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Marketing campaign sinks Cruise Critic
Cruise line may have sabotaged its already positive word of mouth
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Are the Royal Champions about to be dethroned? Based on the fallout from last week’s column about Royal Caribbean’s secretive group of cybercheerleaders, you might be forgiven for thinking so.
Well-regarded travel author Edward Hasbrouck called the Royal Champions “shills” and Royal Caribbean “puppet masters” in his blog. Cruise Critic posters are furious because they feel they’ve been unknowingly duped by Royal Caribbean’s marketing scheme in addition to being censored by Cruise Critic. Marketing experts are scratching their heads in a what-were-they-thinking way.
And Royal Caribbean and its Royal Champions feel like they’ve been misunderstood — and want to set the record straight.
Royal clarity
Royal Caribbean contacted me to clarify some of the points it made in my story. I spoke to Bill Hayden, associate vice president of marketing for Royal Caribbean International, who told me the comments in my article referenced from the Customer Insight Group marketing blog by a Royal Caribbean executive were “unfortunate” and he felt things were not properly explained.
Hayden confirmed that the idea for the Royal Champions came at a brainstorming session for the launch of Liberty of the Seas in 2007. He said the intent was to expand the outreach to a small group of travelers who were particularly passionate about and prolific in sharing information about cruising.
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Hayden stated that Royal Caribbean hired Nielsen Buzz Metrics to go out and find individuals that used online forums who were passionate about cruising. The criteria also looked for experienced Royal Caribbean cruisers who were helpful in sharing their cruise insights and experiences. Nielsen Buzz Metrics came back to Royal Caribbean with a list. The list included posters on Cruise Critic, TripAdvisor and Usenet boards.
Hayden said Royal Caribbean then contacted the various communities about the posters discovered by Nielsen Buzz Metrics. “In respect for peoples’ privacy we asked each community if we could contact the identified posters,” he says.
It’s not surprising that Cruise Critic was chosen as it is the largest cruise site of its kind, reaching over 5 million unique visitors each year. It is published by Independent Traveler, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, the largest travel community in the world and an operating company of Expedia, Inc.
Kathleen Tucker, president of Independent Traveler, concurs with Hayden. “Royal Caribbean asked us to forward some information on their behalf to some Cruise Critic members, who had been chosen by this marketing firm, as they had no way of contacting them directly. We agreed to do so. That’s really our only involvement with this program.”
Hayden says the group now numbers between 50 to 75 individuals. “It’s really a focus group,” he says. “We run information and ideas by them and ask for feedback.”
When it comes to what a Royal Champion posts they are on their own. Hayden says Royal Caribbean does not dictate what they write. “We listen to both positive and negative posts,” he says. “When we make changes to our product we read these posts to see how it’s being received.”
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When asked if Royal Champions should be transparent and identify themselves in posts, Hayden says that Royal Caribbean did not address that, adding, “We left that up to the Royal Champions and individual board owners.”
When it comes to perks, Hayden says a number of Royal Champions were invited on the Liberty of the Seas pre-inaugural cruises in Miami and New York in 2007. Some were also invited to a June 2008 Oasis of the Seas event in New York where Royal Caribbean showcased new on-board areas. Hayden is quick to point out that when travel is involved, Royal Champions pay their own costs for transportation and hotel.
Paul Nock was the only Royal Champion to contact me and be upfront about his involvement in the program. The Weeki Wachee, Fla., native is quick to state his posts have always been fair.
“If anyone takes the time to look at my posts over the years, they’ll see I have been as critical of Royal Caribbean as well as positive. My posts are mostly defending the cruise industry as a whole, not just one cruise line,” he told me.
He adds when it comes to the perks of being a Royal Champion he does pay for the privilege, literally. “If my wife and I go to many more free events that they invite us to we might have to file bankruptcy,” he says.
As for the future of the Royal Champion program it’s clear it is here to stay. “We are 100 percent committed to continuing the program because we believe in it,” said Hayden.
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