300-person choir features in new P&O spot, via Supermassive
P&O Cruises has unveiled a new brand platform, marking a significant transformation for the nearly century-old brand, via indie creative agency Supermassive and Walkley Award-winning photographer David Maurice Smith.
The platform, ‘Brings Us All Together’, hopes to showcase the meaningful connections cultivated on a P&O holiday, with the agency highlighting the cruise line’s ability to deliver on quality, connection and togetherness.
Kathryn Robertson, chief commercial officer of the cruise line, said: “P&O has long enjoyed unparalleled awareness, consideration, and preference in the Australian cruise market.
“‘Brings Us All Together’ presents an exciting opportunity to further differentiate P&O across the cruise and travel landscape by welcoming new guests onboard our cruise ships who are searching for an authentic and connected holiday experience.”
Supermassive tapped Sonar’s Cameron Bruce, musical supervisor on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, to create a new choral arrangement of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’. In the new spot, a 300-strong choir sing the arrangement.
The new tonal identity will be available on music streaming platforms, and will also be integrated into all on-board parties.
The agency also developed a new visual identity for P&O, designed in collaboration with Common Design and photographer David Maurice Smith.
It centres around the arches of the brand’s ampersand, which Supermassive said is a symbol of inclusivity and connectedness.
The new campaign. Shot by David Maurice Smith
“Sometimes, you have to search high and low for a brand truth, but with P&O, it hits you as soon as you get onboard,” the agency team said.
“On land, rather ironically, we pass each other like ships in the night. But out there, on the only holiday experience that quite literally carries everyone in the same direction, guests find themselves open to connection like never before.
“We saw that magic happen in real time when we brought the world’s largest floating choir together on the deck of the Pacific Encounter. Families sang arm in arm, phone numbers got exchanged, people who boarded as strangers disembarked as mates,” Supermassive explained.
“What an exciting privilege it is to be able to explore new – and celebrate existing – ways that P&O brings us all together.”
“Like all great brand platforms, ‘Brings Us All Together’ is much more than a marketing tagline,” Robertson added.
“It’ll inform our service proposition, onboard guest experience, and internal culture as it continues to build momentum across our business.”
Supermassive launched a brand refresh for P&O Cruises mid-last year after winning the account, driving a new era for the 91-year-old brand.
Robertson said at the time: “We are thrilled to partner with Supermassive, who have demonstrated a disciplined and fresh approach to brand strategy and non-traditional thinking, that will no doubt further enhance the P&O brand.”
The new campaign is live across TV, cinema, digital, OOH, print and social media.
Credits:
Client: P&O Cruises
Agency: Supermassive
Production company: Austin Studio
Director: Justin McMillan
Edit: Arc Edit
Post-production: Blockhead
Musical director: Cameron Bruce
Sound: Sonar Music
Photography: Flint
Design: Common Design
Media planning and buying: CHEP
Social: Bread
Performance: Yoghurt
