Created by M&C Saatchi, the campaign tagline 'Check out your hotel, before you check in' reminds consumers of the hotel problems that can arise if proper research is not done beforehand.
These are brought to life in three TV spots, which are running as a viral campaign on Zuji's website at www.zuji.com/hotels, and on Discovery. Print ads are also running in the region's news- papers.
These are brought to life in three TV spots, which are running as a viral campaign on Zuji's website at www.zuji.com/hotels, and on Discovery. Print ads are also running in the region's news- papers.
The first spot, 'Movie', has already raised eyebrows, illustrating a hotel guest ostensibly watching a porno movie, before switching it off to find the same sounds emanating rather noisily from next door. At press time, a decision from Discovery was still pending on whether to allow this ad to air. "We wanted to really make an impact with some outrageous hotel experiences which play on social myths and actual stories," said Zuji director of marketing Philip Ho.
"In doing so, we realised that the creative was risky, but as an innovator brand, it's in our DNA to try out new ideas."
The other two TVCs, entitled 'Stain' and 'Toilet', feature two more unpleasant hotel scenarios that are based on real-life experiences; in the former an unsightly mattress stain is concealed by flipping the mattress over, while the latter features a hotel toilet being cleaned using the guest toothbrush.
"A lot of the scenarios were true, which makes it more entertaining," explained M&C Saatchi Singapore managing director Carolyn Kan, adding that the Hotel Guru product, which provides star ratings, traveller reviews, and hotel descriptions, would enable consumers to avoid these types of situations when travelling. The decision to go viral, furthermore -- whereby consumers can send emails to their friends redirecting them to the Zuji website to view the spots -- was described as a key factor informing the creative. "People are more open to looking at things from a different angle in the new media spaces," explained M&C executive creative director Richard Johnson.
"We actually got in touch with (M&C regional head of digital) Dave Whittle and he had a lot of information about what it is that people send on -- irreverent stuff, humourous..."
Ho added that the viral tack also allowed for "double leverage, making for fun viral emails between people, which then spread the message (that people should check out their hotel online on Zuji before they check in) even further".
Ho further noted that the campaign aims to "introduce the Zuji brand to a wide audience in Asia-Pacific, increase awareness that Zuji also offers hotel booking options and position Zuji as an innovative travel resource".