This summer Westin Hotels & Resorts is transforming some of the country's most hectic transportation hubs into "places of renewal." Westin's 30 million campaign uses experiential mediums including 3-D and Bluetooth billboards, image-shifting lenticulars and sub-media (ads that appear to move on the train tunnel walls, much like a giant flip book), that bring to life the brand's ongoing concept of personal renewal. Rolling out in major cities including Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco, the campaign launched yesterday in NYC when every possible media touch point in Grand Central Station will be a carefully choreographed brand immersion experience. One of many executions includes the interiors of three Grand Central/Times Square shuttle trains completely wrapped with 360-degree imagery of a lush rain forest, tropical scuba dive or a soothing sauna leading to an icy lakeshore.
The new out-of-home executions, via Deutsch New York and implemented by MediaVest, are an evolution of Westin's "This is How it Should Feel" effort. The 2007 ad buy will also include print, radio, online, and multiplatform elements.
The campaign's clever use of imagery and "environmental messaging" literally and figuratively turns everyday negatives into positives, transforming the mundane commute into an unexpected oasis. A busy escalator, for example, is transformed into a rushing tropical waterfall, while airport signage creates a mental link between negatives like the frustration of delays and positives like the exhilaration of surfers lined up waiting for the perfect wave. In New York, an interactive Bluetooth billboard invites passersby to download a soothing, original Westin ringtone because "renewal is calling."
The campaign is spread out over five markets, with more than 270 different visuals and 2,754 media placements.
