Virtual Ventura – Eye-catching and memorable

virtualventura.com
The marketing department at international cruise operators P&O faced a challenge; how to let prospective customers feel the glamour of their new £300 million superliner – while the ship is still under construction in Italy and not due to sail until April 2008.

They turned to TheTin and moving image specialists Three Blind Mice for help.

The brief

Briefed to dazzle prospective passengers with the premium quality, entertainment experiences and leisure destinations on board, the team proposed an ambitious virtual tour that showcased key features and environments in stunning detail. Jamie Simmonds, co-founder and managing director at TheTin explains. "Effective online marketing relies on eye-catching and memorable consumer experiences and the Virtual Ventura tour is an ideal way to bring the ship to life for potential passengers. Intuitive navigation, animated features and celebrity involvement will enable them to get a feel of the space, a sense of the quality and attention to detail, and a taste of the experiences that await them when she launches for the British market in April 2008."

The tour

The resulting interactive tour combines live action, animation, 3d environments and commentary to present a luxurious world that suitably reflects Ventura’s creative design, cutting edge features and market leading positioning.

Accessible from P&O’s website, the tour begins with the same view that meets boarding passengers, the spectacular atrium. It continues by highlighting key interior design features, moving from one space to another and showing venues for cultural events, family entertainment and relaxing experiences, as presented by British designer Nick Munro.

Prospective passengers can also listen to Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White as he presents Ventura’s dining ethos, as embodied in the sumptuous surroundings of The White Room, his own signature fine dining restaurant on board. His renowned culinary flair will also be integrated into many other areas of the dining experience, from Tazzine, a café/lounge bar to The Beach House, a family restaurant.

Restaurants, nightclubs, bars, theatres and show lounges, spas, boutiques, children’s clubs and room interiors are all available to view and explore. Over the coming year the site will develop to offer 360° panoramic views, online booking, itineraries and destination information.

The craft

"Working with four separate architects and having over 40 3D interior spaces to render and animate in such detail certainly makes this one of the most ambitious 3D animation projects of its kind", says Andy Bull, creative director of Three Blind Mice.

In order to make a project of this scope and deadline run as smoothly as possible, Three Blind Mice managed aspects and coordinated the acquisition of relevant marketing assets with work in progress from architects and interior designers.

The live footage was filmed on HD in a green screen studio and composited using Adobe After Effects and Macromedia Flash video. This was combined with cutting edge Macromedia Flash development to create a bespoke application that would enable modular elements to be added as and when they become available.

The result

"Cruising is the fastest growing sector in the travel industry and in an ever changing market it is important that we constantly look to new and creative ways to reach holidaymakers and show them what P&O Cruises has to offer. Ventura will be a ground breaking ship so the ‘virtual tour’ has to be equally cutting edge. We are really pleased with the site and it is already proving to be a great success with potential passengers who are increasingly finding out about us on-line." says P&O Cruises head of brand marketing Philip Price.

Launch P&O's Virtual Ventura here