Holiday like never before: P&O Cruises new brand campaign turns cruise sceptics into believers

04.01.2024 - 13:35 / traveldailynews.com / Vicky Karantzavelou / Cruises

The through the line campaign includes national OOH, with rail site coverage that invites those travelling by train to imagine the joy of travelling by infinity pool. The roll out continues across digital, social, owned channels and PR from 1st January.

P&O Cruises has unveiled a new brand platform, “Holiday Like Never Before” inviting holidaymakers to rethink what they believe they know of the cruise experience and expect more of their holiday, going beyond the obvious, into the extraordinary.

Created with Pablo London, the new brand positioning recognises that when it comes to holidays, Brits are often creatures of habit, taking comfort in the familiar. The opportunity was therefore to challenge audiences to expect more from their holiday by presenting an alternative option. The campaign celebrates the incredible amount of must see/do experiences you can get in a single cruise. From the joy of falling asleep in Marseille and waking up in Barcelona, to the pleasure of travelling by whirlpool and experiencing the Norwegian fjords from inside the fjords. To on shore activities like snorkelling with stingrays and getting closer to Mother Nature in scenic waterfalls. Demonstrating that on a P&O Cruises holiday, you might just need a bigger bucket list.

Pablo London turned to Arts & Sciences’ Adam Hashemi to captain the TVC ship. Adam’s cinematic stylings, combined with nuanced character performances made him the perfect partner to tell this P&O Cruises holiday story. Using a combination of cinematic techniques, the team created a series of alluring, cool, interesting, and hyper-visual frozen moments. These frozen moments are all connected by a choreographed camera that takes us from the Rainforest to the sea to the ship, creating a seamless flow that makes every second count. The film ends by cutting back through the moments as they all revert to normal speed, capturing the full energy, excitement, and emotion of the moment and leaving our audience with a clear understanding of what awaits them on a P&O Cruises holiday. Surprise, joy, pleasure, awe, appreciation, comfort, and most importantly, realisation – all frozen in time, adding a subtle humour that dials up the entertainment factor. The epic cinematic techniques included the use of 4K drone photography and a 50 camera time-slice rig, which created the slow motion ‘bullet time’ effect.

P&O Cruises, VP brand, marketing and sales, Robert Scott said: “We wanted our latest campaign to reach beyond the cruise category and really stand out from the travel pack, both in content and execution. The unique experiences you can only have on a P&O Cruises holiday are central to the Holiday Like Never Before campaign and we’re so excited to share these with an