LOCAL NEWS

880-Year-Old Oxfordshire B&B Goes Viral for Using Gen Z Marketing

Fyfield Manor, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, has recently gone viral for it’s TikTok marketing it’s historic B&B using Gen Z slang such as “No cap”, “slay” and “very demure”. The video has over 10 million views and more than 2 million likes (as of 5 September). We spoke with the mother and daughter team about how life has changed after the video and why more historic properties should try harder to market to a younger audience.

BY ARCHIE CAWTHRA

5 September 2024

Fyfield Manor, Oxfordshire

How has life been since your video went viral?

“It’s been a very hectic week with masses of interviews and messages.  The bookings and enquiries for rooms have also been coming in which is great to see. On top of that we have been receiving lovely emails from people abroad who are planning to come to UK just to stay here. It’s been pretty exhausting but it’s such a rare experience so we are trying to enjoy it while it lasts.”

Did you expect the TikTok to be as popular as it was?

“Definitely not. We expected a similar response that we had had on our other tiktoks where some of our highest view hit just over half a million but nothing like this.”

You market your B&B in a very unique way for an 880 year old country manor, what made you choose this form of advertising?

“We decided to join TikTok earlier this year with the hope of finding a younger audience of people who might want to come and stay somewhere bit different. Frannie (our one-woman social media team) decided the best way to enter the TikTok world was to fully embrace the trends and feel of the platform rather than keep anything too serious.”

How has this viral video changed life running a B&B?

“We are still in the early days yet but we can already see the calendar getting more full which is great! We feel little bit of pressure following such amazing success but always aim to provide the best possible experience for our guests.”

Do you think more historic properties should try harder to market to a younger audience?

“I think that all venues should market to all ages especially those such as historic house which might not automatically appeal to the younger generation. We have found that often when our younger guests start asking and learning a bit about the history we have here they are often very interested. With the right introduction and a bit of meeting of minds between the generations I think younger people would find a lot of historic properties really fun.”

Would you now consider yourself “influencers”?

“I don’t think the Kardashians should be getting too concerned just yet but having the influencer experience this week has been great fun!”

To watch the full, hilarious video, click here.