Homeaway’s major competitor is AirBnb, a fact that was apparent in the vacation rental company’s 2016 campaign, It’s your vacation, why share it?, which won a Clio.
This year, Saatchi & Saatchi London has widened its scope. Everyday life – the crammed commute, “that” bloke at work, missing time with the family – is added to its list of reasons to have a HomeAway holiday, that also targets the less desirable elements of a hotel or an Airbnb holiday again.
The case for HomeAway is presented in a humorous rhyme by actor and comedian, Nick Offerman, whose lines include, Get away, get HomeAway, from work and rules and hosts that wanna hang. A whole home, so far away. You’ve got all this room to roam, it’s better than my house at home.
The 120 second spot was directed by Tom Kuntz, who is most known for directing the Old Spice commercial, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.
The ad – of which there are 120, 60, 30, 20 and 15 second versions – is running on TV on ITV, C4 and Sky in the UK, as well as in France, Germany and the US. The social media campaign will use the 20 and 15 second cut-downs, which will be promoted across online channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“We thought we’d heard all the reasons there are to get away from it all, then 2016 turned up and dealt us a whole load more,” Andy Jex, executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi London, noted.
“With HomeAway you get the whole house so we thought we’d go the whole hog, with an all-singing-extravaganza-ode to getting HomeAway from it all. It just felt right.”
“The weight of all that is happening in the world, from politics to our daily routines, has everyone in search of relief. People want to get away from it all, to disconnect and spend time with loved ones,” explained Mariano Dima, HomeAway chief marketing officer.
“Holiday rentals are the ultimate solution because they offer the space and privacy that other accommodations just can’t provide, so we created this campaign to show everyone how much better renting a whole home can be.”
Steve Stamstad, HomeAway vice president of global brand marketing, added, “We are proud to help grow holiday rentals from an alternative way to stay to a preferred one, but there are still millions of travellers who have not yet discovered the benefits of staying in a whole home. We aim to change that. This is our most aggressive marketing effort to date, as we strive to grow awareness of HomeAway and drive more travellers to book with us.”
The campaign was developed by HomeAway in partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi London, and filmed in New Zealand. Blue 449 handling the media planning and buying.
Credits:
Advertising agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London
Executive creative directors: Andy Jex & Rob Potts
Creatives: Ben Robinson & Mike Whiteside
Planners: Raquel Chicourel & Kinga Papp
Account handlers: Jon Bryars & Laura Jones
TV producer: Josh Sanders
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Tom Kuntz
DoP: Hoyte Van Hoytema
Producer: Suza Horva
Production designer: Jahmin Assa
Offline editor: Russell Icke @ Whitehouse Post
Sound design: Parv Thind @ Wave
Original music composition: Wake The Town
Colourist: Stefan Sonnenfeld @ Company 3
Post Production company: Electric Theatre Collective
Service production company: Smasher, Auckland Nz
Media Buying Agency: Blue 449
