Mike Linsey
Kuoni-visual-02.jpg

Kuoni

Kuoni wanted to develop an array of campaign activity to add depth to Travel Worth Talking About (the strapline for their existing TV advert created by Designate) and support the crucial turn-of-year trading period.

— Creative
— Art Direction

Copywriting
Designate
Richard Marsden

Video Production
Progress Films

TV Ad
Designate

In the face of a multitude of impersonal online travel operators with little difference between them, Kuoni boldly stands out with its focus on personal service. Travel Worth Talking About not only refers to the incredible holidays that Kuoni has to offer but also highlights the importance of a face-to-face conversation with a Kuoni Travel Expert to make your holiday really special.

Copy was designed to inspire and prompt action in a brand appropriate way with lines such as “Let’s talk about things you’d like to do” and “It all starts with a conversation…” whilst also referencing Designate’s TV advert that featured Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition of ‘Happy Talk’. 

Utilising Kuoni’s bespoke typeface Feijoa, I created a simple graphic device — a quote circle — that serves both to represent the correspondence between Kuoni and the customer and to highlight a specific part of each image. This allows the viewer to imagine themselves as part of the scene, invoking the possibility of them talking about the holiday they had or would like to have. 

The campaign was awarded Integrated Campaign of the Year at the 2020 Travel Marketing Awards, shared between Designate & O&G.

quircle

To add another dimension to the campaign and emphasise Kuoni’s point of difference, we worked with Progress Films in Brighton to demonstrate the power of conversation in a digital age by organising a showdown — Kuoni Travel Experts vs the internet. With no preparation, and armed only with their knowledge and experience, Kuoni’s PTE’s (Personal Travel Experts) were invited to pit themselves against a mystery ‘expert’ — only revealed to them when they entered the studio.

With voice assistants increasing in popularity we felt this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight the difference between artificial intelligence (brilliant with tasks & facts but struggles with opinions) and emotional intelligence which is an innately human characteristic that requires empathy & deep understanding — perfect for highlighting Kuoni’s unique selling point — their PTE’s knowledge and experience.