How to Build an Anthem Out of a Bag of Marshmallows

Client: Travel + Leisure Co., WorldMark by Wyndham brand
Initiative: National S’mores Day Campaign
Services: Celebrity talent production, video production, on-location photography, PR and social content development

The Situation: Travel + Leisure Co.’s publicity team wanted to build buzz around National S’mores Day for WorldMark by Wyndham, the brand’s outdoorsy properties. They had already booked Patrick Renna, the actor who taught s’mores-making onscreen in The Sandlot. What they didn’t have was a creative concept to put him in. A paid celebrity booking with no story to tell risked becoming an expensive, forgettable one-off for a holiday most people don’t even know exists.

The Work: Nomad Flamingo pitched a handful of concepts and landed on an anthemic one: Patrick Renna delivering a rallying cry to bring the country together around the campfire to make some s’mores. We shot it over a single day at WorldMark’s Park City, Utah property, then built a full slate of assets out of that one day of talent time: a hero video for social and media, a bonus video for the PR team, a team member thank-you video from Renna, and a matching unit-stills and hero photography package for PR use. One shoot day did the work of five separate deliverables.

The Shift: The campaign became the biggest PR win in the brand’s history at that point with national coverage and social buzz. WorldMark’s publicity team started with a booked actor and a holiday most people don’t put on their calendar. They ended up watching Patrick Renna do national morning show interviews about s’mores and timeshare destinations. A holiday invented for marketing became the actual news.