Announcement Today

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Here's their press release (via the @RoyalCaribbeanPR Twitter account):

 

http://m.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1200/royal-caribbean-international-invites-all-adventurers-to-come-seek/

 

It's all about the "Come Seek" campaign. Since this stuff is what I do for a living I'm not surprised in tactics utilized.

 

Thanks for this.

 

In my previous post, I made several of the same points as to where they got the ideas for this ad and where the "This is not a cruise" etc, came from. Looks like my interpretation was pretty accurate, before even reading the press release. But I guess that's because I'm in the generation they're targeting! :p

Edited October 16, 2015 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[Hotel CA]

It wasn't as bad as the "Lust for Life" commercials.

 

Nothing says vacation to me like a song about shooting heroin...

 

Fantastic POST LIKE LIKE LIKE

[denamo]

Totally understand the perspective of Royal. Any business is always seeking new customers. Their target market's knowledge of cruising may be hearing of grandparents or older relatives cruising. They want to quash that perspective and let this new blood know cruising with Royal is not the cruising of yesteryear. Being a seasoned cruiser, even I don't want the cruising of yesteryear. :)

[EpcotBill]

This is not a cruise. You are not a tourist. These aren't the droids you're looking for.

[orville99]

This is not a cruise. You are not a tourist. These aren't the droids you're looking for.

 

Love this one:D:D:D

[LuvBNatC]

An ad campaign denigrating every aspect of its product (cruises, to tourists, to the Caribbean) using negative phasing in every sentence (this is NOT...) can't be saved by cool graphics and music conveying exactly the opposite.

 

It comes off like an identity crisis. What's next, dropping "Cruise Line" from Royal Caribbean's name so people won't realize ships are involved?

 

If millennials see something ironically cool about this sort of approach, they may be ripe to blow lots of disposable income on things that aren't as advertised -- and not in a good way.

 

RCCL's press release rationalization is a subliminal ad for land vacations, with no rigid time constraints to do all these daredevil activities Royal envisions for passengers.

 

I suspect it will take new cruisers exactly one cruise packed with pricey but too-brief "adventures" to figure this out, especially once they've gotten a taste of poor Internet connectivity at sea.

[Earthworm Jim]

Marketing 101 - use of the word "not" in an advertisement is the definition of a dumb campaign. A competent ad manager would avoid the use of that word like the plague.

 

The message effectively says "If you are not one of these demographics then you are not my customer". In a word - Dumb ;)

 

If so, then from our perspective as current RC customers, good! If the campaign bombs and they get fewer new passengers and bookings go down, then presumably prices will go down too. Which is a win for us!

 

But they know far more about advertising than I ever will, so I'm in no position to say that the campaign actually will be a failure.

[Mademypoint]

They're sacking the entire IT Department and hiring professionals

 

Maybe if they didn't insist the people were bi lingual they might get the ideal applicants :D

[ewenix]

Not saying they need to make it "easier" to find the absolute best deal...just easier to use ... PERIOD ... that's "my" point.

 

This is off thread topic, but I would encourage you to contact them and tell them you don't like it, why, and what you would like it to do instead.

 

Please don't say "make it easier." Think about what exactly you want to make easier. When you contact them be specific about wanting to be able to perform a specific action. e.g. I want to be able to pick a category and see all the available cabins for a particular sailing.

 

In the absence of customer direction, the website development will likely be focused on what sales/marketing wants and whatever the next flashy web tool is that some Manager sees at a conference.

 

If a lot of people complain about the same thing to the right people, the change may actually be implemented.

[John&LaLa]

An ad campaign denigrating every aspect of its product (cruises, to tourists, to the Caribbean) using negative phasing in every sentence (this is NOT...) can't be saved by cool graphics and music conveying exactly the opposite.

 

It comes off like an identity crisis. What's next, dropping "Cruise Line" from Royal Caribbean's name so people won't realize ships are involved?

 

If millennials see something ironically cool about this sort of approach, they may be ripe to blow lots of disposable income on things that aren't as advertised -- and not in a good way.

 

RCCL's press release rationalization is a subliminal ad for land vacations, with no rigid time constraints to do all these daredevil activities Royal envisions for passengers.

 

I suspect it will take new cruisers exactly one cruise packed with pricey but too-brief "adventures" to figure this out, especially once they've gotten a taste of poor Internet connectivity at sea.

 

I think you read way to much into this. :eek:

[LuvBNatC]

I think you read way to much into this. :eek:

 

Hahaha! If you work in advertising, you have to "read way too much" into every word so your client doesn't blow a wad on a campaign that bombs.

 

It's the psychology of conning rubes who soak it in without much thought. In that, RCCL seems ro be succeeding.

[John&LaLa]

Hahaha! If you work in advertising, you have to "read way too much" into every word so your client doesn't blow a wad on a campaign that bombs.

 

It's the psychology of conning rubes who soak it in without much thought. In that, RCCL seems ro be succeeding.

 

Nobody 'works' in advertising. ;)

 

Time will tell on the success of this campaign.

[maureencruiser]

They're sacking the entire IT Department and hiring professionals

 

:D You won the internet! :D

[mcatmcat]

No matter who I ask or talk among my friends in a 4 years institutional university they see a cruise vacation as boring and less cool. They are willing to a take a cruise but it has to be 3 day and they always take carnival, during the last 2 years I see an incline to NCL Sky but royal is out of the picture. Last but not least another cruise line company like holland or celebrity won't even ring a bell.

 

No matter how the change the words, sound or image going to a cruise is not appealing to Millennial Generation or Generation Y. Most of us don't plan ahead and don't like to spend that much in vacation, in addition to that Internet is a great tool to compare and the majority will end up picking a complete different vacation.

 

Btw, nice video but the reality is one "it's a cruise after all "

[Ray in NH]

That makes two of us ... I don't get it either.

 

And more puzzling ... somebody was paid a great deal of money to come up with it.

 

Yes, but when they bought the first one, the next one is half-off :D :D :D

 

N Ray H

[KansasK]

I kind of liked the commercial after I saw it the second time. I am not the generation that matters, so my not getting it on the first round was probably expected.

 

About 15 years ago we started our then college aged children on cruising and they went readily on a free vacation and had a great time. They still like cruises. Maybe they were too young to understand this was not for them.

 

My brother tried unsuccessfully to get his late 20's daughters to go on a cruise with him and his wife a few years ago. Maybe this commercial would appeal to them.