Campbell Ewald launched its first campaign for Travelocity, after winning the account last September following a review launched in July.
“Do not mistake this for a vacation,” begins the familiar voice of the Travelocity gnome, at the opening of the 60-second “Seek Wisdom,” over footage of a surfer walking down a winding boardwalk to the beach below. “This is a journey—a journey where maps give way to meandering,” continues the gnome as a couple carrying backpacks walks along a wide-open valley. The spot continues the theme of travel as exploration throughout, obviously targeting a millenial audience which values such experiences. That’s not exactly a surprise, especially given that, as Adweek points out, Travelocity recently hired a new media agency in an attempt to reach a younger audience.
“Wander. You won’t get lost. You might even find yourself,” the gnome concludes as the camera pans out to reveal the character as narrator, “Or at least, someone who looks really, really familiar, but tells much more interesting stories.”
As a whole, the approach doesn’t wander too far from what the brand’s former agency, McKinney, may have come up with, more a tweak in direction than complete reinvention. The new tagline, “Wander Wisely” fits the re-tooled approach well and we expect to see it (along with the familiar gnome) plenty in the near future. Following the loss of USAA in the wake of the “Ghetto Day” email scandal, the client is presumably more of a focus for the agency than ever.
Credits:
Client: Travelocity
Agency: Campbell Ewald
President: Kevin Wertz
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Simon
Executive Creative Director: Jo Shoesmith
Director of Production: John Haggerty
Art Director: Kelly Warkentien
Copywriter(s): Mike Rushing, Joe Godard, Kelsey Webster
Account Director: Brian Phelps
Account Executive(s): Brianna Loveland and Kelly Maise
Planning Director: Kari Shimmel
Strategic Planner(s): Chris Marchegiani and Ken Walker
Production Company: Aero Film
Lance O’Connor – Executive Producer
Skip Short – Executive Producer
Klaus Obermeyer – Director
Johan Palm – Director of Photography
Anton Maillie – Line Producer
Cori Cooperider – Executive Producer
Marla Whittaker – Head of Production
Patrick Knight – Post Producer
Post-Production: Parachute
Sara Eolin – Parachute Executive Producer
Sam O’Hare – VFX Lead
Nicole Melius – VFX Producer
Andy Gilbert – 3D Lead
Erik Rassmussen – 2D Lead
Editing House: Union Editorial
Editor: Marco Perez
Producer Joe Ross
Music House: Mophonics
Audio Mix: Lime Studios
Mixer: Joel Waters