Translating New Year resolutions for Booking.com
Booking.com recently revealed the “Best 2016 Ever” campaign from Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, which encourages people to turn their (most likely) doomed New Year’s resolutions into awesome holiday reservations. At the heart of the brand’s new campaign is a tool that does just this; the Resolution Translator is a mobile-first interactive service that translates tedious resolutions into affirming travel based goals. Because why would you want to just lose weight, when you can loose weight and then commit to show off your hot new bod in Costa Rica? The campaign also includes a 30-second movie-style trailer that depicts the epic travel possibilities 2016 holds, along with online and social executions. All of which aims to drive traffic to the bespoke Best 2016 Ever website, and encourage people to take action with the Resolution Translator.
The “Best 2016 Ever” campaign encourages people to turn their (most likely) doomed New Year’s resolutions into awesome holiday reservations
Visitors to the Resolution Translator, which was created in partnership with StinkDigital, are first prompted to enter their resolution; the tool then immediately serves up a unique translated resolution that combines bettering ones self with travel. The personalised result is then sharable across the users’ social channels and a destination relevant to the revamped resolution is also instantly accessible to inspire the user to commit to their resolution and unlock their 2016 travel greatness. The Best 2016 Ever campaign launches this week across the US and the UK.
The Resolution Translator is a mobile-first interactive service that translates tedious resolutions into affirming travel based goals
Pepijn Rijvers, Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com, said: “Knowing that the New Year is always a time where people set resolutions of all types (with many inherently linked to travel) we wanted to create something to help people uncover the coolest places to visit and help them make their resolutions a success. At Booking.com, we want to go beyond the ordinary and our Resolution Translator is just one way in which we are leveraging the power of technology to help people experience the world.” Genevieve Hoey, W+K Amsterdam Creative Director, added: “Resolutions are okay. Reservations are fantastic. The Resolution Translator takes the magic of the former and adds it to the latter. It makes bettering yourself better by combining it with travel.”
Provoking us into gym commitment for the New Year
Equinox gyms have given us renewed inspiration for the new year. Along with Wieden & Kennedy New York, the fitness company has introduced “Commit to Something,” a campaign that depicts incredibly attractive and heavily muscled gym bunnies showing unwavering dedication to unlikely passions. A series of scenes shot by famed fashion photographer Steven Klein depict unusual “Stories,” whether it's about a cat lady who looks anything but, a male cheerleader or a mom who breastfeeds her twins in the most unlikely of places.
“Commit to Something” is a campaign that depicts incredibly attractive and heavily muscled gym bunnies showing unwavering dedication to unlikely passions
The 2016 effort is an evolution of the company's previous campaigns, which also featured seductive, provocative images shot by high-end photographers. In 2014, the brand and W&K New York introduced “Equinox Made Me Do It,” with images by Robert Wyatt that caught beautiful people in risqué scenarios. Last year, it followed with cryptic portraits shot by Rankin that captured individuals who appear to have made some daring decisions with their lives, presumably, because they're so proud of what they've achieved with their own bodies. According to Chief Marketing Officer Carlos Becil, #EquinoxMadeMeDoIt was the brand's most successful hashtag ever, with videos earning 3 million-plus views. But for 2016, which marks Equinox's 25th anniversary, he said they really wanted to change the conversation and storyline a bit. He said: “This is really a call for action, asking people to make a commitment. We don't care what the commitment is, but we're asking people to step up.”
The images of the new campaign suggest timely topics likely to stimulate cultural conversation. For example, one picture features Bianca Van Damme (daughter of action star Jean-Claude) as a protestor standing up for her cause, and another depicts a woman (Lydia Hearst) breastfeeding her twins in a high-end restaurant. According to Equinox Executive Creative Director Elizabeth Nolan though, the company are not purposely putting out agenda-driven advertising. It's more about people seeing the imagery and discovering exactly what it means to them individually. Wieden & Kennedy New York Creative Director John Parker, said: “With millennials, there are things like Tinder, Grinder and even (the gym studio startup) Class Pass showing people that commitment isn't necessary. But a sense of commitment is crucial when you're asking customers to sign one-year contracts.”
The campaign will also continue in a series of animated manifestos telling quirky stories of commitment rolling out online and on social channels
Along with the out-of-home ads, which launched at the crack of dawn on January 1, W&K New York staked out the Equinox club in New York's Flatiron district to capture the first member to come into the gym. The idea took some commitment on the agency's part as well of course, as it meant they had to work at the crack of dawn on New Year's Day! The campaign will also continue in a series of animated manifestos telling quirky stories of commitment rolling out online and on social channels over the next couple months.
Proving you don't need to be a genius to do your taxes
TurboTax last week announced the launch of seven new 30-second television spots and its return to America’s biggest football game, the Super Bowl! At the heart of this year’s campaign is a TurboTax experience that is so smart, relevant and highly personalised that taxpayers who choose to do their own taxes can do so with confidence. The campaign from Wieden+Kennedy Portland is titled “It doesn’t take a genius to do your taxes,” and began on New Year’s eve with a series of broadcast spots directed by Randy Krallman. The ads feature some of the world’s greatest minds who are brought in to show that TurboTax is so simple and intuitive that even real-life geniuses can’t make it any easier to use or understand. The resulting moments are amusingly awkward as the real geniuses (a theoretical physicist, mathematician and computer scientist) discover that they’re entirely redundant when it comes to helping people file their taxes with TurboTax.
TurboTax last week announced the launch of seven new 30-second television spots and its return to America’s biggest football game, the Super Bowl!
A national media strategy for the campaign integrates high-impact sports, entertainment and cultural moments throughout tax season, including a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl on Sunday February 7, marking the brand’s third consecutive appearance in America’s biggest football game. The 2016 campaign is supported by radio, digital and social, and was created in partnership with multicultural agency Grupo Gallegos.
A national media strategy for the campaign integrates high-impact sports, entertainment and cultural moments throughout tax season
Greg Johnson, senior vice president of marketing for Intuit’s Consumer Tax Group, said: “This year’s campaign is the next step in our multi-year journey to reposition the TurboTax brand and to build meaningful, emotional connections with consumers. For the first time, we’re addressing the uncertainty and self-doubt many people have about doing their own taxes by showing how TurboTax delivers an effortless, highly personalised and playful experience so they can be confident their taxes are done right. The ads bring new innovations to life, demonstrating how TurboTax addresses consumers’ doubts and empowers them to get every dollar they deserve. We’re excited to bring TurboTax back to the Big Game, reaching millions of consumers at a time when their taxes and their tax refund are top of mind.”
Losing a legend in India
Because we like to report the downs as well as the ups here at Creativepool, we were saddened this week to hear that Sunil V, the creator of the Make in India and IndiGo airline ad campaigns, has left Wieden+Kennedy Delhi, where he was executive creative director, to launch his own venture outside advertising and marketing. Mohit Jayal, director at Wieden+Kennedy Delhi, has also quit the agency to join Sunil as his partner in the new venture. To fill the newly vacated spots, Patrick Cahill has relocated from W+K New York as managing director of India operations.
Sunil V, the creator of the Make in India and IndiGo airline ad campaigns, has left Wieden+Kennedy Delhi
Sunil, who has spent more than 25 years in the industry, said: “My idea about advertising is not about the song and dance and I believe it is an industry for young people. I think we have done what we could in advertising and now I have lost interest.” Discussing Cahill's appointment, he added: “We interviewed several people but none of them worked out as we needed certain kind of people with certain kind of sensibilities to work with W+K. And so finally we had to bring somebody from abroad as this recruitment and replacement process was stalling my future plans.”
“My idea about advertising is not about the song and dance and I believe it is an industry for young people” Sunil V
Sunil launched his own agency A in 2004, after working with Ogilvy & Mather and McCann Erickson, and merged it with Wieden+Kennedy in 2007 when he brought the international agency to India. He had a profit-sharing arrangement with W+K. But he will continue to work with the government's Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) as a consultant to handle the Make in India campaign. On the other hand, W+K has been struggling to find Sunil's replacement and has now stationed Cahill in India. He has worked with international agencies like BMF, Arnold Worldwide and Holden Special Vehicles, and has nearly 15 years of experience in advertising and marketing.
