Reading Time: 3 minutes

On Tuesday 27 March, in London, has been presented the new ad campaign from the famous tour operator lastminute.com (known most of all for its affordable online hotel, travel and leisure offers), in the luxurious and trendy hotel W Leicester Square.

The event took place in Suite 717, big enough to welcome the guests and give a good idea of the services you are proposed in such a hotel category. But small enough as well, not to feel lost and have a chance to meet with the event organizers. Lastminute.com loves bloggers as this evening was definitely dedicated to them.

The purpose of this event was to show the new ad campaign who plays on the fact that, even with a small budget, you can reach the luxury hotels category, by booking online (at the last minute!), and be proud of it! Now, following the campaign, 4 or 5* hotels are reachable thanks to the website, at the price of a 3* hotel.

The creative, which features ordinary people in extraordinary locations (see pictures), brings to life lastminute.com’s brand promise of making the unattainable attainable, for everyone.

lastminute_com

lastminute_com

If you pass by the British capital city from the 30 March, you will be able to view the print ads – which target London’s commuter population – with a cover wrap of Metro. Additionally, outdoor advertising will appear in London train stations from April 2012. Lastminute.com’s owned channels, Facebook and Twitter, will also be used to tap in to customers’ spontaneity whilst out and about.

Kathy Maxwell, Head of Brand and PR at lastminute.com UK and Ireland said “To us, this creative is more than a rebrand, it marks a transformation of our business, our next chapter. We have identified our core value proposition and are focused on letting people know why they should come to us.”

Beside the fact that the idea of democratising luxury may be a beautiful idea, the question now is: what is luxury, if luxury is attainable for everyone?

It followup their “TOP SECRET SELECTION” in which you can book top 4* and 5* hotels in a complete discretion. The name of the hotel will be shown only on the confirmation email.

Bloggers could enjoy the new campaign by participating into a evening photo shooting in which they could see themselves in the photo campaign context. See here below our UK correspondent for Luxuryactivist:
FT_luxuryactivist.com

The Creative campaign is definitely playing on the sense of humor and still, putting people on stage in exceptional situations. For more information, check the official website: http://www.lastminute.com.

In any case, this shows that luxury has became an aim for many people, not only for wealthy ones, as we can see it since a few years now, not only in the travel industry, but as well in fashion, or cars. And when large tour operator like lastminute.com are interested in it, maybe it means that this idea is already a mainstream today.

Time to move forward… But what’s the new era?

FT

 

Info sourced on last minute.com event and press release. All images copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.