A special approach
Almost every child (and adult) in the Netherlands knows ‘De Efteling’, but not everyone knows there’s something special right next-door to that amusement park: Villa Pardoes. A unique holiday villa with twelve themed apartments for families with children who need special care due to serious illness. With no charges to pay, parents, brothers and sisters, grannies and granddads – and of course the children themselves – can take a break from day to day reality for a whole week. Everyone gets to enjoy themselves in a place where every member of the family is catered for. At GI, we think that’s a great idea. So, when Villa Pardoes approached us for a new concept and its implementation, we surely wanted to contribute!
A fitting concept ‘hook’ for a new positioning
Villa Pardoes received its first guests in the year 2000. Over time, the organization shifted its focus from paying attention only to the children to thinking about the whole family. Now, they wanted to further extend this development to showcase Villa Pardoes as a healing environment. Research showed that families are very positive about their week at the villa, and that their stay creates lasting memories as well as a positive impact that lingers long after the visit. It was up to GI to develop a concept that matched this.
Making beautiful memories
After an introduction, Villa Pardoes gave us all the space we needed to work our magic. We started working on the concept, slogan and image development. The main idea in this stage was that Villa Pardoes doesn’t just ensure a good time but also a good feeling that lasts for a long time which you can re-experience again and again.
During the development we therefore continuously tested our ideas against four key pillars: a healing environment, the family, attention and magic. In this way we ensured our concept proposals would certainly match the Villa Pardoes identity as an enchanting place for making beautiful memories.
From sparkling kitchen review to lasting enchantment
After a swirling brainstorm, we presented a so-called kitchen review: a look into our ‘kitchen’ with sparkling sketches and ideas which we then narrowed down to three concepts. The final, chosen one is based on the idea of a bell jar [glass dome] – not only because families can really spend some time together and forget the world around them, but also because such jars/domes play an important role in the Villa Pardoes houses. Bell jars/glass domes stand in the halls of each Villa Pardoes apartment, and contain constantly changing objects as 'elements of wonder'. Therefore, our jar/dome – with the family at the center – became the key image of our campaign. A ‘lasting spell’ became the slogan to accompany the image. Altogether, this sums up exactly what a stay at Villa Pardoes is all about.
A pinch of magic in the execution
We organized the photography using a family who had previously stayed at Villa Pardoes, and our design and DTP department provided their pinch of magic in the execution.
We worked out the result across various media, including advertisements, bus shelters and digital roadside bannering. We also developed an online strategy and content plan. Anything to spread the reach of Villa Pardoes’ spell as much as possible!
