LONDON, UK — Hospitality company Premier Inn and creative agency Leo Burnett UK have partnered on the latest installment of the former’s “Rest Easy” platform, “Do Your Thing.” The campaign, planned and bought by media agency UM, spans TV, cinema, digital audio, social, and radio. It aims to showcase Premier Inn as a welcoming and inclusive place, no matter the reason for a guest’s stay.
At the center of the campaign is a 60-second film that celebrates all the individual and wonderful reasons people come to stay at a Premier Inn. The film, supported by 30”, 10”, and 6” edits, tells the stories of a range of characters, from guests staying for business to a keen bunch of cosplay enthusiasts. The spot was filmed at Premier Inn’s all-electric* hotel in Swindon, powered by renewable electricity.
The campaign is based on the insight that guests feel comfortable being their best selves when staying at a Premier Inn. In addition to being a first-choice hotel brand for functional events like business trips, “Do Your Thing” demonstrates that Premier Inn can also cater to more meaningful travel experiences. Without having to worry about their stay, guests can focus on pursuing their passions and making their trip as memorable as possible.
Directed by Alicia MacDonald and Florence Noble, the creative is punctuated by a re-recorded demo of the famous track, “It’s Your Thing” by the Isley Brothers, aptly encouraging guests to “do what [they] want to do.”
The social campaign takes inspiration from user-generated content, with content creators adapting their interpretations of “Do Your Thing.” By inviting native content, Leo Burnett aims to build brand awareness and foster an engaged community around the hotel brand.
Leo Burnett partnered with The Diversity Standards Collective on casting and script development to ensure the campaign would resonate authentically with intersectional communities.
All channels bring back the iconic voice of Premier Inn, Sir Lenny Henry, who delivers the campaign message, “Wherever you’re going, whatever you’re doing — do your thing, we’ll sort the rest.”
The “Rest Easy” brand platform has been successfully doubling down on what sets Premier Inn apart as a beacon of comfort and consistency since April 2021. The film was produced by Missing Link Films.
The advert also introduces the newly developed Premier Inn Next Evolution style rooms that have started to be introduced across new build and refurbished hotels from early 2024. The Next Evolution room design is the first evolution of the brand’s iconic rooms since its Premier Plus rooms were introduced in 2019. It is part of the brand’s commitment to continuously investing in its guest experience. The new room style incorporates a host of new design features, all developed and rigorously tested through guest insight over a number of years. The rooms in the advert also feature the new Silentnight beds, which are now appearing in over 60,000 of the brand’s rooms across the UK.
Tamara Strauss, Global Customer Director, Premier Inn UK, said, “‘Do Your Thing’ celebrates how a stay at Premier Inn makes for a more meaningful trip by enabling people to rest easy. It’s the reassurance that guests can concentrate on all the other things besides worrying about the hotel that matter to make their trip a success — whatever that might be and leave the rest to us. It’s what we are most passionate about.”
Mark Elwood, Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett UK, commented, “With a stay at Premier Inn, you know exactly what you’re going to get: a warm welcome, a great night’s sleep, and a great breakfast. That means you can just get on and ‘Do Your Thing’ with no worries about your stay, you can just enjoy it. Whether you’re going away on business or to your latest Cosplay event, Premier Inn is there for you.”
*Fully powered and heated by grid energy from renewable sources and on-site solar cells. At Swindon and at 98% of the brand’s hotels across the UK, its electricity is backed by renewable energy guarantee of origin certificates
CREDITS:
CAMPAIGN TITLE: ‘Do Your Thing’
CLIENT: Premier Inn
GLOBAL CUSTOMER DIRECTOR: Tamara Strauss
HEAD OF BRAND MARKETING: Yasmin Mukhida-Olushola
SENIOR BRAND MARKETING MANAGER: Lois Wright
BRAND CAMPAIGNS MANAGER: Lauren Steel
BRAND CAMPAIGN EXECUTIVE: Bethan Manktelow
SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE: Ellie Myers
ADVERTISING AGENCY: Leo Burnett
CCO: Mark Elwood
ECDs: James Millers and Andrew Long
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Marcus Aitman
COPYWRITER: Rory Hall
ART DIRECTOR: Steph Ellis
DESIGNER: Brittany Huish-Jones
PLANNER: Jenika Hadipour & Nicola Willison
BUSINESS LEAD: Ana Saffer & Bethany Watts
ACCOUNT TEAM: Robert Ellen, Tobias Dahlhaus, Sian Davidson, Dominic Thomas
PROJECT MANAGER: Charlotte Ager
CHIEF PRODUCTION OFFICER: Emily Marr
AGENCY PRODUCER: Lou Pegg
MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: UM
MEDIA PLANNER: Hannah Stead, Mairead Mullarkey, Ben Lebowitz
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Missing Link Films
DIRECTOR: Alicia MacDonald and Florence Noble
PRODUCER: Ben Link
EXEC PRODUCER: Heather Link
EDITOR: Phil Hignett at Final Cut
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Black Kite
AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Sine Audio
SOUND DESIGNER: Phil Bolland
MUSIC SUPERVISION: Jeremy Newton & Sascha Darroch-Davies @ DLMDD
MUSIC PRODUCTION: Swindle & DLMDD
