The campaign features a visually striking brand advertisement and video commercial aimed at the ‘emerging generation’ of independently-minded affluent leisure travellers looking for sophisticated new luxury vacation experiences.
HONG KONG – Breaking free of your boundaries to reach for your dreams, is the bold and imaginative theme of ‘The Mermaid’s Dream’, a ground-breaking new campaign for the brand launch of Dream Cruises, an Asian luxury cruise line.
In an unconventional approach to promoting the leisure-cruise proposition, to what is still a relatively nascent cruise market in China, Dream Cruises has taken the iconic mermaid of its logo and weaved around her a ‘fantastical’ storytelling creative conveying the ‘inspirational’ nature of its onboard experiences that promise to bring dream vacations to life for its guests.
Inspired by the dramatic hull artwork of Chinese pop-artist Jacky Tsai which adorns the hull of Dream Cruises’ inaugural ship Genting Dream, the campaign features an emotive love-story between a mermaid and an astronaut. Physically bound by their respective elemental universes of outer space and water, they strive to overcome the boundaries that separate them, before finally breaking free to make their impossible dream a reality. The fantastical story and stylized nature of the campaign conveys the luxury, sophistication and elegance of the Dream Cruises brand and serves as a powerful metaphor for its brand purpose of bringing dreams to life.
The campaign, developed by Leo Burnett China, features a visually striking brand advertisement and video commercial aimed at the ‘emerging generation’ of independently-minded affluent leisure travellers looking for sophisticated new luxury vacation experiences.
An accomplished international film director brought the epic story to life in truly cinematic fashion, which involved space cinematography and computer generated 3D graphics as used in the award winning movie ‘Gravity’.
Mr Eric Leong, Vice President, Brand Marketing & Communications of Dream Cruises said: “There seemed no better way to launch our brand than by bringing to life our brand icon, the mermaid, and the incredible story of our hull artwork. The seemingly impossible romance between a mermaid and an astronaut is imaginative, captivating and inspiring – and these are all elements that we believe represent the experience of a luxury cruise on board Dream Cruises. To differentiate our brand as unique in the market, we wanted to dream big so we adopted a bold and memorable storytelling approach that stands out from the competition, breaking away from traditional brand commercials in the sector that invariably present a cruise ship video tour”.
The commercial will air as 30-second and 15-second spots on traditional and online broadcast channels, supported by an integrated print, outdoor, digital and social media campaign, with an extended minute-long ‘mini-film’ version of the epic being released at a later date.
Consumers will also be encouraged to connect with the brand by envisaging and scripting their own personal interpretation of how the inspirational and romantic storyline should reach its final conclusion on social media.
Dream Cruises is Genting Hong Kong’s new cruise line, catering to the large and rapidly growing high-end market in China and Asia. The cruise line offers inspirational luxury, which is Asian at heart and international in spirit, delivering the highest levels of onboard guest service and spacious comfort in the region. Genting Dream, currently undergoing fit-out at shipbuilders Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, will debut from her dual homeports of Guangzhou (Nansha) and Hong Kong in November this year.
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