Costa Cruises, the Italian Group and number one cruise line both domestically and across Europe, is set to present its new advertising campaign devised by McCann Erickson.
“I’ve just got back” (“Sono appena tornato”) is the slogan for the international campaign which will debut in the second half of December 2008 in Italy, France and Spain.
A Costa cruise is such an incredible and rewarding experience that when you return to the daily routine of home and work you continue to savor the “dream vacation” atmosphere of the holiday that has just ended – so much so, in fact, that you inevitably make the occasional blunder when you get back to the grind. But it’s not a big deal: everyone knows that it’s par for the course for someone who has just got back from the Costa experience to have their head in the clouds or, to be more exact, on cloud nine!
“After a Costa cruise” you can’t stop thinking about it.
This is the creative concept behind the witty series of ads designed to attract the viewer’s attention through the presentation of a series of paradoxical/memorable situations that are thoroughly entertaining in line with the style used for previous campaigns.
Thus Costa, Europe’s favorite cruise line, succeeds in conveying the inner feelings and emotions that linger in the memory of cruisers who have just returned from their vacation, though from a new and different angle: no longer nostalgia mixed with regret but a form of happy departure from reality triggered by blissful memories. This ties in with the former slogan “Costa, the vacation that you’re missing” (“Costa, la vacanza che ti manca”), used in a previous advertising campaign whose success revolved around the dual meaning of “missing”, targeting both people who have never been on a cruise before and those who have, and can therefore no longer do without repeating the experience.
The new advertisements reinforce the idea of a Costa cruise as the “unforgettable vacation” par excellence: not just a period spent having fun and seeing the world from a privileged vantage point, but a unique experience that will remain firmly fixed in your heart and mind, inevitably creating a sense of nostalgia and, at the same time, a feeling of relaxation and “daydreaming”.
Four different situations were chosen for the TV commercials, which were shot by South African director Lourens Van Rensburg in three (40-, 30- and 15-second) versions and will be broadcast in Italy on the national Rai and Mediaset networks, on satellite TV and also in movie theaters.
Starring in the first spot is the Juventus striker and cruiser Amauri, featured with his teammates Mauro Camoranesi, Giorgio Chiellini, Paolo De Ceglie and Nicola Legrottaglie. This reflects the growing alliance between Costa Cruises and Italy’s most popular soccer team, for which Costa is an official supplier.
The launch of the TV campaign will be supported by teaser ads and viral marketing on and off line.
Costa Cruises’ new round of publicity will be premiered in style in Turin on December 14 at the big match between Juventus and AC Milan, when the first advertisement will be presented and screened just before kickoff.
