Motivated by the incredible adventure offered by Mercure, nearly 400 candidates from all over the world applied, supported by close to 50 000 votes. The “6 Friends” community took the social networks by storm with close to 130,000 new fans on Mercure’s page and more than 10 million Internet users who viewed the campaign on Facebook. The film teaser also created a buzz on YouTube and Facebook with 5.4 million views.
Ludovica Loda, a 21-year old Italian became the lucky winner of a round-the-world trip via the Mercure hotel network, with the last port of call being Australia for a meeting with an Aboriginal from the Bundjalung tribe in Byron Bay.
Every stage of the trip took her to one of the five friends that linked her to the Aboriginal and Australia, thus proving to the whole world that they were only six degrees of separation away from each other.
Images of Ludovica’s incredible human adventure took stock of this operation which inspired millions of Internet users.
Mercure unveils the “The Six Friends Theory” human adventure web series
Ludovica is now back from her 46-day trip around the world via the Mercure hotel network and has just shared her incredible adventure with the “Six Friends” community, describing her encounters, discoveries, trips and unique experiences.
The itinerary took her to the home countries of the five friends linking her to Nigel, an Aboriginal from the Bundjalung tribe in Australia.
Ludovica has traveled 31,599 kms in 46 days. She first started her journey in Rome then stayed at Mercure hotels in Paris, Berlin, London, Rio, Nelspruit in South Africa and Bali, completing her incredible voyage in Byron Bay, Australia!
Her adventures were packed with excitement and human discoveries which included an initiation to graffiti in Paris, wild nights in Berlin, samba lessons in Rio, bivouac classes in South Africa and much more.
The Mercure hotel teams made every effort to ensure that she enjoyed a warm and enriching adventure. Throughout her entire trip, Ludovica was accompanied by communication agency W&Cie and the Windsor production team. Filmmaker, Jean-François Julian, filmed her adventures and encounters.
Starting May 13th, Mercure will unveil the web series of Ludovica’s trip at https://www.facebook.com/MercureHotels.
An unprecedented worldwide operation that reflects Mercure’s new repositioning
The “The Six Friends Theory” worldwide operation, which was designed by communication agency W&Cie, fully reflects Mercure’s renewal. In 2013, the brand opened a new page in its history and kicked off a transformation strategy offering a new approach to midscale hotels.
Mercure aims to highlight the local features of each destination and thus offer travelers authentic shared experiences and encounters. By launching this digital operation, with a round-the-world trip based on human encounters, visits to incredible places, powerful experiences, surprises and much more, the Mercure brand also demonstrates that it is connected and innovative and therefore absolutely in tune with its times. In addition, this operation highlights Mercure’s internationalisation as the brand pursues its expansion and renovation program across the globe and continues to reinforce its network of 711 hotels in 52 countries.