Building a People-First Campaign With the World’s Premier Luxury Travel Operator
Campaign and Hero Video Director: Gregg Bleakney | Creative Director and Scripting: Jeremy Spencer | Producer: Sandra Eichmann Perret | Videography and Photography: Julián Manrique, Santiago Ospina, Gregg Bleakney | Editing and Audio Master: Daniel Murcia, Julián Manrique, Santiago Ospina, Julio Echavarría | Storyboard: Nikolay Moustakov | Motion Graphics Design: Felipe Nieto Moya.
Wanted: Storytelling Agency That Can Stay Focused on the Key Narrative
A Commemorative Campaign
Abercrombie & Kent, the world’s premier luxury travel operator, needed a partner to create a multichannel campaign for their 30th anniversary of Luxury Expedition Cruising. The creative would feature an Antarctic expedition in December of 2019, led by A&K’s best Expedition Team members, providing the perfect backdrop to produce a world-class campaign.
Focus on the People
Sensational scenery and spectacular slow-motion footage of whales and penguins are a given in any Antarctic production and a mesmerizing attraction for even the most experienced field production teams and storytelling agencies. But to successfully show why A&K is the world’s foremost luxury travel brand, this iconic destination had to play second fiddle to the people translating its grandeur. The Expedition Team would need to be the star of the show.
A&K’s passionate Expedition Team members in Antarctica
Why A&K Is the Top Luxury Travel Operator in the World
A&K’s unparalleled Expedition Team members represent the very best in their respective fields. Their subject matter knowledge, gregarious personalities, persistent curiosity, teaching abilities, and deep experience in the field are what set A&K apart from the competition. Our Antarctica Expedition team included recipients of the Polar Medal and professors of culture, zoology, marine biology, ornithology, geology, and two Photo Coaches. Guests were accompanied by world-class experts and support at every stage of their journey. The staff-to-guest ratio is an astounding 1 to 1.3 and the guide-to-guest ratio is an impressive 1 to 12.
Pre-Production
A Rigorous Approach to the Strategy, Script, and Storyboard
A&K was willing to extend a great amount of resources in advance of our departure so that we could conduct a thorough pre-production process. The idea of celebrating their Expedition Team needed to be turned into a script and storyboard. Their marketing department worked with us to polish multiple script revisions until we felt we had a gem. This ensured that our team would capture A&K’s core marketing messages, Expedition Team members and guest interviews, and serendipitous moments—breaching whales, the sudden appearance of a pod of orcas, a close encounter with a curious penguin.
Doing Research
In anticipation of the limited amount of time we would have to build familiarity with our surroundings and rapport with the team, we conducted research on the Expedition Team, itinerary, and locations before writing the script. This research helped inform the storyboard and distilled the spirit of the campaign. The storyboard then served as a detailed guidebook for a necessarily efficient shooting schedule.
Field Production in the Antarctic
Trust the Schedule and Script
A&K's operations team helped us craft a shooting schedule that would minimally impact expedition logistics and the guest experience. The rigorous schedule necessitated that we conduct nineteen interviews as soon as our vessel set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina, into rough seas through the famed Drake Passage. Filming these interviews early and whenever possible gave us more freedom to capture organic interactions between the guests, Expedition Team, and wildlife when we reached the White Continent.
Inviting Guests to Participate
Our team’s enthusiasm became an open invitation for the Expedition Team members and guests to interact and share their experiences. Near the end of the voyage, several guests shared unsolicited praise for the Expedition Team members’ passion, depth of knowledge, and, above all, commitment to conserving and protecting the extraordinary landscapes and wildlife of Antarctica.
Unlocking the Story
A Prescient Suggestion
At the beginning of the creative process, A&K suggested we interview company founder Geoffrey Kent, a pioneer of luxury adventure travel. A born adventurer, Mr. Kent was the first person to ride a motorcycle from Kenya to Cape Town—at the age of 16. This adventure was seminal to his understanding that exceptional people make for exceptional experiences.
The Key to the Narrative
Mr. Kent’s interview became the key to unlocking this campaign’s narrative, tracing a direct line between his early guest-service philosophy and the ethos which guides A&K Expedition Team members today.
The storyboard image for our interview with A&K Founder Geoffrey Kent.
A still image from Mr. Kent’s actual interview.
Learn More About Our Storytelling Agency
Post-Production and Deliverables
The Work
Immediately upon our field team’s return from Antarctica, our post-production team began a meticulous video editing process with A&K that included cataloging raw footage, transcribing 15 hours of interviews, motion graphics design, audio mastering, scrubbing unwanted artifacts and logos, and color correction.
The Goods
Our deliverables included a suite of digital marketing videos and photographs for website trip pages, masthead, YouTube, and Instagram.
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