Sheraton Hotels is amplifying its image with a hip, breakthrough TV campaign that features a spirited re-make of The Rolling Stones’ "Let’s Spend the Night Together." Of the four new spots, SHOOT has selected the rollicking :60 "Epic" as Top Spot of the Week. Created by Deutsch New York, and directed by James Brown of bicoastal Smuggler, the energetic "Epic" depicts a band—portrayed by the members of Convoy, the San Diego-based outfit that also re-recorded "Let’s Spend the Night Together" for the campaign—playfully romping around a Sheraton Hotel.
"Epic," which finds the band lip-syncing the song as they would in a music video, opens on the exterior of a Sheraton Hotel. We see the Sheraton logo atop the building, and a series of balconies below. "Let’s Spend the Night Together" begins playing, and the camera zooms in on Jason Hill, Convoy’s lead singer. He is standing on a balcony, clutching the railing and singing the opening lyrics of the song. The camera pans downward to a balcony below, where we see a guitarist rocking out, then to another balcony where a bassist is playing, then to another where the entire band is assembled.
They retreat inside the hotel, and we see the band (which comprises Hill, Shaun Cornell, Robbie Dodds, Brian Karscig and Mark Maigaard) darting wildly about in a hallway, their action speeded up. At one point, one band member "swims" across the hall in the air, another walks on the ceiling playing a guitar, and yet another is trailed by a potted plant.
Their hallway antics finished, the band is shown riding in an elevator with a maid who is holding a pile of towels. In an instant, their ’60s-style clothing is replaced with bathing suits, and they’ve all got towels around their necks. Meanwhile, the maid is left strumming a guitar.
Once in the lobby, the band—once again fully clothed—walk in a duck-like procession toward the main entrance of the hotel. They exit into a crush of fans and paparazzi, then quickly re-enter the hotel to escape the frenzy.
After dozing off while watching themselves on TV back in their room, the guys head out to the balcony and wave to their adoring fans as flashbulbs pop. A super appears over the scene: "Sheraton has a new spin." A subsequent super features the Sheraton logo and says, "Sheraton. Let’s spend the night together." The hotel’s Web address also appears.
A NEW SPIN
In creating the ad, Deutsch heeded Sheraton’s call for "something that would create a lot of impact for them. They wanted to shake up the [hotel advertising] category," said Deutsch senior VP/group creative director Evelyn Neill. The creative team struck a chord with the idea of re-making a classic song to help show that "the classic hotel [chain] has a whole new attitude and new programs to offer its guests," Neill explained.
Once they settled on "Let’s Spend the Night Together," Deutsch obtained the publishing rights from Abkco Records, New York. With the rights secured, the agency then conducted a casting call for a real band to record the song and star in the ad campaign.
Ten Music, Santa Monica, was instrumental in the search. Executive producer Rachel Dunn and music director Dominic Bernacchi pulled CDs of bands for the creatives to hear and provided ideas as to where each particular group might take the song. Convoy beat out more than 150 bands to win the gig. "They had a great sound that seemed right for the song," Neill said. "They are a true rock ‘n’ roll band in the old style, and yet [they] have a very modern interpretation to their work."
The agency hired Rob Schnapf of Advanced Alternative Media, New York, to produce Convoy’s updated version of "Let’s Spend the Night Together." (The song was actually recorded before the spot was shot so that the band would have a track to lip sync to.) Schnapf has produced tunes for the likes of Beck, Moby, Foo Fighters and The Vines, but this project marked the first time he lent his talents to a commercial.
Schnapf, Convoy and the agency team spent a full week—which included a few all-nighters—recording the song at Sear Sound, New York. Doug Boehm of Sear Sound served as assistant producer/engineer on the project. Tonefarmer, New York, line produced the record, finding and renting vintage instruments—including a rare Melotron from Joan Baez—and helping streamline the production. The song was mastered at Sterling Sound, New York.
While the song was being recorded, the agency simultaneously strived to find a director who would do the concept justice. Brown offered a mix of commercial and music video experience. His credits include spots for Sony PlayStation and MasterCard, and music videos such as "Muhammad Ali" for Faithless, as well as clips for Tori Amos, Finley Quaye and Apollo 440. Aside from having a killer reel, Brown also wowed Deutsch with a spectacular treatment and a mock video showing the fun, lighthearted tone he aimed to strike, according to Neill.
Brown—who shot all of the spots in the campaign, including "Epic"—was intrigued by the possibilities the idea presented. "I thought it sounded like we could make something you hadn’t seen before," he said.
With Brown on board, the agency and production crew were off to a Sheraton Hotel in Phoenix to shoot "Epic" and the other spots in the campaign, "Jubilation" (:30), "Broken String" (:15), and "Lights Out" (:15). The Phoenix hotel was chosen because of its iconic look and warm-weather location. Brown, DP Greg Copeland and the rest of the crew shot the campaign in four days.
The shoot was straightforward, according to Deutsch producer Eve Kornblum. "It was mostly choreographed because of the lip syncing," Kornblum related. "But there were sections—like the hallway sequence—where we would improv."
All of the effects were shot in-camera: For instance, the upside-down guitarist was actually attached to the ceiling with wires.
The project did present a challenge for Brown in that he had to balance the wishes of an image-conscious band with the needs of the client. "It was quite interesting from my point of view because you had a band being all rock ‘n’ roll and saying, ‘I’m not going to do that because that’s not me, man,’ or ‘I’m not wearing that because that’s not me, man,’ " Brown related. "Then, on the other side you’ve got a corporate client saying, ‘We want this.’ "
Ultimately, Brown said he believed he was able to please everyone involved while simultaneously reaching the goals of the campaign.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HOTEL
While shooting the campaign was work, everyone involved also characterized the shoot as a lot of fun. "There was a wonderful sort of blurring of the commercial and reality when we were there because we were all staying [at the hotel] as well," Florence Buchanan, Deutsch senior VP/group creative director said. "We were shooting the band running around the hotel, and they were actually running around the hotel when we weren’t shooting. You couldn’t tell whether you were in the commercial."
The hotel was operating and occupied by guests when the campaign was shot, and they appeared to get a kick out of the production. "You’d find people were dancing and watching and trying to get involved," Kornblum said.
Once the shoot wrapped, editor Adam Pertofsky of Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles, took over. (Pertofsky actually edited the spot at Final Cut, New York.) Kornblum said Pertofsky had a lot of options to work with. "It was an embarrassment of riches," she said.
Of course, everyone thought the final product rocked. "I think it was an amazing project for all of us to work on—each from our own particular point of entry. I know from a production standpoint it was really incredible," Kornblum commented. "It was really two productions in one because the music was an entire production in and of itself."
While the campaign is expected to reinvigorate the image of Sheraton Hotels, it may also help to launch Convoy—which has recorded the albums "Black Licorice" and "Pineapple Recording Sessions"—to a new level of mainstream popularity. The band has certainly found fans in the creatives at Deutsch. "I think our last deep hope is that the band will release the single because it was so good," Neill said.
Convoy’s manager Stephen Hutton of Uppercut Management, Chicago, reported that it is possible that the band—which is about to sign with a major new label—will release the song, "but nothing has been decided yet."
