Whilst filming our own new mood film for our website, we took the opportunity to chat to one of our long-standing partners in the field of moving images, Philipp Waldhauser. The topic is obvious: mood videos. Our somewhat bold claim on the matter? The corporate film is dead. Long live mood videos.
The traditional promotional video has a problem: it is often generic, expensively produced and tries to tell as much as possible about a hotel. At the same time, the customer journey has changed. These days, hotels are no longer discovered primarily via their websites. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms have become key channels where people find inspiration and are first made to want to stay there in the first place.rnrnAnd on these platforms, it’s less about room sizes, spa facilities or opening hours. It’s about striking images, atmosphere and storytelling. It’s about the question: What might it feel like to be there?
This is exactly where mood videos come into play. They aim to translate the essence of a hotel into a feeling. Ideally, this results in a visual narrative world, ranging from a feature-length mood film to high-quality, serialised formats – almost like short TV episodes. The website then picks up on this story, explores it in greater depth and, in the best-case scenario, turns interest into a booking.
The term isn’t actually from the Duden dictionary, but it describes very well what it’s all about at its core: namely, conveying the sensation of what it feels like to spend time in the house. My aim is to create a daydream that stirs a longing for this specific experience.
To return to the daydream metaphor: one does not dream in the form of ageing advertising posters, but rather of how details feel. Nobody dreams from the perspective of a drone’s-eye view of a generic couple clinking glasses of champagne by the pool. Instead, they dream of how the sea breeze felt on their salty skin during their last holiday. It’s precisely about bringing these longings together and linking them very specifically to the brand.
Essentially, the shoot doesn’t differ much from a traditional promotional shoot. It’s more about how you film something than what you film. This requires a specialised eye. The furnishings, the restaurant and the view aren’t the focal point of the image, as they would be in a Booking.com photo, but rather form the backdrop against which the unique moments that define the hotel take place.
No, not at all! It’s simply a matter of making very deliberate choices and implementing them cleverly. Among other things, it involves a very deliberate stylistic choice that emphasises the brand. I put a lot of thought into workflows and have the right set of tools for every style. If it can be implemented for the chosen style – for example, what I call internally the »Smart Luxury Workflow« – the whole process is a breeze!
No, not necessarily. Strategy comes first; it can tell you whether it makes more sense to engage in an arms race with a new pool of talent or to raise the brand’s profile. If it’s about visibility, then it should be where the sales funnel begins today: on video-centred platforms. And here, it’s all about the essence of the establishment plus high-quality special formats (e.g. Burg Hotel featuring Simone). High-end establishments around the world (e.g. Aman) demonstrate that this is a fact and just how elegantly it can work. You can probably tell that I’m naturally a bit biased here. But if I may be honest: Austria is simply lagging far behind in this respect. And that is precisely where the opportunity lies.
Think carefully about your strategy. The entire hospitality industry is under pressure from falling prices; mood films are a superbly cost-effective and efficient tool for standing out in the market. A production like this can be combined perfectly with a photo shoot to save even more money. And when produced to a high standard, both are assets that will serve you well in the long term.
So perhaps the promotional film isn’t dead after all. But the idea that a hotel can be presented in a distinctive way using beautiful drone shots, a couple by the pool and as comprehensive a ‘showcase’ of its facilities as possible has had its day.
Today, moving images must start earlier – namely with capturing attention, evoking a sense of longing and fostering a connection to the brand. Mood videos can do exactly that – provided they are based on a clear positioning and an original concept.
Ultimately, it’s quite simply about creating images that make guests think: I want to go there.
Philipp Waldhauser is a craftsman portraying craftsmanship, filming things worth while around the world.
To the Website of Philipp Waldhauser: Website