Carnival Corporation has kicked off its first multi-brand promotion with a side-swipe at rival Royal Caribbean.
As part of a crowdsourcing initiative inviting consumers to review and vote for their favourite ideas for possible TV adverts, one of the six video storyboards reads: “No Robots: Carnival’s cruise ships are free of hassles and obstacles like evil robots” – in a clear reference to the launch of Royal Caribbean’s new high tech ship Quantum of the Seas.
The marketing push incorporates all nine of Carnival’s global brands with television, digital, social and competitions with prizes on offer including a cruise a year for life.
One element is an interactive ‘cruise-a-nality’ tool to help consumers find their individual cruise persona – type of cruiser based on likes and dislikes – from a total of 30 options.
They are then encouraged to call their travel agent as well as share their results via Facebook and Twitter.
The hub of the activity is at WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com featuring new tools, functionality and content from each of the company’s nine brands.
Carnival Corporation chief executive Arnold Donald (pictured) said: “We are excited about inviting people to help our marketing team choose from six ideas by providing input and voting on their favorite concept.
“I think some of the concepts are really good and, well, some are awful, but what matters most is what our future guests think.”
Corporate marketing vice president Ken Jones added: “This is the first time we’ve brought all nine of our brands together in a marketing effort of this magnitude, and our goal is to show people why there is no better vacation than a cruise vacation, and at a value that land-based vacations can’t match.
“We also want to show people that many of the myths about cruising are simply not true. We are looking forward to hearing what people think and to giving one lucky person a great prize – a cruise a year for life.”