Vrbo: After A Long Wait
2022 Effie Award - Silver - Travel & Tourism
THE BRIEF: Vrbo had hired their first spokes family, the Legend-Teigens, and wanted to launch the partnership (and a wave of Covid-is-almost-over-let’s-fucking-go-somewhere bookings) with a “holy shit moment.”
THE IDEA: We did a lot, positioning the Legend-Teigens as our first-ever Family in Residence and working together to create some pretty great content that’s actually helpful for families headed out on vacation. But the piece de resistance centered on working with John Legend and Raphael Saadiq to craft a celebratory cover of “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash, the perfect song to welcome people out of the Covid era. Then, we set out to make content to pair it with, centered on togetherness and directed by the truly incredible Savanah Leaf. Instead of using actors, we found real people who had just gotten vaxxed but still hadn’t seen their loved ones, and we surprised them on set with the people they’d missed most. Did I cry? Only like a hundred times.
THE AGENCY CUT:
THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES:
These moments were too special not to get the full stories behind them. So I ran around with a third camera crew and interviewed the surprisers before each surprise, and then interviewed the whole fam after the scenes. I can honestly say I’ve never been so fulfilled as I was being a part of bringing these families together.
If you only have a moment, watch the first video, the longform BTS. But next time you have a rough day and need a cathartic cry, or you’re in the middle of a heist and the plan needs you to cry at just the right moment, watch the four deeper dives.
