Premier Inn unveils Lenny Henry in movie spoof ads

Premier Inn is launching a branding campaign featuring Lenny Henry that is designed to attract both business and leisure customers.

Premier Inn
Premier view: The ads will highlight value and quality

Henry first worked with the Whitbread-owned value hotel chain last year to promote its rebrand from Premier Travel Inn.

A new series of ad spots have been devised by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R that show the comedian recreating famous moments from classic films.

The ads are designed to highlight the value and quality credentials of Premier Inn, from the quality of the rooms to the strong restaurant offering. One spot is inspired by the shower scene in Psycho and another by the movie Oliver Twist.

The campaign launches on Monday (22 June) on ITV1 during the show Real Crime and continues with the established strapline “Everything’s premier, but the price.”

All hotel businesses have been hit by the economic downturn. Premier Inn operates in the fiercely competitive budget sector against rivals such as Travelodge.

Whitbread has just posted first-quarter results showing flat total sales for Premier Inn with like-for-like sales down 7.9%.

Premier Inn has been running aggressive press advertising targeting its mid-market rivals recently..