FINLAND – Inspired by Marcel Proust’s famous words: “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but seeing with new eyes,” cruise holiday advertising is challenged by the Baltics leading operator, Silja Line.
For a campaign left totally in the hands of photographers with no experience of cruising or the Nordic region, hasan & partners selected three professionals from different parts of the world and gave them an open brief to capture the beauty of the Baltic Sea, the northern mid-summer and the magical midnight sun to change the way people think about the cruises.
The cruise virgins are Tokyo-based Joji Shimamoto, Olivia Bee from New York and Alejandro Chaskielberg from Buenos Aires, who were given an open itinerary and several days to complete three journeys.
“Our Baltic cruise virgins see the region with fresh eyes, are excited about details that we take for granted and were inspired to experiment with a different approach and techniques,” said Tobias Wacker, Creative Director, hasan & partners.
The result is the Project Rediscovery website where each photographer has a gallery featuring not only their photos, but also videos that tell a story about themselves and their journeys.
“Cruises from Finland to Sweden and vice verse have been around for decades. Although they are popular, it is increasingly difficult to get people excited about cruising, because people believe that they have seen it all. Project Rediscovery gets people to rethink the experience,” added Wacker.
hasan & partners provided a framework and a template, but there was no art direction and no control – the photographers were asked to do it their way. The goal was to get people to fall in love again with an experience that has been taken for granted.
“Our renewed fleet of advanced cruise ferries made us think how can we inspire our customers to sail the Baltic Sea and enjoy our archipelago. To liven things up we borrowed the photographers’ eyes to encourage customers to fall in love again with the region’s beauty. The different points of view are a total surprise and will inspire people to take a trip,” commented Hanna Länsivuori, Marketing Director, Silja Line.
The work will appear internationally as well as in the Finnish and Swedish markets. The campaign includes a TVC, website, online display and shareable videos, POS and print. It will close with an exhibition and charity auction of the images and a documentary aired on TV.
Watch the video:
Silja Line: Project Rediscovery from hasan & partners on Vimeo.
