overview

Celebrity Cruises has established itself as a premier cruising option for vacationers worldwide. And for their first brand new ship in nearly ten years, they were keen on disrupting the industry as we know it. With Celebrity Edge, the brand hoped to usher in a new era of luxury cruising via technological advancements and amenities found in swanky boutique hotels, providing an onboard encounter that would match the destination itself.

Celebrity turned to our Los Angeles-based video production company to help tell their story.

They sought a sophisticated and remarkable video campaign that aligned with the ship’s marvels to help drump up hype and anticipation for the Celebrity Edge in the 24-months leading up to its launch. The goal of the campaign would be to land pre-bookings and leave the media wanting more.

Process

Something that really shined through in the creative brief was how passionate Celebrity felt about the designers they hired and the creativity that went into building the ship.

The design team was an impressive one, including Nate Berkus on interior design, Tom Wright (famed Burj al Arab architect), and design mogul Kelly Hoppen, MBE, who all injected their individual aesthetics into this project.

Intentionally, Celebrity chose a team of designers who did not have cruise-ship design in their portfolios, as the brand wanted a fresh perspective.

This resonated with us and informed our own creative process. Our mood board so to speak came from favorite stylistic documentaries that involved their viewers in the actual process, a la Chef’s Table from Netflix.

Anyone who has been on a cruise ship does not instinctively think of the creatives behind the structures, but we wanted to change that and put a face to the design. We wanted to show that talented, passionate humans were behind this cutting-edge ship.

Our priority was to set a specific mood. Through artistic cinematography and a more formalized tone, we wanted this to feel more like a film than an industry commercial.

A challenge for us was that we needed to sell and display a product that did not yet exist. And so, we relied on 3D renderings for our work. That being said, it was crucial that the viewer felt like they were transported into the space and not just that they were being given a glimpse into floorplans.

For two years, we traveled back and forth to France, where the ship was being constructed, to dive deep into the thoughts behind the designs and to make sure we were telling an impactful story.

Result

We were able to deliver 10 different videos, each showcasing a different section of the ship, and one half-hour TV feature that was aired as a behind-the-scenes special.

This campaign has resulted in more than 1.5 impressions globally for the Celebrity brand. It is now marked as the example for the industry moving forward, thanks to our storytelling angle and our use of the 3D renderings. Our Food and Beverage segment drove a record-setting number of onboard reservations.

In 2019, Artex was honored at the 4th District American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards with a Best in Show award in the Online Videos category for our work on the Celebrity Edge.

Artex was responsible for the conceptualization, treatment, production, and post-production for this project. Filming occurred over two years in Miami, Milan, London, Pais, and Southampton.

We’re currently partnering with Celebrity to help them create thoughtful and innovative content for the next revolutionary ship in the Edge class, due to arrive in 2020.