Tag Archives: Downton Abbey

Cunard makes cinema ad debut with Downtown Abbey film

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Cunard is making its big-screen debut with a new cinema advert to appear before every screening of the new Downton Abbey film.

The ‘Dreams’ advert draws from the emotions evoked from travelling on flagship Queen Mary 2 on a transatlantic voyage.

The 40-second sequence invites audiences “to dream of love, banquets, journeys and music beyond all belief and then, once you have done all that, forget that you were dreaming”.

The advert features the voice of British philosopher, writer, and speaker Alan Watts.

Downton Abbey was chosen as the platform to release the new advert to provide the line with a combination of reach, impact and context.

Cunard marketing director David Milo Jones said: “In a world where we often find it hard to switch off, a holiday onboard a Cunard ship is the perfect place to escape the everyday.

“This advert captures what it feels like to experience the magic of a Cunard voyage onboard our flagship Queen Mary 2 as she journeys across the Atlantic.

“We know that many of our target audience of discerning travellers are passionate Downton Abbey fans, so a return to the big screen was too good an opportunity for us to miss.”

The promotional campaign also includes branded content that will run across Cunard’s social media channels and be distributed to the line’s international teams to use in their own sales and marketing channels.

What Viking’s growth means for river cruising

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The news that Viking River Cruises will add 24 Longships to its fleet signals two things: That following a brief lull in shipbuilding momentum, Viking is experiencing strong enough demand to merit a hefty commitment to more ships, and that the river cruise industry at large is entering a new growth phase.
So, let’s start with Viking. With the addition of 24 vessels in addition to the existing 65 ships already in the company’s river fleet (though we don’t know if and how many ships the company may retire in the coming years), one has to ask, what is in Viking’s secret sauce that lets it sustain such growth?
While only Viking is privy to the nuances of its success, the line has certain unique features that have likely helped fueled its expansion and popularity.
For one, Viking has become a household name in river cruising thanks in large part to its ads that blanketed popular TV programs like Downton Abbey on PBS and that air on National Public Radio. That kind of brand recognition definitely gives it an advantage.
In addition to product awareness, Viking has found the sweet spot in offering well-designed hardware at affordable prices. The line’s newest vessels, the Viking Longships, launched in 2012, feature open and airy public areas and contemporary Scandinavian design that makes them feel like unstuffy, sleek floating hotels. They also offer a wide range of stateroom options, from a modest 150-square-foot lower deck cabin with small windows to 275-square-foot veranda suites with step-out balconies and 445-square-foot explorer suites with a separate living room and bedroom.
It doesn’t hurt that Viking is also known for its attractive deals. For travellers who find river cruising to be too expensive, Viking’s promotions make its cruises more attainable.
Viking also pays agent commission on all components of its river cruises, including port charges and airline fees, which few other lines do.
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While Viking’s fleet expansion always makes good headline fodder, Viking isn’t the only river cruise line that is growing. AmaWaterways recently announced that it will launch three vessels in 2019, including the double-wide 196-passenger AmaMagna, and this spring the last two of Crystal Cruises’ four new-build river ships set sail (the first two launched last fall).

The steady stream of ship orders suggests that demand for river cruising hasn’t let up. So, can Europe’s rivers sustain all the inventory? Well, there are certain issues the industry needs to consider as it continues on its shipbuilding path, including staggering itineraries so that that numerous ships aren’t all docked in the same ports at the same times. And docking space itself needs to be re-evaluated and solutions explored to ensure that ports don’t get overcrowded.

Physical growth logistics aside, however, river cruise lines often point out that the demand for the new ships is there. The number of river cruise passengers is still a small fraction of the number of ocean cruise passengers, meaning that many cruisers have yet to discover river cruising. For the river cruise lines, that fact alone signals that this segment is poised to continue on its current expansion path for years, if not decades, to come.

The ‘Downton Abbey’ bump

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Downton Abbey Original Trailer.

By Michelle Baran
InsightIn 2011, when Viking Cruises penned a deal to become a national corporate sponsor for PBS, which included having promos run during “Downton Abbey,” the company arguably struck gold. And likely so, too, did the entire river cruise industry.“Downton Abbey” has since gone on to enjoy enormous popular and critical success, and perhaps not surprisingly Viking has continued to sponsor the show.Earlier this year, Viking kicked up its PBS campaign a notch, unveiling a new concept for the ads that would run during “Downton Abbey’s” fourth season — a series of seven, 30-second spots that would each tell a different part of the Viking story, whether it was a focus on the destinations Viking visits, performances onboard the ships or an ad dedicated to Viking’s culinary program.MichelleBaran

In addition to the PBS program, Viking quietly made some additional cable TV ad buys in the last year (you may have noticed, like some of us at Travel Weekly did, Viking ads run during pro football games), resulting in a total of more than $400 million that Viking has invested to market its product, according to the company.

Viking’s ads aren’t just reaching consumers, either. The company notes that agents are seeing the commercials while watching “Downton” too.

“We have heard from agents who said that they never thought they would sell river cruises until they saw the new Viking Longships in our PBS Masterpiece sponsorship during ‘Downton Abbey,’” Richard Marnell, Viking’s senior vice president of marketing, recently said.

No one in the river cruise industry will argue against the fact that Viking is doing more to increase awareness about the category than any other river cruise line.

In fact, Viking’s competitors welcome the ad spend and any spillover effect it might have in boosting their own bookings as consumers learn about river cruising in between episodes of “Downton.”

“Viking is very good about their ads on TV. But all that does is really increase awareness of the marketplace,” said American Queen Steamboat Co. Chairman and CEO John Waggoner. Waggoner was discussing the possibility of Viking entering the U.S. river cruising space, and said he would welcome the added competition, in part because of Viking’s aggressive marketing strategy.

“The analogy I use is it’s kind of like buying a car,” Waggoner added. “You might see an ad for an for a Hyundai and say, ‘Hey honey, let’s buy a new car.’ Well, once you decide to buy a new car, then I think you go out and you start to compare the cars.”

Other river cruise lines have both directly and indirectly tipped their hats to Viking for investing in advertising the river cruise experience in a way none of them really has the financial backing to do.

So, what’s the ROI on Viking’s efforts? The company’s bullish shipbuilding strategy in Europe coupled with the ongoing PBS sponsorship suggests that the ads are doing their job. How much have they bolstered the industry overall? Well, no one in the river cruise space is asking Viking to stop, that’s for sure.