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Fred & Farid Advertising Marriott

AC Hotels by Marriott unveils design rich campaign that lets travelers 'unpack' the details

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

March 1, 2018 | 4 min read

A new campaign for AC Hotels by Marriott by Fred & Farid New York (FF New York), takes an artistic approach in pointing out the rich design details in its establishments, making it unlike any other hotel advertisement.

AC Hotels Unpacked

AC Hotels by Marriott Unpacked

The ‘Unpacked’ creative campaign is a series of videos and images for the entrepreneurial-minded, design-conscious business traveler, according to a release, and it points out the finer details rather than just showing a hotel room or overview, giving a peek behind the scenes for an experiential view of AC Hotels.

The campaign debuts with three hero videos, each featuring a detail of the hotel, along with three video interviews with the relevant collaborators. According to the release, the project “aims to excite the senses with bold visuals, textures and rigorous dissection of the details.” The videos use a split-screen technique, showing the design and the finished product, with voiceovers by the designers interviewed. It illustrates the feelings and sensations that each detail evokes.

The interviewees are the collaborators behind three elements of the AC brand – Frederick Bouchardy, the brainchild of New York City-based fragrance studio and design collective, Joya; Alberto Gonzalez, from European culinary equipment manufacturer Berkel; and renowned architect David Helpern.

Berkel provides the iconic prosciutto slicer that is the centerpiece of every hotel’s AC kitchen and used to carve thin slices of cured meats for the morning breakfast service, and in ‘The Machine,’ we see the beauty of its red, hand-cranked wonder, shot lusciously to unveil its machinery.

Helpern is the architect behind design-driven AC Hotels’ first New York City property, AC New York Times Square, which is slated to open in 2018, and in ‘Architecture’ he explains the reasoning behind the details of the property as we see sleek shots of Edison bulbs, angled fixtures, sensual textiles and quick property shots, with the tag, “Beauty is an invisible thing.”

Bouchardy’s bespoke fragrance atelier recently curated an exclusive new scent identity for all of AC’s 100+ hotels worldwide, which will be available for guests and locals to purchase in the form of candles at each hotel’s AC Store, and in ‘Between the Woods’ we see the elements that make up the scents, from close-ups of pine and citrus, to flame, oil and wax.

“Knowing that humans remember what they smell two times longer and more vividly than what they see or hear, we created an original AC Hotels scent composition that hugs all the pulse points of the brand’s global travelers to ensure a memorable stay,” said Bouchardy. “Through the new ‘Unpacked’ series viewers can gain access to the intricate process of how we created this elegant fragrance.”

Future extensions of the Unpacked campaign will include podcasts, unique digital experiences and in-market activations, and will feature other brand collaborators.

“Travelers who stay at AC Hotels are busy, entrepreneurial spirits, and getting into their hotel room is often the only moment they have a chance to sit back and have a moment of reflection,” said Benoit Racle, senior global brand director, AC Hotels. “The Unpacked campaign was created to provide inspiration and offer authentic, engaging content for AC Hotels’ guests to pause and appreciate the present moment.”

FF New York revealed the artistry and detail behind the AC Hotels experience in partnership with the visual effects and post-production agency, The Mill.

See the videos and interviews by clicking the Creative Works box below.

AC Hotels by Marriott: advert-body-3 by FF New York

By AC Hotels by Marriott

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