Arnold Launches Olympics Campaign for Carnival with ‘Bobslide Champs’

Carnival announced today that it is “the national cruise line advertiser of NBC’s telecast of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games,” with their new Olympic campaign from Arnold Worldwide.

Arnold’s campaign for Carnival launches today with the 30 second television spot, “Bobslide Champs,” which “will air on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network and USA Network throughout the duration of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games,” and also in select cinemas across the country. The spot features a sports announcer narrating while a group of four children race down a Carnival waterslide as if they are a bobsled team. “That was a run for the ages!” he exclaims as the crew crosses the finish line. “Bobslide Champs” is expected to increase the need for Carnival employees to shout “One at a time on the slide, please!” by at least 500 percent.

The campaign is timed to coincide with “what is known as ‘wave season’ – a key window for generating cruise reservations,” which, luckily for Carnival, also comes during the Olympics this year. In addition to the television campaign, the campaign also includes “a series of contests, videos and posts on the line’s highly trafficked social channels.” Stick around for credits and the extended, 60 second version of “Bobslide Champs” after the jump. continued…

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Here’s a Quick Update on a Few Arnold Creatives

johnkearseAnd now, in more staffing news, we have received word from sources in the know that Arnold Worldwide and a couple of creative staffers have parted ways, mainly John Kearse and Rob Kottkamp, who we’ve been told are joining up with Mullen within the next couple of weeks. During his eight-year stint at Arnold, Kottkamp moved up the ranks from art director to senior AD to his most recent role as SVP/creative director, working on, among other things, under Pete Johnson on Carnival. Johnson remains executive creative director on said account. As for Kearse, the creative has spent nearly a decade at Arnold, helping lead creative on truth and Santander among other accounts. No word yet on SVP/creative director Mike Howard, but we’re hearing a change to freelance status at Arnold is in the works.

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Carnival Highlights Past Guests’ Photos, Videos in Arnold’s ’24 Hours Onboard’

Carnival Cruise Lines is launching a new 25 million dollar campaign, “Moments That Matter,” with agency Arnold Worldwide. The fall campaign will extend across broadcast, radio, digital and direct mail from September through December. For the first spot in this campaign, Carnival sourced material directly from their customers through social media.

The :60 spot, “24 Hours Onboard” features content chosen from over 30,000 pictures and videos submitted by past guests on Carnival’s cruises, including one dude who publicly proposed on a Carnival Cruise (yikes). “24 Hours Onboard,” which will debut on major network primetime Monday, September 23rd, appeals to viewers’ sentimentality, and employing pictures and videos sourced directly from past customers adds a personal element that could help convince viewers to book their next vacation with Carnival. As Arnold Executive Creative Director Pete Johnson puts it, “We found those looking to book a cruise are much more likely to listen to recommendations from previous cruisers.” So filling a commercial with vacation memories from enthusiastic fans of Carnival makes a lot of sense.

This isn’t a spot that will blow anyone away with its creativity or execution, but it doesn’t have to. It appeals to the type of people who line their walls with photos from family vacations, or, in other words, Carnival’s target audience. continued…

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