Arnold, Celebrity Tempt the Imagination
August 25, 2004
By David Gianatasio

A TV spot, "The Lights," broke last week during NBC's Summer Olympics coverage, showing residents of the port town of Dubrovnik,
Croatia, heading to the edge of the sea as lights approach from a Celebrity ship.

Celebrity sets sail for enchanted ports of call.

BOSTON Havas' Arnold has unveiled an effort touting Celebrity Cruises partnership with Cirque du Soleil.
The avant-garde circus troop will stage performances on select Celebrity ships, which are portrayed as "Soon departing for the unimaginable" in print and TV efforts from the Boston-based shop.

The first of three print ads launches in the Aug. 30 issue of The New Yorker. The execution shows a trapeze hanging above an otherwise empty ocean, with reddish light blazing on a distant shore. "Sailings are limited. Possibilities, quite the opposite," the text says. Print will also run in Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Travel & Leisure and elsewhere.

A TV spot, "The Lights," broke last week during NBC's Summer Olympics coverage, showing residents of the port town of Dubrovnik,Croatia, heading to the edge of the sea as lights approach from a Celebrity ship.

The campaign continues the two-year-old tagline, "A true departure."

"The innovative approach taken by Cirque du Soleil to break the conventions of entertainment immediately made us recognize their ability to take the cruise experience to a whole new level," said Steven Hancock, evp of marketing at the Miami-based client. Celebrity spent nearly $20 million on ads last year and $15 million during the first six months of 2004, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

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