A Luxury Travel Campaign Without the Luxury of Travel
“We open on a beach.”
The one sentence every ad creative dreams of getting signed off by a client.
So when I was briefed on luxury travel brand Kuoni, I felt sure this was my chance. White sand. Turquoise sea. Someone gazing meaningfully into the middle distance.
Sadly, no.
With just eight weeks until the campaign had to run, and a budget that did not extend to Milton Keynes, let alone the Maldives, there would be no exotic shoot. In fact, there would be no shoot at all.
So I begrudgingly unpacked my bags, dusted off my Getty Images account, and got to work.
The perfect holiday isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. Why you travel matters just as much as where you go. And no two reasons are ever quite the same.
A holiday might be a reward. A reset. A relationship resuscitation. Or a desperate attempt to convince your children that you’re “still fun”.
Which is why planning a holiday is about way more than finding cheap flights and somewhere nice to sleep. Our reasons for getting away are too varied, too specific and too ridiculously human to be found on a price-comparison website.
Kuoni understands that. That’s why every holiday is planned from scratch. Around you and whatever made you want to go in the first place.
Our campaign brought the idea to life by pairing beautiful travel imagery with oddly specific personal backstories, each rooted in just enough truth to feel relatable.
In print and radio, we celebrated even more reasons for getting away. From petty Instagram jealousy to fear of your child’s impending teenage years.
The campaign helped reverse a five-year decline in January sales, with holiday bookings up 12% year on year.
All without leaving the dreary confines of a London winter.
