Cunard 175 is promotional campaign used to retrieve and endorse the years of customer service that Cunard Cruises has accustomed. I have written this report in order to denote how the marketing strategies for this campaign has been influenced by previous advertisements and the way they have used their traditional techniques to maintain their typical demographic while simultaneously encouraging new audiences. This report will cover the Cunard 175 marketing techniques as well as drawing upon other Cunard adverts to back up these ideas.
This will be done through textual analysis and further research. I will then look at the different approaches which could be taken to strengthen the Cunard brand in the future and ways to evoke a wider audience. The aim of my report is to assess the Cunard 175 promotional campaign on their marketing strategies and the ways in which these techniques appeal and succeed to the potential audience for Cunard Cruises. 2. 0 The Emergence of Cunard Cruises and the White Star.
In 1934, both Cunard and the White star line were facing financial problems and a plea was made in the House ff Commons for funding to finish the ship and reinstate the latent British Economy. This was agreed by the government who offered a loan to Cunard however only if Cunard emerged with the white star (Maxtone-Graham: 34). As a marketing strategy this was deemed very successful as these two entities coming together and pooling in their resources promoted and sold the new brand ‘Cunard White star, Ltd’ which not only benefited their stakeholders but it also had a huge impact on the market.
This is very central to Cunard 175, as although it is no longer a white star cruise since Cunard bought the shares, the campaign is still very much focused on the history of their brand and how their history is a focal point how they are today. This history of two successful brands emerging reminds the audience of how far he brand has come, it creates a sense of familiarity with the brand as well a trust, it almost acts like part of the family.
The success of the brand and luxurious tone of the ship evojes audiences who sought for sophistication and prestige, something that Cunard Cruises also promotes and values. 3. 0 Community Marketing. Community marketing is a technique which is prominently used throughout the Cunard 175 promotional campaign and it is a strategy which caters to the needs and requirements of the existing customers of Cunard. In this sense it encourages loyalty and product satisfaction of the customers (Connelly, William R: 56).
For instance, Cunard have decided to hold celebrations on every cruise in 2015 on promises this experience to be spectacular. The word choice in particular of celebration’ reaches out to existing customers as it is like an anniversary for them to celebrate with Cunard and reinforces this familiarity tone that the brand promotes constantly throughout their campaign. As well as this, creating a limited event for existing customers provides a sense of exclusivity for the audience.
Although Cunard 175 does reach out to existing audiences, like many industries it also encourages and strives for new audiences to join us and be a part of our illustrious history’ as Cunard 175 claims, meaning they never want the brand to end and by joining now you are becoming about of the history they admire. 4. 0 The rise of Social Media and Contemporary Marketing Since the rise of Social media around 2002, marketing for major industries has become easier and now cross media marketing has become the most popular form of marketing, including for Cunard and the 175 campaign.
Like most industries, Cunard has taken the role of social networking and used it in order to promote its brand whilst simultaneously re-establishing its long lasting success in the cruise industry through the numerous links to Cunard Blog and sites such as twitter and Facebook. Not only does this allow information to travel faster but also generates new and contemporary audiences, those who were not initially thought of, like younger generations. 4. “We are Cunard” – Blog As stated, Cunard 175 includes many links throughout the pages on it’s website which transfers customers to official social networking pages such as the ‘We are Cunard” blog. The blog is much more interactive as it allows users to leave comments about their experience with Cunard as well as message each other about their experiences and this internal marketing on Cunard’s blogs is able to spread faster through word of mouth encouraging people to use Cunard as their number one travelling option, this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites (Hargittal: 2008).
This word of mouth via the the blog is effective as it refers to any statement that consumers share about the Cunard brand (Kietzmann: 2013), especially on social media platforms. It is also effective marketing as when the fundamental messages spread from user to user and presumably resonates because it comes from a reliable third party source, this form of marketing results in earned media rather than paid. 4. 2 Twitter and the relationship between Cunard Official Blog.
Twitter being a recent phenomenon, it’s no surprise Cunard 175 has used this social networking site in order to spread and circulate information about its successful brand. With an instant link from Cunard’s blog to twitter, it allows Cunard to post information efficiently and as information is ever changing it is a quick marketing process. From this Twitter is then people are able to retweet and favourite this information, sending this tweet to their own feed and followers and this will begin to travel from feed to feed and ultimately virally to interested parties.
Despite the success of this form of marketing in can be criticized in terms of credibility. Although the information comes from Cunard’s site, interpretations from other people may also lead customers to be uncertain whether the quality opinion stated is actually accurate. 5. 0 The future of Cunard White Star Ltd Currently, Cunard is focusing upon short term goals which include making profits from the competition with other cruise lines for a 4-star market.
However, as a result of this, it is damaging the quality image in which Cunard offers. So in order to maintain the quality image Cunard should re-establish its marketing strategy by eliminating these short term goals including minimalizing their advertising and focus on the high end market. For instance, advertisements in tabloid newspapers such as the Daily Mail should be discontinued as this to some extent, is aimed towards the wrong audience and so advertisements should be consistent and appear in magazines aimed at their target audience.
It’s important for Cunard Cruises to reorient its traditional values and give a personal touch to its audiences and this can be done through the use of direct mailing, whether this is through social media or even post as it reinforces the authenticity of the Cunard brand. It is essential to continue to make use of companies who can provide consumer information from historic to demographic profiling as it allows Cunard to administer marketing materials that are tailored to the needs of potential customers.
