For its ad featuring Jannik Sinner, the agency McCann Paris chose a format in which we rarely hear anything from a top tennis player and usually hear the same thing from our colleagues. An automatic email reply usually tells us how long someone will be away and who we can contact in the meantime. Sinner uses his to explain how seriously he takes rest. For Explora Journeys, MSC Group’s luxury cruise brand, that seriousness made for good comedy.
Nicolas Rocca-Serra of McCann Paris described the question the creative team started with: “What if he approached rest with the same commitment he brings to a final?” Sinner could keep the calm tone audiences know from tournaments and leave the rest to the editing. In his message, we hear about muscle recovery, breathing and core stability. On board, that programme also includes breakfast in a bathrobe, a swim in the pool and yoga at sunset. When he sees on his phone screen that his coach is calling, he lets it ring.
Even those who take little interest in tennis will recognise something of themselves in the choice of this particular workplace message. As Alexandra Vogler, who leads marketing and digital at Explora Journeys, explained, guests often have little time to themselves amid their many commitments. That is why the brand also cares about how they spend the days when the ship does not call at a port. A pool, a terrace and breakfast with a sea view are already familiar sights in cruise ads. What perhaps says more about luxury here is that Sinner owes no one a more precise answer than the one he gives at the end of his message: “I will return, when I return.”
Out of Office was shot in July, when Sinner became the first guest to step aboard EXPLORA III. For the television and digital rollout, Explora Journeys chose November, just ahead of the ATP Finals in Turin. The campaign launched on 12 November in France and across the brand’s other key markets. The 70-second spot was directed by Julien Faucher, with creative direction by Carmen Saenz de Tejada and production by Craft Paris. Shorter versions were created for social media and digital channels.
