BY FRAN GOLDEN
SEATTLE -- Princess Cruises is extending to consumers its
controversial campaign comparing its Alaska operations directly
with those of its main competitor, Holland America Line-Westours.
And officials from Holland America say they are not going to take
it anymore.
In its 1998 Alaska brochures, Princess implored consumers to
look at "which itinerary gives you more." Princess did not name
Holland America but pictured its competitor's ships and hotels
against its own offerings.
Having seen early copies of the Princess brochures, Holland
America is adding inserts in its own 1998 brochures to answer
Princess directly. Holland America officials said the premise of
the Princess campaign is "very misleading and deceptive" because it
compares a Princess 12-day cruise--tour with seven days on a ship,
to a Holland America 12-day cruise-tour with three days on a ship.
Both firms offer both options.
Last year, Princess made the same claims of superiority in its
sales tools for agents. Jack Anderson, sales and marketing vice
president for Holland America, said the comparison campaign moves
Princess "from class to crass," and he said the move reeks of
"desperation."
He said that last year, Holland America turned a blind eye to
the comparisons "preferring not to sink to their level." This year,
however, with Princess moving the comparison into its widely
distributed consumer collaterals, "they've gone too far," Anderson
said.
"In our brochure and collateral material and in our agent
seminars this fall, we are really reluctantly forced to respond to
try to state the facts honestly and clearly," he said. They've
forced us to respond on a competitive basis." He added that
competitive product bashing "causes confusion and doubt about the
destination and vacation choice, and that's not good for anybody."
Anderson said he would rather talk up his line's attributes than
criticize his competitor, and he urged agents "to remember who
started it" and to respond with their bookings.
For his part, Rick James, senior vice president of sales and
corporate relations for Princess, said his line's brochures were
simply an attempt to show the difference between the main tour
options offered in Alaska and to express how the 12-day Gulf of
Alaska experience is better. "It comes down to product
differentiation, pure and simple," James said. "We're [Princess and
Holland America] the Nos. 1 and 2 in Alaska. People consider both.
We want some understanding as to what each program offers and [to
show] that there are differences. We're not trying to show anything
from a disparaging standpoint."
James said that making such comparisons is an option to
competing on price, about which he said everyone in the industry
likes to complain. "If we allowed this industry to become
'everybody has the best,' then it should not surprise a soul that
it's going to be sold on price," James said. "Ultimately, you have
to differentiate your product."