Royal Caribbean has kicked off a new multi-million pound TV advertising campaign, spending twice as much as it spent in Wave 2019, according vice president Ben Bouldin.
The two-month campaign features “big, bold, brash brand ads” and will be shown around hit TV shows across all mainstream channels
Ads are due to air around ITV’s GMTV, Emmerdale, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Griff’s Great Kiwi Road Trip and Love Your Garden.
On Channel 4, ads will feature around The Great British Bake Off and Britain By Beach, said Bouldin, noting they would also be shown between Premier League football matches on Sky Sports.
“It’s our biggest-ever spend and dwarfs anything we have spent before,” Bouldin told Travel Weekly. “The message here is we’re not waiting. Royal Caribbean has brought Wave forward to November this year – we are really going to stimulate the market.”
It is the first time Royal has created a global advert to be used across all markets. The tagline is ‘Rise to the Vacation’ and features imagery of all destinations the line sails to, including Alaska, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and Royal’s private island, Perfect Day.
“We heard new research at WTM this morning, that over 50% of people are going to take two holidays next year, so this is all about getting people excited again – and reminding those that know us all about what we offer, and getting into the minds of those people that don’t know us,” said Bouldin.
“It’s really punchy – as you would expect from Royal Caribbean.”
Bouldin said the TV advertising would be supported by keen pricing and a commission uplift for agents.
“Our pricing is really aggressive for November and we’ve reduced deposits for the month from £150 per person to £75 per person,” he said, revealing: “We’re also offering incremental commission of an extra 3% for all 2022 FIT bookings.”
Royal’s trade sales team has communicated the campaign to key accounts and will be arranging meetings with partners over the coming days to encourage them to get behind the new initiative.