Make Memories US
US brand campaign
Make Memories, made for American travelers: the face leads, the place follows.
Agency
Digitalsinn (direction, production)
Magnetic Field
Location
Colorado River, Grand Canyon, NYC
Shot Oct 2023
Bangkok, Khao Sok, Barcelona
Shot Feb–Mar 2023
Markets
United States
On air from January 2024
Deliverables
60s hero film, 15s and 6s
across TV, digital and audio
Campaign stills for out-of-home
My role
Senior Brand Imagery Manager. Hands-on from first brief to final grade, working with Digitalsinn and the Creative Lead on film, and leading the stills.
Pre-production: Created the storyboards and shot lists for the US scenes. Wrote the model and styling briefs and the on-brand guidelines for out-of-home, including framing for tight crops and space for copy. Selected the models and the photographer, Peter Beavis. Balanced the film and photo schedules with Digitalsinn.
On set: Made the styling calls at wardrobe fittings. At every location I worked alongside the Creative Lead on film and directed the stills, keeping every frame on brand.
Post-production: Gave feedback on the story edits and owned the look and feel of the color grade, working in the room with Digitalsinn. Selected the hero stills for retouch and rollout.
The film carries the story. The stills carry it onto screens and walls across the US. Both are below.
The Film
Directed by Anderson Wright (for Digitalsinn). The score is a classical rendition of Toto's "Africa", recorded live with members of the Prague Film Orchestra.
Cutdown versions
15-second version (CTV).
6-second bumper (YouTube).
The idea
Make Memories, for the US.
In January 2024, GetYourGuide announced its first national brand campaign in the US, with the goal of becoming the market leader. The job was to make the brand famous with Americans traveling at home and with visitors from abroad. The campaign idea is that the moment an experience becomes unforgettable is told through faces. For the US, the faces needed an American backdrop.
The film combines scenes from Thailand and Spain with three experiences filmed in the US: whitewater on the Colorado River, the first bite of the iconic sandwich at Katz’s Deli, and New York from above the Top of the Rock. A viewer anywhere reads “America” in the first second, then reads the person. Every film and still puts the expression first and the setting second.
One idea had to work as a hero film, cutdowns and campaign stills across TV, digital, audio and out-of-home. It was made by GetYourGuide’s Creative Studio, with Digitalsinn and director Anderson Wright as production partners. The CEO announced the launch on LinkedIn on January 19, 2024: link.
Campaign stills
Three moments, one rule: the face leads
Each motif had a specific feeling, a camera position and a branding moment worked out in advance.
Katz’s Deli
Hungry, then happy.
A traveler takes the first bite of the iconic sandwich at Katz’s Deli in New York, with the room behind.
Top of the Rock
Awe, with the city at your feet.
Two travelers takes in the Manhattan skyline from the Top of the Rock, filmed from the deck and by drone.
Rafting the Colorado River
Soaked, laughing, thrilled.
A raft crew in whitewater on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, with Guiding Red life vests against the canyon walls.
Out of home
The stills ran in out-of-home and on digital screens across the US.
Pictured: LAX, Grand Central Station and NASDAQ, New York.
Prepared for the unknown
Three landmark locations, one set of rules.
Weather, crowds and restrictions can’t be planned away at any location. What I could do was build a system strong enough that the team could improvise inside it.
The brand lives in the frame, not on it
I set one rule for every scene: a Guiding Red moment, whether a life vest on the river or [a jacket or apron in New York]. Never two reds side by side.
Built for every format
I briefed the photographer to shoot wide enough to crop tight, with calm space for copy. The stills were planned for out-of-home, display and social, and the film was cut for TV and digital.
Real, never posed
Energetic, authentic and in the moment: not posed, not a fashion campaign, not cartoonish. Casting covered a range of ages and backgrounds, reflecting the people who travel in the US.
Ready when plans change
[One real constraint from the shoot: river access, heat, light, permits, or a crowded deck, and how you handled it.] The skyline shot needed a drone flight over one of the most visited viewpoints in New York.
Behind the scenes
Recce day - whitewater rafting on the Colorado River, Grand Canyon.
On our way to a day of filming.
On set, early morning, filming at The Top of the Rock, New York.
Credits
All campaign work shown was created for GetYourGuide and is © GetYourGuide. Shown here as a record of my role. Rights holders: if you’d like anything changed or removed, please email theo@theoklingenberg.com and I’ll act promptly.
Production company
Digitalsinn
Director
Anderson Wright
DoP, USA
Gabriel Connelly
Photographer
Peter Beavis
Executive Producers (Digitalsinn)
Daniel Duendar, Lutz Lieberknecht
Producers
Viviane Voelker, David Besecke
Production Assistant
Kerstin Dautel
Editors
Max Paschke, Jan-Fabian Klein
Grading
Lutz Forster, Mike Bothe
Music and SFX
Addict Music
Creative Director
Danna Blum
Creative Lead
Emma Brooke
Senior Brand Imagery Manager
Theo Klingenberg
Senior Art Director
Nader Shousha
Executive Producer (GetYourGuide)
Geraldine Gramenz-Hohlbein
Senior Video Editor
Andras Olah
Senior Copywriter
Laura Messer-Jackson
Further reading: Emma Brooke’s Make Memories US page · CEO’s LinkedIn announcement
Related: Make Memories (global campaign, shot in Thailand and Spain)