Travel Is A Journey AND A Destination

There is something magic about cities. They are diverse, and creative, and energetic. They are hubs for art, culture, and music, and have more restaurants than one person could visit in a lifetime. Ghosts of great lives and great loves weave tightly between new loves and new lives in a tapestry of people, buildings, and ideas. In cities, there are stories everywhere and in everything, and it’s in cities that people find freedom. Freedom to pursue a passion and to be rewarded for their originality and ingenuity with a community of people that says either “me too” or “hell yeah, you do you”.

Staypineapple hotels, has properties  at the heart of all this magic in eight locations across Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, San Diego, and Chicago. Their hotels are located exactly where you want to be in each city, and that didn’t happen by accident. Each of Staypineapple’s properties is acquired precisely because of its location – just steps from major attractions, vibrant nightlife, or a historic city centre – and the interior and exterior of each hotel is designed and/or decorated to reflect the character of the neighborhood that surrounds it.

We wanted to create something for the brand that celebrated and highlighted the connection Staypineapple has to the cities in which they’re located.

We began working with Staypineapple on a six-week project to photograph their hotels and it was through this experience that we discovered had an idea.. We wanted to create something for the brand that celebrated and highlighted the connection Staypineapple has to the cities in which they’re located. We proposed a series of ten videos that followed Dash – Staypineapple’s mascot – as he explored quirky and offbeat attractions, met people pursuing their passions, and discovered little known histories.

In Seattle we interviewed James Curtis, glass artist and owner at the Edge of Glass Studio, and highlighted the city’s world renowned glassblowing. The second video we made in Seattle explored the Museum of Flight, the largest non-profit air and space museum in the world, which has an incredible collection of spacecraft, aircraft, artifacts, and exhibits that trace the history of humankind taking flight.

In Portland we visited the largest leprechaun colony west of Ireland, learned the city was named on a coin toss, and took a tour of some of the city’s craft breweries. In San Francisco we discovered the best speakeasies and visited an abandoned Church converted into a roller rink by the Godfather of Skate, David Miles Jr. San Diego revealed an elaborate topiary garden in a suburban front yard, and the very colourful history of the now trendy Gaslamp Quarter. And, in the windy city, we learned the grand history of the Reliance building – the National Historic Landmark that’s home to Staypineapple’s Alise Chicago – and explored the vast and little known underground neighbourhood known as the Pedway.

Each of the videos that we created are designed to meet a number of objectives. They’re designed to air on the information channel on the TV’s in each hotel room and enrich the experience of the city for the guests that stay there. They raise awareness of Staypineapple’s other destinations, and further associate the Staypineapple brand with great locations in great cities. The videos are also designed to share on social media, which was also managed by Global Image Creation,  in order to market the hotel to guests that are adventurous and young at heart, and to grow Staypineapple’s social engagement – which was achieved by more than 530% on Facebook alone. In addition to the results with external audiences, the videos have received fantastic feedback from Staypineapple’s employees.