TRAVEL MADE FUN. TUMI rolls out a new campaign for Asia and the Middle East featuring Hollywood actor Chris Pratt. Joezer Mandagi reports from Hong Kong
Hong Kong has long promoted itself as “Asia’s world city,” a regional hub for international business, a major player in finances and, of course, a major tourist destination. So, it was only natural for TUMI—a leading international brand of travel, business and lifestyle accessories—to pick Hong Kong as the theme of its newest campaign for Asia and the Middle East. And for the star of this campaign, the brand has tapped none other than Hollywood actor Chris Pratt.
A Star on the Road
“I’m going to Hong Kong!” Pratt exclaims at the start of his TUMI campaign video. What follows was then a cool and funny montage of him and his assistant packing for the star’s first ever trip to Hong Kong, all the while showing off the myriad of features one may find in a piece of luggage from the brand. The built-in USB port for charging was highlighter early on, as well as one of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” star personal favorites: the packing cubes.
“You can have like one cube just for your pants. Roll them up. One just for shirts, one just for workout clothes, one for socks and underwear, and then one for your dirty laundry,” Pratt elaborated. “And you can stack all this stuff up in your bag, it’s really organized, it’s really sleek. I like the way that it works and you can actually fit like—I have these two bags and I’ll fit an entire week’s worth of clothes in two carry-on bags so I don’t have to check any bags.”
And he should know: Chris Pratt has been a longtime user of TUMI luggage pieces. “I only ever promote products I actually use in real life. It’s all been very organic,” the actor recalled. “We met with the TUMI team in LA, got along really well and we went straight ahead to shoot the first Campaign. And now I’m in Hong Kong, which is just incredible.”
Of course, Pratt wasn’t in Hong Kong just to sightsee and enjoy the local cuisine—although he certainly enjoyed both. See, the video we mentioned earlier ended with Pratt heading off to the airport. So, besides helping promote the TUMIxPRATT campaign, he was also there to shoot the sequel. But before that, the Hollywood actor known for his portrayal of Star-Lord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lent his star power to an amazing evening at the TUMI Loft.
A Loft and a Party
The new TUMI Loft can be found at Pacific Place in Hong Kong. Inside, guests could go through old adverts and patent listings on display at the TUMI Heritage and Design Wall, learn more about the brand’s standards at the Quality & Testing Station or get styling ideas at, well, the Styling Corner. And then there were also plenty of TUMI pieces on display, including backpacks from the Recycled Capsule Collection to Pratt’s favorite Alpha 3 models.
Interestingly, there was a major emphasis on technology as well, with a couple of discovery stations that could identify TUMI bags and showcase detailed information on the pieces as well as signs promoting the just-launched TUMI Club mobile app. The latter not only allows users to browse through the brand’s current collections but also boasts an augmented reality function that allows fans to take photos with a virtual Chris Pratt.
This hi-tech sub-theme actually fits quite well with what you can find in the latest bags and luggage pieces from TUMI. These can come with anything from charging ports to a TUMI Global Locator which would be a godsend when your baggage goes missing. “One of the great things about TUMI, the brand, is that is that it continues evolving,” Victor Sanz, TUMI’s Creative Director, elaborates. “From the very beginning, like we said it’s all about the function, the features, the quality and it continues to evolve. It’s not changing who it is, it’s about looking at the world and giving the tools that our customers are asking for and that customers need.”
Back to the amazing evening mentioned earlier, on April 30, 2019, the TUMI Loft became the venue for a star-studded campaign launch party. Celebrities, social influencers, singers, TV hosts and actors from Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore and more were among the guests in attendance, including two friends of the brand from Indonesia who are also old friends of DA MAN: Environmentalist extraordinaire Nadine Chandrawinata and actor Rio Dewanto. They were soon joined by Chris Pratt himself, Victor Sanz and Adam Hershman, TUMI’s General Manager for Greater China, APAC Distribution and Travel Retail.
In a way, the party and its guests nicely illustrates who TUMI creates for. “It’s for DJs, it’s for Chris Pratt, it’s for artists, it’s for musicians, for people that expect the best and need the best, to perform at the best level,” Victor Sanz emphasizes. “That’s what we started connecting to.”
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