In November last year, BMF repositioned P&O Cruises as Like no Place on Earth and the ad campaign Be Free Earthlings began.
The TVC enticed Earthlings to gain the freedoms that (P&O) Cruiselings were enjoying. And on the site Be Free Earthlings, Cruiselings – the Adventure Lord, The Now Girl and The Food Fanatic – showed Earthlings how best to be free on a a P&O Cruise.
Owen Wilson is an aspirational Earthling. (Perhaps the one you’d like to meet on the P&O Cruise in your head). In his short-film trilogy, The Conspicuous Awakening of Owen Wilson, Owen lives the P&O dream on the Aria and Pacific Eden, which will join the cruise line’s fleet in November this year.
The three films on the new site, Be Free Owen, were directed by Tom Dey (Shanghai Noon; Failure to Launch) and each shows Wilson enjoying the ships’ great features (not the least of which are glamorous female Cruiselings), through a series of dream-like and humorous flashbacks.
The rest of the site details the freedoms that can be enjoyed on the two new liners.
BMF managing director, Steve McArdle commented, “P&O Cruises briefed us to develop something that had real scale and social currency. Bringing together the ‘Be Free Earthlings’ idea and one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, felt like a pretty good place to start.”
P&O Cruises head of marketing and distribution, Simon Cheng added, “Hollywood, like Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, exudes style and sophistication, so it was to Hollywood we looked to help launch these ships. We wanted the right star – someone easy going and lots of fun, just like the experience Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden will offer. In Owen, we found our perfect partner.”
The first and second short films launched on Be Free Owen on September 15. The third launched a day later (to secure come back visits, perhaps).
The full campaign contains film, content, digital, social, PR and an exclusive on-set interview with Wilson.
Cam Blackley, BMF executive creative director noted, “This is a client that is not only redefining what a cruise ship looks like but also how they communicate to their target audience. It was a privilege for us to write a piece like this and to do the onboard vibe as much justice as the new fit-outs.”
Campaign credits:
Creative Agency: BMF
Executive Creative Director: Cam Blackley
Art director: Nicole Hetherington
Copywriters: Simon Fowler, Jonty Bell & Cam Blackley
Head of design: Lincoln Grice
Planning director: Hugh Munro
Planner: Sarah Hood
Group account director: Kura Tyerman
Account director: Will Woods
Account manager: Meg Mabin
Agency producer: Jenny Lee-Archer
Production Company: Native Content
Director: Tom Dey
Executive producer: Sean Blair
Producer: Alejandra Quesada
DoP: Eduard Grau
Post production: The Editors
Editors: Bernard Garry and Laurence Van Camp
Sound and Music: Rumble Studios
PR Agency: Frank PR
Media Agency: MediaCom
