Princess Rocks the Boat with New R Class Manga TV Commercial

The all-new R35 from Princess is unlike anything that has come before, and is a seismic shift away from what the luxury yacht industry is used to seeing. A full carbon fibre hull houses two modern V8 petrol engines that deliver exceptional performance. On top of that, Princess has worked with America’s Cup racing legends BAR Technologies to implement advanced foil technology, which powers the yacht to 50 knots†.

Designed in collaboration with acclaimed styling house Pininfarina, marrying substance with unmatched style, the R35 is about to re-write the rule book for motor yachts, as will the way it is being launched by the Plymouth-based luxury yacht manufacturer.

Over the past few weeks Princess revealed a first of its kind TV campaign for this ground-breaking new yacht. The month long campaign is currently on air and was inspired by Japanese Anime and Manga style illustrations, which is a style that has never before been used by a luxury yacht brand. This unique campaign teases the top secret new yacht – which is still in development and prototype testing – that is due to be launched in September this year.

The unpredictable TVC creative brings the R35 to life in a unique way, in stark contrast to anything previously produced by Princess.

The wider media campaign comprises vibrant Manga inspired print ads, the 30 second Anime TV ad and a 90 second version of the Anime video which conveys the whole story – a mystical encounter, a game of cat and mouse, and an exhilarating sprint across the water – utilising a strong female lead character in a very sophisticated anime style.

The TV commercial first aired across Sky via AdSmart over the Easter weekend, allowing Princess to target bespoke viewer profiles – The World Class Wealth and Premium fortunes, reaching the top 1% of homes in the UK. The original story behind the video was the brainchild of Princess’ Marketing department and was brought to life via a partnership between Craft Films and renowned animation studio ‘Breakfast of Champions’. Together they developed a series of unique characters and animated them into a comprehensive film. As well as the bespoke visuals, Princess commissioned an original soundtrack called “Refoolution”, written and recorded by the celebrated Australian act ‘Gando and Dr K.’

Speaking on the inspiration for the video, Kiran Haslam, Princess’ Marketing Director said, “Anime is a true-to-life yet still symbolic representation of reality. The use of it in our campaign means we can showcase the feel of the R35 without giving away the final look of the boat. Brands usually use simplistic illustration to create a whimsical feel. We wanted to use traditional Japanese techniques and compositions to create something more cutting edge, inspired by the great Anime films including Akira, Ghost in The Shell and Afro Samurai, and with details and depth more commonly found in Studio Ghibli style films, to show how exhilarating the new R class will be.”

The unique video campaign builds intrigue just before Princess releases more content on the R Class, and goes into detail on the revolutionary yachts Active Foil System and stunning design. This September the boat will be revealed at the Cannes Yachting Festival, and up until that point Princess has placed distinctive Manga-style movie poster print adverts across publications traditionally not explored by the marine industry, including Rolling Stone, RAMP, National Geographic, Wired UK and Wallpaper*

Seamlessly blending top end luxury with progressive performance technology, the R35 is a whole new breed of yacht, and is ready to disrupt the industry. Just like its media campaign, the R35 is revolutionary, reflecting Princess’ extraordinary 53-year journey of UK manufacturing in its finest form.