MIAMI, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest cruise company, today announced its first-ever multi-brand
marketing campaign incorporating all nine of its leading global
brands to drive increased awareness, consideration and demand for
cruising as a great vacation option at an exceptional value.
Targeting consumers who are new to cruising, the campaign will kick
off on November 24 with several
digital and social elements before ramping up with a schedule of
digital content and television advertising in first quarter
2015.
As part of the marketing effort, Carnival Corporation will
introduce the "World's Leading Cruise Lines Marketing Challenge" –
an interactive crowdsourcing program in which CEO Arnold Donald and celebrity emcee Cedric the
Entertainer ask consumers to "join the company's marketing team"
and pick their favorite TV ads from a selection of creative
concepts, with the chance for one lucky participant to win a yearly
cruise for life.
Carnival Corporation's newly redesigned World's Leading Cruise
Lines website – WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com – will serve as
the campaign hub. The new site will feature content from each of
the company's nine brands and also house new tools and
functionality in support of the campaign.
The campaign elements are designed to educate consumers and
especially non-cruisers on why cruising is an extraordinary
vacation experience at an exceptional value. The campaign
will help consumers understand how contemporary cruising has
evolved, with grand cruise ships offering something for everyone,
and how common myths about cruising are untrue. The campaign will
also encourage consumers to consult a travel agent as a valuable
resource for planning a cruise vacation.
The goal of the marketing program is to help inspire consumers
to consider cruising as one of their top options when planning
vacations -- and, ultimately, to grow demand for cruising. While
cruising continues to grow in worldwide popularity, with nearly 22
million people expected to have taken cruises in 2014, only about
3.3 percent of people in North
America in any given year go on a cruise – providing a
significant marketing opportunity.
"Across our portfolio of nine brands and more than 100 cruise
ships visiting over 700 destinations around the world, Carnival
Corporation carries more than 10.5 million guests a year,
accounting for one out of every two people who cruise anywhere in
the world," said Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald. "With so many distinctive
experiences offered by our industry-leading brands, we truly
believe the Carnival family has a cruise for everyone. Our job is
to help people understand why cruising is such a great vacation,
and to help them find which of our nine cruise brands is the right
one for them."
Donald added: "I'm asking consumers to join our marketing team
and weigh in with a vote as well as give us their advice on our
upcoming marketing efforts. In return we have an extraordinary
giveaway – one lucky person will win a cruise a year for life! So
we encourage people to go to WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com, and
check out the advertising concepts. We like all of them but want
help in choosing the best one. While on our site, we encourage
people to also check out our CRUISE-A-NALITY tool. It's a fun and
easy way to find out which of our cruise brands is the best fit for
their personality. Finding the right cruise brand to sail helps
make sure people have a good experience, and we are excited that
CRUISE-A-NALITY can help do just that."
Carnival Corporation's integrated marketing campaign will
include the following elements aimed at growing awareness,
consideration and demand for cruising among consumers:
- The "World's Leading Cruise Lines
Marketing Challenge": Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and celebrity emcee Cedric the
Entertainer will invite consumers to "join" the Carnival
Corporation marketing team and help develop the 2015 multi-brand
marketing campaign. On WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com, Mr. Donald
will introduce six distinct advertising concepts and ask consumers
to help further shape the stories, as well as vote for which ad
concept does the best job of both dispelling misconceptions about
cruising and bringing the cruise experience to life.
- CRUISE-A-NALITY: One aspect of
WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com allows vacationers to find their
"CRUISE-A-NALITY," which is an interactive tool to help consumers
find their individual cruise persona – type of cruiser based on
likes and dislikes – from a total of 30 personas. After answering
six simple questions, the CRUISE-A-NALITY tool provides consumers
with their persona, cruise brand recommendations and links to find
more information to begin planning their vacation – with a reminder
to contact their travel agent for additional guidance on which
cruise is right for them. Once visitors know their CRUISE-A-NALITY,
they are encouraged to call their travel agent as well as share
their results through their Facebook and Twitter social media
channels.
- Twitter Contest: Carnival Corporation
is kicking off the launch of its new Twitter handle with a contest
encouraging consumers to share what they love about cruising.
Consumers will tweet the reasons they love cruising to the new
handle with a hashtag that will be revealed on the handle. In
addition to instant prizes for tweets at 50,000, 150,000, 250,000,
400,000, 500,000 and 750,000, one individual who tweets the
Carnival handle and hashtag will be selected at random to receive,
for themselves and a guest, 100 days of cruising on their choice of
Carnival Corporation's U.S.-based brands to be used at their
discretion.
- WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com: This
site – which promotes the company's nine brands – serves as the hub
for both the campaign and an information source on cruising options
and experiences on Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard, Holland America
Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in the U.S.; AIDA Cruises in
Germany; Costa Cruises in
Italy; and P&O Cruises
(Australia) and P&O Cruises
(United Kingdom). All elements of
the campaign will drive consumers to the site, which will help
serve as a continuous communication platform with consumers.
All sweepstakes rules and eligibility information will be
available on WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com.
About Carnival Corporation
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise
company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands
in North
America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised
of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess
Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises,
Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O
Cruises (UK).
Together, these brands operate 101 ships totaling 214,000 lower
berths with seven new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2015
and 2017. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates
Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies
in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both
the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival
Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be
included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100
indices. Additional information can be found
on www.carnival.com, www.hollandamerica.com,
www.princess.com, www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de,
www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com, www.pocruises.com.au and
www.pocruises.com.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc