It's no secret that Viking River Cruises' 2011 sponsorship of the PBS series "Masterpiece," which included the hit show "Downton Abbey," was one of the great marketing coups in cruise history.
So perhaps it's not surprising that other river cruise lines are trying to get a taste of that success by sponsoring other shows on the public television airwaves. The latest example is Scenic's sponsorship of "The Great British Baking Show" (or "The Great British Bake Off," as it's known in the U.K.). The popular baking competition has garnered an audience of more than 15 million viewers, and this month Scenic ads will begin cropping up during the fourth season of the program, which airs Fridays at 9 p.m.
That comes only a few months after American Cruise Lines announced that it has become a national sponsor for the current season of "Antiques Roadshow," which draws some 8.5 million viewers a week.
And Viking continues to invest in PBS, as well. It remains one of the main funders of the "Masterpiece" series, and this year Viking is a co-sponsor, along with Farmers Insurance, of the shows "Sherlock" and "Victoria."
For PBS viewers, this means they will be seeing not just more river cruise ads, but ads from different players, something the consumer travel market hasn't really been exposed to much. Whenever I tell people I write about river cruises, I cannot tell you how many times the response is, "Oh, like Viking? I see their ads all the time."
Those ads have given Viking an incredible leg up on the competition. They have also, arguably, raised awareness about river cruising in general. But now, the consumer is going to be receiving an ad-based education about the different options that are out there, beyond just Viking.
Two years ago, Avalon Waterways became the first river cruise company to join Viking on the boob tube when it launched its first television ad campaign, a six-week run on HGTV, the Travel Channel, CNN and BBC America.
At the time, Steve Born, senior vice president of marketing at the Globus family of brands, Avalon's parent company, said that because consumers are hyperaware of the Viking brand, the onus up until now has been completely on agents to introduce their clients to other river cruise lines.
Of course, television ads can swing both ways. Agents can view them as a way for companies to market directly to consumers, or they can view them as a marketing tool for the industry as a whole. Personally, when it comes to river cruising, it will be refreshing to hear consumers talk about more than one brand, especially in a marketplace that has become so diverse and dynamic.