €190,351 in revenue, and 5.44 return on ad spend.
- The approach combined creator content from TikTok Creative Exchange and TikTok One with paid promotion through Spark Ads.
- Brand Lift Study results showed an 8.2% lift in ad recall for one Smart+ campaign, alongside a 10.31% rise in direct website traffic.
Objectives
Driving bookings through culture-led performance
As one of Europe's largest hostel and budget accommodation brands, a&o Hostels set out to embed its brand within Gen Z culture while driving measurable lower-funnel performance on TikTok.
The goal was to launch their proprietary a&o song "Where to Go" as a native TikTok cultural asset, drive high-intent traffic to the brand's website, and validate the potential for TikTok content to translate into measurable performance outcomes.
At the same time, the campaign was expected to deliver clear business results, including a significant increase in bookings.
Solutions
A scalable TikTok-first strategy built around creators
The campaign followed a clear TikTok-first approach from concept to execution. The "Where to Go" song was created specifically for TikTok, which was designed to be short, catchy, and easily adopted by creators as a native sound rather than as a traditional soundtrack.
In collaboration with their creative partner, DEPARTD, the brand activated creators through TikTok Creative Exchange to produce the first wave of native videos using the song. Based on early results, additional creators were onboarded via TikTok One to further embed the song into platform culture.
Paid media was then used to amplify creator-generated content that was already performing. Content that demonstrated strong engagement was systematically scaled using Spark Ads, ensuring that reach, interaction, and conversion all stemmed from TikTok's native content mechanics rather than adapted advertising formats.
Results
Exceptional performance with efficient spend
With a modest media budget, the campaign generated more than 30 million impressions on TikTok, outperforming an alternative platform, where a significantly higher budget delivered fewer impressions. Direct traffic to the a&o Hostels website, meanwhile, increased by 10.31%, adjusted for seasonal effects and new locations.
Performance outcomes exceeded expectations with the campaign driving 830 bookings, generating revenue of €190,351. This resulted in ROAS of 5.44, well above the original target of 3.0. In addition, nearly 1.6 million new users were introduced to the brand, creating impact beyond the campaign window.
Brand impact was confirmed by a Brand Lift Study, with one Smart+ campaign delivering a lift in ad recall of 8.2%, double the overall campaign average, highlighting the sustained effectiveness of creator-led assets.
Together, these results show that a TikTok-first creative approach can drive cultural relevance, strong performance, and scalable business growth at the same time.
I can't get the 'Where to Go' song out of my head – I've heard it so many times on TikTok now.
Your questions, answered
Business Help CenterHow did a&o Hostels build the campaign?
The campaign started with the proprietary song “Where to Go,” created specifically for TikTok as a short, catchy sound. Creators produced the first wave of videos through TikTok Creative Exchange, more creators joined through TikTok One, and paid media scaled creator content with Spark Ads.
What business results were reported?
The campaign generated more than 30 million impressions, increased direct website traffic by 10.31% after seasonal and location adjustments, drove 830 bookings, and produced €190,351 in revenue. Return on ad spend reached 5.44 against a target of 3.0.
Why did creator-led content matter here?
Creator-led videos helped turn the song into a TikTok cultural asset, then paid support focused on content that was already resonating. A Brand Lift Study also showed one Smart+ campaign delivered an 8.2% lift in ad recall, double the overall campaign average.