Source: Marriott
AC Hotels by Marriott

AC Hotels by Marriott®, the entrepreneurial lifestyle brand from Marriott International, Inc., today announced the debut of its "Unpacked" creative campaign. The design-driven content shakes up the rules of traditional hotel marketing by taking travelers on an artistic and poetic journey, going behind the scenes with the people responsible for the detail-oriented moments that define the AC Hotels experience.

The campaign, concepted by creative agency FRED & FARID NEW YORK (FF NEW YORK), builds on a social and editorial campaign originally developed by AC Hotels and digital agency LikeFriends in 2015. The campaign debuts with a film consisting of three hero videos, each featuring a detail of the hotel, along with three video interviews with the relevant collaborators. Together, the project aims to excite the senses with bold visuals, textures and rigorous dissection of the details. Using a split screen technique, the film features the equation behind key moments in the hotel experience: the math, the mechanics, and the chemistry. Most importantly, it illustrates the feelings and sensations that each detail evokes. 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.

The interviewees are the collaborators behind three essential 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, while David 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. 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.

"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."

To watch the film that marks the debut of the "Unpacked" campaign, and learn more about AC Hotels, please visit ac-hotels.com.

About Marriott International

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 8,100 properties under 30 leading brands spanning 139 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world. The company offers Marriott Bonvoy®, its highly awarded travel program. For more information, please visit our website, and for the latest company news, visit Marriott News Center. In addition, connect with us on Facebook and @MarriottIntl on Twitter and Instagram.