TouchIT

Challenge

As Hilton revitalized their brand, they wanted to impress upon business travelers and a new, younger audience, that their hotel stay was much more than that. It was no longer about simply getting from points A to B, it was a journey, an enjoyable experience that was meant to enhance the trip.

Rather than drive reservations, the campaign’s goal was to evoke emotional connections between the brand and travelers in a way that would build awareness and consumer loyalty. The biggest challenge that BLITZ faced was the ability to seamlessly integrate the traditional campaign look and feel into the interactive space that would allow for dynamic animations to be created. To deliver the concept of “journey,” Y&R created illustrations that utilized  “hand-drawn” lines which naturally led to the requirement to use this style for all interactive iterations and animations.

Solution

Utilizing the stylized keyart and a simple color palette, BLITZ created a surreal destination that allowed visitors to “take a break” from their busy day. Through mouse-gesture recognition, users were able to bring the site and story to life within three specific vignettes built around the Hilton Journeys experience: entertain, pamper and empower. To further enhance visitor participation, BLITZ integrated a gesture recognition engine allowing the user to use a virtual pen to draw shapes recognized by the computer. This triggered traditionally drawn animation sequences. The engine was especially useful with the viral element, which gave users the chance to customize an animated Hilton Journeys card that could be sent to a friend  via e-mail.