EU/AU Brand Campaign 2023 – Melissa McCarthy books her dream holiday
Booking.com
In 2023, Booking.com extended its Booking is half the fun campaign beyond the US, bringing the idea to European and Australian audiences with a new set of films and assets tailored to these markets. Melissa McCarthy returned as the face of the campaign, continuing to bring warmth, humour and relatability to the brand.
While the creative platform remained the same, the focus evolved to reflect regional needs and behaviours. The EU and AU campaign highlighted Booking.com’s broader travel offering — from flights and car rental to accommodation — showing how easy it is to plan an entire trip in one place.
Bringing the Campaign to Life
Building on the approach developed for the US campaign, I led the creative execution for the EU and AU markets, collaborating with the brand team and the creative agency to adapt the messaging and assets to resonate locally while staying true to the Booking is half the fun platform.
A key creative challenge for this shoot was working inside a purpose-built “fake” plane — a first for me — which brought unique constraints for both film and photography due to the limited space. Through careful pre-planning of camera angles, lighting and set art direction, we were able to turn those constraints into an advantage, capturing strong, character-led performances and beautifully composed imagery. The result was a set of films and campaign images that felt dynamic, playful and visually rich, while remaining flexible enough to be adapted across multiple channels.
