Brochures

[forevertravel]

Two days ago I received this "Voyages to Explore" brochure. Very slick but it only goes till June 2020. There is nothing new there. Why waste all the money on brochure plus mailing when there are no new cruises? This on top of Splendor brochure which must had cost a ton. I can understand the Splendor brochure and I'm like we got it. However, all the expenditure for this other brochure makes no sense to me. Please Regent, give us some perks like laundry or don't keep on increasing rates so much instead of more fancy brochures. Stop wasting money on fancy brochures. If the brochure had cruises till late 2020, it would had made sense. But not when the cruises are ones we already know about. Advertising with fancy, slick brochures is not going to sell cruises which are not selling well.

[ronrick1943]

Two days ago I received this "Voyages to Explore" brochure. Very slick but it only goes till June 2020. There is nothing new there. Why waste all the money on brochure plus mailing when there are no new cruises? This on top of Splendor brochure which must had cost a ton. I can understand the Splendor brochure and I'm like we got it. However, all the expenditure for this other brochure makes no sense to me. Please Regent, give us some perks like laundry or don't keep on increasing rates so much instead of more fancy brochures. Stop wasting money on fancy brochures. If the brochure had cruises till late 2020, it would had made sense. But not when the cruises are ones we already know about. Advertising with fancy, slick brochures is not going to sell cruises which are not selling well.

 

As much as we would like included laundry, I have to disagree with you--those brochure do work--that's the way we end up booking extra cruises during the year. But we do get a lot of them.

[gjkov]

Two days ago I received this "Voyages to Explore" brochure. Very slick but it only goes till June 2020. There is nothing new there. Why waste all the money on brochure plus mailing when there are no new cruises? This on top of Splendor brochure which must had cost a ton. I can understand the Splendor brochure and I'm like we got it. However, all the expenditure for this other brochure makes no sense to me. Please Regent, give us some perks like laundry or don't keep on increasing rates so much instead of more fancy brochures. Stop wasting money on fancy brochures. If the brochure had cruises till late 2020, it would had made sense. But not when the cruises are ones we already know about. Advertising with fancy, slick brochures is not going to sell cruises which are not selling well.

 

 

I don’t think we want to open the included laundry can of worms again, but I agree about the brochures. We have gone away from nearly all mass “snail mail” mailings in our company and has saved a ton of money. I’d rather have cost savings passed along to us than so many fancy brochures.

[forevertravel]

Brochures work but not when they are not adding anything new. We all knew what cruises were available till May 2020. To publish a fancy brochure till June 2020 is a waste of money. I meant they could add some perks (I don't care about laundry I already get free laundry, it was an expression) or not keep on increasing rates. After all, something has to pay for brochures so increasing rates must do it. Brochures describing new cruises are OK. Brochures describing cruises we already know about are a waste of resources in my opinion.

[Got2Cruise]

Everything is available to be downloaded online. Brochures just waste trees and clutter up the house.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Travelcat2]

This topic has been discussed in the past. And, despite ronrick's attempt to take the thread into another direction, I have to agree with him about the brochures. After thousands of complaints about too many brochures, Regent would likely have listened to the people complaining if it was not working.

 

We were not receiving any brochures. It took two attempts to have brochures mailed to me (and I was warned that either we get everything or nothing). Given the choice, I'm glad that we are getting mail from Regent and love the large books that they put out periodically.

 

Not going to get into the tree issue as, again, this was discussed ad nauseam.

[wripro]

Mine go right into the circular file. I never even bother to open one. From Regent or Oceania. In fact, I consider the constant barrage of mailings harassment,

[lisajltx]

We had been getting brochures for years. I finally took the time to look at one a couple of months ago, then booked our first cruise on Regent. I would say that sending out information works for the cruise companies. Just my 2 cents!

Lisa

[forevertravel]

People you're not understanding my message. I don't mind brochures if "they are for new cruises". We have received brochures for 2018, 2019, and up until May 2020. My complaint is that this fancy, slick brochure which costs lots of money has 2018 cruises and 2019 that we already had. If this brochure had the rest of 2020 cruises, I would had been happy. It doesn't. I already know what cruises are available until May 2020. There was nothing new. Why waste good money. We were told the rest of 2020 cruises would be published mid April. This brochure does not have any cruises for late 2020. That's my issue. No new cruises in this brochure.

End of discussion. I shoudn't had started this thread.

[flossie009]

I do not believe that the balance of Regent cruises for 2020 will be released until August

[lisajltx]

I understood your question. We booked a cruise for 2019, I didn’t know what was available for 2018 and 2019. The company reached new customers by sending out slick brochures for 2018-1019. It’s called marketing.

 

Lisa

[wishIweretravelling]

I don't know if marketing studies still bear this out, but studies from some years ago showed that three was the optimal number of times to "hit" someone with a message for it to generate results. This was for mailing. Emails take more, but I forget the number.

[CruisetheCs]

Without a lot of specific marketing data it is impossible to know whether Regent's saturation marketing of brochures by mail works or not. The fact that one person booked a cruise after getting brochures for years is not a meaningful statistic. Certainly there are several people who have posted on CC because they are annoyed by the brochures and even more annoyed because it is difficult to get them to stop.

 

It is interesting that the Better Business Bureau lists 15 complaints about RSSC [https://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/business-reviews/cruises/regent-seven-seas-cruise-in-fort-lauderdale-fl-27001500/reviews-and-complaints][You may then have to click on "view complaints"]. Of these 10 have to do with advertising and sales. Several have to do with the inability to stop receiving brochures. While the number of complaints overall is few, I'm not surprised because one has to get pretty annoyed to go so far as contacting the BBB about it. Most of us just throw unwanted mail away, annoyed or not.

 

Also the constant barrage of brochures is not, IMO, consistent with the luxury image that Regent wishes to convey. Nor is it consistent with a company concerned about environmental issues and waste. It is more consistent with marketing approaches of telemarketers or fundraisers or credit card company solicitors. The difficulty of stopping brochures is more consistent with the image of unwanted telemarketing callers or email marketers that won’t stop sending constant emails. Not great company to keep.

 

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Regent does not have sound data to show the extent to which the marketing works or is counter-productive, especially when they are trying to convey a luxury image. Certainly not being responsive to requests to stop or reduce the mailings is poor customer service.

[mikenbob]

I am a close friend, and client, of the marketing supplier to Regent and the source of their brochures, Trust me...they know what they are doing, have specific metrics to prove what they are doing works, and are profiting from what they are doing. The few dollars saved per mailing received will not impact the cost of your next cruise and they will remove your name from the mailing list by simply sending Regent an email. As a marketer, I find their pieces to be beautifully done and a welcome addition to my mailbox. I would be willing to guess that many, if not all, on this thread booked their first (perhaps second, third...) due to a targeted mailing...and Regent knows which ones you responded to!

[Travelcat2]

I am a close friend, and client, of the marketing supplier to Regent and the source of their brochures, Trust me...they know what they are doing, have specific metrics to prove what they are doing works, and are profiting from what they are doing. The few dollars saved per mailing received will not impact the cost of your next cruise and they will remove your name from the mailing list by simply sending Regent an email. As a marketer, I find their pieces to be beautifully done and a welcome addition to my mailbox. I would be willing to guess that many, if not all, on this thread booked their first (perhaps second, third...) due to a targeted mailing...and Regent knows which ones you responded to!

 

Thank you for your post. We did, in fact, book our first Radisson/Regent cruise based on a targeted mailing. Had it not been for the mailing, we would not have a clue about the cruise line as we were not cruisers (but did travel internationally) and didn't realize how much they had to offer.

[Onkel_Ken]

I decided to sign up for the mail brochures but they may have trouble calling me at 000-000-0000 :-) I don't feel comfortable giving out my phone number. I HATE phone calls from vendors unless I am immediately ready to do business.

[fizzy]

We have a small P.O. box which is constantly crammed with mailings. I used to only have to check the box once a week and over time it has become a chore due to all this box clutter which does remind me of telemarketers. I finally got the Oceania stuff to end.Perhaps someone can post the EXACT protocol to get this to stop. It is also rather preposterous to suggest that people participating on CC need to validate their travel history with a cruise line unless they choose to. Silversea is also stepping up the pace and I'm also not happy about that. I would be interested to know how anyone on this board has the insight to dismiss BBB complaints (that seem to be in keeping with this topic) as probably coming from CC members who just might have some sort of agenda against the hallowed Regent company. While often amusing, a simple discussion gets blasted off track. I don't think anyone needs to be told how many times a subject can be discussed.

[mikenbob]

I decided to sign up for the mail brochures but they may have trouble calling me at 000-000-0000 :-) I don't feel comfortable giving out my phone number. I HATE phone calls from vendors unless I am immediately ready to do business.

 

If a company has your physical or email address, getting your telephone number (and a whole host of other data) is a breeze. It is called “big data” for a reason.

 

To be removed from a mailing list, it generally only takes a telephone call or email to the mailer with the request to be placed on their “Do Not Mail” list. You may also go to DMAchoice.org and learn about how to be removed from direct mail lists.

[Travelcat2]

If a company has your physical or email address, getting your telephone number (and a whole host of other data) is a breeze. It is called “big data” for a reason.

 

To be removed from a mailing list, it generally only takes a telephone call or email to the mailer with the request to be placed on their “Do Not Mail” list. You may also go to DMAchoice.org and learn about how to be removed from direct mail lists.

 

Again - good information. I was not aware of DMAchoice.org! Thank you!

[RachelG]

I don’t mind a brochure every so often, if it has something new to offer. But the constant barrage of the same stuff is ridiculous and a waste of money. We get two of everything at our house and another set at my office. I have given up on trying to get them to stop, so now just goes directly in the recycle bin.

[MalbecWine]

I don’t mind a brochure every so often, if it has something new to offer. But the constant barrage of the same stuff is ridiculous and a waste of money. We get two of everything at our house and another set at my office. I have given up on trying to get them to stop, so now just goes directly in the recycle bin.

 

Rachel, I got most of them stopped by complaining to Regent but I am now deluged with the Oceania brochures. Save a tree.

[DeepFreeze63]

Rachel, I got most of them stopped by complaining to Regent but I am now deluged with the Oceania brochures. Save a tree.

 

We get 5 times as many Oceania brochures as those from Regent despite contacting Oceania and asking for them to end.

 

Unlike the Regent brochures, those from Oceania, almost as many from Viking and a few recently from SilverSeas are annoying as we aren't interested in their cruises.

 

BUT I recognize that they will continue to arrive - I have a very large paper recycle bin and am sure that I wouldn't get a Regent "rebate" for opting out of such marketing tools.

[vlinbin]

Three years ago, I sent the following request to Mike Moore:

 

Mr. Moore,

We receive almost daily mailings from Regent and are continually distressed at the amount of postage and number of trees wasted on these mailings. We do like Regent but find all the information that we need online.

 

Please remove the following name from your list.

_____________________

 

I received a very nice response from Mike, and after just a few weeks, the brochures stopped.

I don't know if Mike Moore is still the person to contact, but he was very helpful at that time.

[RachelG]

Three years ago, I sent the following request to Mike Moore:

 

Mr. Moore,

We receive almost daily mailings from Regent and are continually distressed at the amount of postage and number of trees wasted on these mailings. We do like Regent but find all the information that we need online.

 

Please remove the following name from your list.

_____________________

 

I received a very nice response from Mike, and after just a few weeks, the brochures stopped.

I don't know if Mike Moore is still the person to contact, but he was very helpful at that time.

I will try that. I also receive loads of Oceania brochures. But more regent .

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Ok— haven’t been in this discussion until today. It was not an important issue for me.

However, this afternoon, I finally got around to opening the book because I wanted to check something about one of our five upcoming cruises on Regent. This book contained all five.

Rather than scan the web site, bouncing back and forth, to write all the information, I was able to highlight all the upcoming trips in one book.

So, this book made it very easy for me to catalog everything and I began glancing at other itineraries. It is inspiring me for future dates. Frankly, because my plate is full right now.

Thanks for the book.

Sheila