Building buzz during the Oscars

Tom Stieghorst

Cruise lines usually wait until the late innings of a ship's construction process to announce a godmother, so it was mildly surprising that Royal Caribbean International picked Sunday’s Oscars awards ceremony to make the big reveal.

After all, Royal only disclosed the name of its latest newbuild, Quantum of the Seas, three weeks ago. The ship won’t sail until the fall of 2014, at least eighteen months from now.

But the chance to tie publicity about Quantum to the Oscars telecast was apparently too good to pass up.

For those of you who missed it, the Quantum’s godmother will be Broadway actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth. Who? Well, anyone who tuned in early to the ABC pre-festivities show saw Chenoweth all over the red carpet interviewing Hollywood stars as they arrived for the awards.

And during a Royal Caribbean ad shown during a commercial break about 20 minutes into the show, Chenoweth stepped out of a limo and announced that she would be godmother to the Quantum. A contest to win a “vacation of a lifetime” was introduced at the end of the ad.

But who sees the Academy Awards? If you’re not an avid moviegoer, celebrity watcher or fashion maven, you might be surprised. Nearly 40 million people tuned into part of last year’s four-hour statue presentation, a big audience in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. For several years, the Oscars has been quietly gaining a reputation among advertisers as the affordable Super Bowl. Ads on the Oscars sell for about $1.7 million for a 30-second spot, compared to $3.7 million for the football game. Royal bought a half-dozen ads for the event, although it hasn’t said how much it spent.

Two more relevant points about the Oscars: The show grabs a mainly female audience, and women are much more likely than men to propose a cruise for the family or couple’s vacation.

And the Oscars prompt heavy social media activity — according to Twitter, there were 8.9 million Oscar-related tweets during the red carpet and awards shows — and therefore potentially a good place to build buzz. Royal tweeted relentlessly after the Chenoweth reveal, and Royal sales vice president Vicki Freed had staged a Facebook campaign in the weeks prior to the show to build curiosity about the awards.

Royal has yet to open the Quantum for bookings, but for Allure of the Seas, its most recent ship, sales opened 21 months before sailing. So if that’s any guide, look for an announcement soon, perhaps as early as next month.