Airbnb has launched a global advertising campaign with an impressively detailed piece of creative, no doubt influenced by recently-appointed CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, formerly of Coca-Cola. 

The hero of the ‘Welcome to Airbnb’ campaign is a 70-second video of a train moving through miniature environments, all shot in one take. (And it only took 85 takes to get it right.)

Using no computer generated imagery, 30 people spent five weeks building the 85 square metre train set in a warehouse in New Zealand, involving 20 square metres of plywood, 12 litres of glue and more than 160 sheets of poly board.

Jonathan Mildenhall, Airbnb’s CMO, said in a statement: “As you board the train in this film, you’re transported into a magical world that represents the very heart of Airbnb.

“As you wind your way through some of the amazing listings Airbnb has to offer, you get a different perspective on the world. With each viewing, you see something unique and interesting that you didn’t notice before, mirroring the experience that many people have when they travel with Airbnb.”

Some ‘fun facts’ about the video:

• ‘Welcome to Airbnb’ was shot in a 40×40 metre warehouse in Auckland, New Zealand,
• nine ‘Cirkus artists’ mechanically moved all the transitions, by hand, as the train moved along the full length of the track,
• the castle was 3D printed and then hand painted brick by brick,
• miniature modellers and model painters created more than 100 unique trees, more than 60 hand-cut houses and 240 tailor-made miniature flowers, grasses and shrubs,
• 96 figurines were made – including six miniatures of real Airbnb guests and two dogs,
• the film features seven different lighting environments, all happening ‘live’ at the same time,
• on the day of the shoot, 85 attempts were made to shoot the whole film, which is just one take, and
• 18 tables were used to raise the full length train track.

Here’s a video of the work behind the scenes: