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High Five in association withThe Immortal Awards
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High Five: Captivating Travel Campaigns to Get Up and Go

08/06/2022
Advertising Agency
New York, USA
459
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Stevie Archer, executive creative director at SS+K shares some of the campaigns that bit her travel bug

I’m Stevie Archer, ECD at SS+K and I have led creative development for Visit Iceland since May of 2020. I have also created campaigns for a variety of travel and tourism accounts including KLM Royal Air France, Norwegian Air and Travelocity (I once hauled an inanimate garden ornament to six continents in 28 days. I didn’t lose my luggage once, and it was all totally worth it.) 

At the current moment, travel and tourism is hyper-competitive. Every destination and travel brand in the world is clamouring to capture post-covid dollars and make up for two years of lost time. The five campaigns I’ve selected cut through the noise by having a razor-sharp insight that generates conversation, they use non-traditional media or executions, and they often are humorous. They are a literal vacation away from the ordinary travel advertising that relies solely on visual eye-candy and shies away from provocative humour because it might not translate. These campaigns really go for it. And that’s what will make travellers want to get up and go, too. 


Away Luggage, 'Get Out of America'

Agency: In-house 


Away wants Americans to leave the country

A luggage ad without a single eye-popping destination image or even a picture of the luggage. Just a provocative bit of copy that flips the idea of American patriotism on its head on the most patriotic day of the year. In a cultural climate where our worldviews seem to be worlds apart, maybe viewing a bit more of the world could bring us closer. A perfectly timed statement to make a brand that essentially sells boxes on wheels so much more meaningful than that.


Vienna Tourist Board, 'Vienna Strips on OnlyFans'

Agency: Jung von Matt DONAU

Photographer of outdoor statues: David Payr

Vienna Strips on Only Fans

OnlyFans account

I don’t think Vienna was top of the consideration set for most-travellers post-covid. So taking over OnlyFans was a provocative way to show off the city’s best assets—literally. I also love that it’s a commentary on what can be considered art and what forms of visual expression should be acceptable. A really smart way to make sure everyone knows Vienna has awesome art, with a fraction of the marketing budget of Rome or Paris. 


United Airlines, 'Good Leads The Way'

Agency: 72andSunny

I think it’s an incredibly challenging undertaking to rebrand a legacy airline. And usually these types of campaigns end up being very lofty…no pun intended. But this campaign stands out to me for its charm and humanity. The conversational voiceover doesn’t feel like a traditional campaign for a big behemoth airline, even though it is very much a traditional campaign for a big behemoth airline. And its episodic storytelling approach brings 30,000-foot topics like sustainability back down to earth where humans like us can care about them. 


Discover Sweden, 'Discover the Originals'

Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors, Gothenburg, Sweden

Go to Sweden to see the real places all your favourite Ikea products were named after. This is what I call a stupid smart idea. It makes total sense to build familiarity by connecting to the image of your nation most people are familiar with. Speaking as an American, it’s often hard for countries to be honest with themselves about how they show up to the rest of the world. So this effort stands out for its self-awareness and sense of humour. 


Visit Iceland, 'Outhorse Your Email'

Agency: SS+K (creative agency), Peel Iceland (Icelandic Agency), M&C Saatchi Talk (Global PR)

Production company: Republik

Music company: Veigar Margeirsson / Pitch Hammer Music

Website

This campaign is the fifth effort we have created in two years for Visit Iceland. All of our work is united by a clear strategy. Iceland is the antidote to whatever the rest of the world throws our way.  And our new remote-working reality means we all desperately need to escape the constant barrage of emails that follow us wherever we go. So we enlisted Iceland’s very special horses to type your out-of-office replies so you could actually enjoy a break. And yes, the keyboard really works, and the horses really type, so you can really, really, enjoy Iceland. (Seriously, skip Sweden. I don’t care how good their ad campaign is.)


And if you’re travelling soon to Cannes I’ll be joining Visit Iceland, Peel and M&C Saatchi Talk to share more insights behind the Iceland creative work and thoughts on the state of travel post-COVID. If you want to connect, hit me up at cannes@ssk.com. 

Credits
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