Cruise companies are opening 2015 with a raft of new TV ad
campaigns seeking to take advantage of the upswing in consumer interest in
cruise planning during Wave season.
The ads range from new variations on established themes at
Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess Cruises to a first-ever TV campaign in the
U.S. for MSC Cruises.
Another first will occur on Feb. 1 when Carnival Corp.
unveils its commercial on TV’s most watched annual event, the NFL’s Super Bowl.
“There’s no bigger stage than the Super Bowl for telling our
story,” Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald said in announcing the company’s
signing on to this year’s event. Over the years, the Super Bowl has become the
most important platform on American TV for introducing new and innovative ads.
Travel agents are expected to benefit from the TV blitz and
other marketing campaigns designed to raise awareness of cruising and prod
consumers with a call to action.
Spending on advertising and other marketing across Carnival
Corp.’s nine brands will be up 25% this year from 2012 levels, Donald said.
NBC, the host network for the Super Bowl, is asking about $4.5 million for
every 30-second slot available during the game, according to Advertising Age.
Cruise lines have turned to Super Bowl marketing before.
Royal Caribbean International was the title sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime
show in 1998, and Norwegian chartered the Norwegian Getaway for use as the Bud
Light Hotel for last year’s Super Bowl, which was played at MetLife Stadium in
New Jersey.
But Carnival’s ad will be different in several respects.
Rather than advertise one of its brands, Carnival is using the spot to promote
all nine of its brands and the merits of a cruise in general. It might be as
close to a generic ad for cruising as the industry has seen to date.
Also, Carnival is taking a page from recent Super Bowl ads
by involving consumers in deciding the content of the campaign. Since early
December, it has solicited votes for six concept ads previewed on the newly
rechristened website for the World’s Leading Cruise Lines. Two of the concepts
have since been dropped.
The remaining four have evolved from storyboards into
full-fledged commercials.
Finalists include a poignant narration of wonder from a
young girl in “Message in a Bottle,” a nightmare that becomes a dream in
“Getaway” and an innuendo-filled “Cruise Virgin.”
All are more than a minute long and include a “call your
travel agent” recommendation in fine print at the end.
A fourth candidate, “Mystery Spot,” is a 30-second tease for
a yet-to-be-revealed ad that ends with the words “The mystery. Solved soon.”
Carnival’s contest, through WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com,
will help pick the finalist, with a cruise every year for life dangled as a
prize to encourage participation.
Vince Ciepiel, a stock analyst with Cleveland Research Co.,
said incremental demand from the ad might or might not be worth the $4.5
million price tag, but the ad reinforces the company’s reputation as a
committed and prestigious partner.
“I do think it helps the cruise lines’ perception amongst
their travel agents,” Ciepiel said.
MSC Cruises will be on the air in January with its first TV
ads for the U.S. market, said spokeswoman Alyssa Goldfarb.
“The focus of the campaign is to highlight our Italian
heritage, which we do through fun, upbeat Italian music selection as well as
featuring our Italian-style food and entertainment options,” Goldfarb said.
The spots serve both as brand advertising and to highlight
MSC’s Wave offer, which includes up to $200 of onboard spending credits, free
beverage packages and reduced deposits.
Other cruise lines are extending their existing campaigns
with fresh versions of their marketing message.
Norwegian Cruise Line is out with a new TV commercial that
will be running through May in the New York and Florida markets as well as in
the Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia markets across the major networks.
The ad opens with the line “Norwegians are free to do
everything under the sun” and shows a variety of cruise activities. It closes
with “Cruise Like a Norwegian” followed by a billboard identifying it as “The
Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Line.”
“Our new spot highlights freedom and flexibility that only
Norwegian can offer with our signature Freestyle Cruising,” spokeswoman
AnneMarie Mathews said.
The spot will air during popular shows and televised events,
including the Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, NFL playoffs, “American Idol” and
“The Bachelor.”
Airing on “The Bachelor” last week was an ad for Disney
Cruise Line titled “Day of Enchantment.” The ad is a gentle take-off on Star
Trek, in which a family father narrates the “Captain’s Log” of all the fun and
adventure he had on a cruise. The tag line is “When it comes to pleasing
everyone, the difference is Disney.”
Disney Cruise Line’s manager of marketing and sales,
Jennifer Haile-Tinn, said one point of the ad is to remind adults that Disney
is just as much fun for them as for their kids. “Adults can find fun and
relaxation with experiences and spaces designed just for them and then come
together for family time,” she said.
Haile-Tinn said Disney is on TV in January because this is
when guests are starting to plan late spring and summer travel. “Our national
advertising campaign aims to make Disney Cruise Line part of that consideration
set,” she said.
Princess Cruises is also taking to the airwaves with fresh
variations on its “Come Back New” campaign, launched last year. They promote
travel to Alaska and the Caribbean, and many highlight a new Princess
partnership with the Discovery Channel.
“Princess Cruises passengers are passionate about exploring
and experiencing the world around them, and the new Discovery partnership takes
this to a whole new level,” said Princess Marketing Vice President Gordon Ho.
The campaign, which
also has print and digital components, was timed to Wave season, Princess said.
One cruise brand not opting for national TV is Carnival
Cruise Line, which did a $25 million “Moments That Matter” campaign last year.
Carnival Chief Marketing Officer Jim Berra said that this year the line was
focused on highly targeted digital and regional advertising.
“Additionally, this approach provides great ability to
optimize and adjust as needed, vs. a large national TV spend where the dollars
are committed and the ability to adjust is more limited,” Berra said.