Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
Background
Fred Olsen is a Norwegian Cruise Liner company operating out of 7 ports across England. The peak cruise booking window season is December – February so the company knew that had a small window to generate bookings.
Their key objective was create awareness of the Fred Olsen brand and drive bookings from the most receptive cruise audiences, discerning affluent adults age 55+ who lived within the vicinity of their ports.
Solution
Their starting point was to create bespoke catchment areas for each port. A propensity model identified the most receptive households using audience types, cruise types, port preference, Mosaic and spend data. Drive-time analysis identified that the optimum catchment area was, on average, a 90 minute drive for each port. By overlying the propensity model onto postcodes within the 90 minute catchment, Fred Olsen was able to produce a profile index score for each postcode sector and establish the highest propensity sectors per port.
Fred Olsen then door dropped households within the high propensity sectors. As a cruise is a high value considered purchase, the creative approach used two bespoke size, full colour brochures. These were door dropped across three bursts of communication to create a regular ‘drumbeat’ of activity, connecting households with the Fred Olsen brand up to three times across the peak booking season.
The first brochure – distributed to 3.5 million households at the end of December and then again at the end of January - led with inspirational imagery, including sweeping Norwegian fjords and a magical palace in St Petersburg. By highlighting the local departure ports in the headline, Fred Olsen were able to create an immediate connection with the potential target from the doormat. Once opened, the content of the brochure used a highly visual approach to communicate their holiday ranges and brand messages. Featured offers were not heavily discounted in order to convey quality while maximising revenue, and were all underpinned by ‘Fred’s Enjoyment Promise’. As the final prompt, a prize draw offer drove customers online or to a UK call centre to book.
The second brochure - distributed mid February - led with a Sale headline and simple imagery as a final prompt to book. The cover was further supported by the Which? logo to assert the brand’s trust credentials- a key influencer for a discerning affluent 55+ audience.
Results
The cohesive campaign strategy combining targeting expertise and standout creative delivered at relevant timings achieved a 107% uplift in sales across the core cruise booking period.
The door drop campaign generated 836 calls - 199 incremental bookings and a ROMI of 1.87 across all ports – including the highly competitive national ports of Southampton and Dover.
The key objective was to raise awareness of Fred Olsen brand amongst a receptive audience – many of whom would typically book via a travel agent. The campaign achieved this as people connected directly with the Fred Olsen brand.
Direct bookings from the door dropped areas rose from 41% (of total bookings) pre campaign to 55% during the campaign (a 34% increase). During the same period direct bookings in the matched control areas dropped from 41% to 31%. As direct sales mean greater revenue and profit the campaign plan delivered on every level for Fred Olsen.
Source: Fred Olsen Cruise Lines - DMA Award Entry
