Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Cruisewhiz Craig or Should You
Tie Your Business Into Star Power?
By Craig Satterfield, ECC

Marketing trends are exactly that, trends, and sometimes a trend can be a benefit to you if you take advantage of it while it is hot.  We have all heard the story of the guy who shudda bought Microsoft before it hit or shudda bought property in a now hot destination.  Following trends can be a great way to improve your profit margin without laying out a ton of cash.

Take a look at what Carnival Cruise Lines is now doing.  The same thing the movie industry has done for years.  Cross marketing, the art of using star power or a product to attract new business.  The “Fun Ships” are teaming up with renowned comedian and TV personality George Lopez who has become the cruise line’s creative director for comedy as Carnival introduces the“ PunchlinerComedy Clubs Presented by George Lopez”.  If that was not enough, they have also partnered with celebrity chef Guy Fieri to offer a free shipboard dining venue called Guy’s Burger Joint, featuring the Food Network star’s amazing hand-crafted burgers and fresh-cut fries and special recipes created exclusively for Carnival.  If any of you have had a meal at one of Guy’s restaurants in Sacramento, California you will definitely want to try his burger next time you are on CCL.  For the Triple Crown, Carnival is also teamed up with EA Sports which is a top named video game company who has developed a sports bar that is now being added to the fleet.

They are not the only line that has joined this trend; Oceania Cruises is the only cruise line that has been inducted into the Maître Cuisiniers de France, led by the menus of Jacques Pepin, Dean of Special Programs at the French Culinary Institute and holder of the Legion d’honneur. Pepin’s new menus typically include 350-400 items.  Since he was a great friend of Julia Child, how could you not want to experience his cuisine? 

NCL and Royal Caribbean have teamed with family oriented television and movie companies to offer theme cruises with the stars of these shows, and most of them are not even human! Adults as well as kids love these shows and will pay the premium to sail on these special departures.

So how can you cash in on this trend of star power? Since cruise lines are paying the bucks to get these names on board, it is your chance to grow your business, make a profit, show that you are marketing trends and are up to date with what is going on in the media world.  Cruise line reps would love to work with you, and they have money to kick in, when you let them know you are interested in marketing this way.  Be sure to have some firm ideas and costs when you approach them. 

There are plenty of ways to market this new trend.  On a ship that is offering specialty dining from a superstar chef, you might contact a local superstar chef to host a cruise group and build the promotion around the both of them.  If you have any wineries in your area, a tie in could be added there too.

Most towns have a comedy club which you could hook up with and possibly sponsor a comedy contest with the winner doing a private show on board for the cruise group that you, of course, are marketing.  You might just discover the next Eddie Murphy while you’re at it!

Don’t forget the destinations as a tie-in too. Ports of call which offer unique food and wine and entertainment venues can be an excellent way to adding zing to marketing.  Cruise lines like Azamara are now staying overnight in the ports so offering a unique experience generally only available to travelers staying in hotels in the area can be extremely valuable.  This could be the main reason a client decides to book that cruise.   Opera or stage events, rock and country artists on tour or sporting events that line up with the date the ship is in port is an added value that makes your marketing unique.  These value added packages are impossible for clients to price on big web-based travel companies.  This is a product that only you have!

I was in line waiting to enter Barry Manilow’s show at the Paris Las Vegas when I overheard a lady brag that she had seen his show over 250 times.  Don’t under estimate the power of fans and the foodies!  These cross marketing ideas give your potential client another good reason to cruise again.  Think outside the box of cookies and you will find that you will not only have a fun time creating these programs but will build a following just waiting for the announcement of the next trendy idea you have to sell travel.