Costa Cruises is launching a major international advertising campaign created by RKCR/Y&R.
The new campaign aims to describe and convey the unique emotions experienced by people who travel with Costa Cruises, with real Guests and crew members playing leading roles in the campaign. This objective is summed up by the claim, “Costa Cruises, imagine being here now”.
“The only way to describe a Costa cruise is to experience it”, comments Norbert Stiekema, Costa Cruises Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing.
“The idea behind the campaign is to give people who have never been on our ships the best possible idea about what the on board holiday experience is like. We want to show the unique emotions generated by interaction between our Guests and our staff. And we do so authentically, by involving real Guests and real staff members. What we describe in the new campaign really does happen on board every day, as can be seen on the web channel we’ve created, which reveals in real time what is taking place on a Costa cruise.”
The creativity revolves around this concept, with television commercials in 60s, 30s and 15s versions that will be on air starting Sunday 18 November on the main national, satellite and web networks in Italy and France. For Germany, the same creativity has been developed in a print campaign, and the television commercial will be spread only on web networks. A teaser page will also appear in the Italian press on the day before the launch to thank the testimonials involved: the real Guests who appeared alongside the actors and on board staff during shooting. In addition to the print and TV media planning, a massive digital marketing operation will also be launched involving both the company’s websites and social channels, as well as top video information and entertainment sites. The television commercial will also be available for viewing on the Costa Cruises YouTube channel and the Costa corporate website (in Italy, France and Germany).
The commercial was shot on board the company’s flagship Costa Fascinosa during the cruise that departed from Venice last 22 October to visit Italy, Greece and Croatia. The images reveal the emotions and sensations that Guests really do experience on a Costa cruise: moments of relaxation in the care of Costa staff, having fun in the swimming pool, the amazing experience of visiting a different destination every day, romantic walks on the ship’s decks, opportunities to socialise and fine food and wine to enjoy in the on board restaurants. All described authentically, truthfully and in real time. Unique sensations which are “amplified” compared with everyday life and can only be truly understood by experiencing a Costa cruise firsthand.
The concept behind the new Costa campaign doesn’t stop with conventional media planning, but continues and is enriched by web content. The Costa Cruises websites in Italy, France and Germany have been renewed with a “real time” approach featuring new sections that are updated in real time, in order to show at any time where Costa ships are sailing and how Guests are living their experience onboard, from excursions to original images captured on board. Guests of Costa ships are also invited to send in their own contributions through the company’s digital channels. Most importantly, the Millions of Memories website (http://millionsofmemories.costacruise.com) and Costa Cruise Tips (on the Italian Costa website and soon also on websites of other Costa markets), where Guests can share their experiences of and rates about Costa holidays with everyone. Costa is the first company in the global cruise industry to introduce these two tools, being able to can count on an excellent product as reflected in 98% customer satisfaction. Guests may also use the Company’s official social media channels to send in their contributions. All this to demonstrate that what is described in the new campaign really does happen every day on board Costa ships throughout the world.
The campaign launch organised by agency RKCR/Y&R is the work of creative talents Adam Claridge and Adam Ronan, Project Director Amy Torbett, Account Director Edward Rosoman, Account Manager Bree Woodhouse and TV Producer Francis Castelli, under the supervision of executive creative director Toby Talbot and Business Director Ben Caulfield. For Costa Cruises, the project was supervised by Norbert Stiekema, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing, Frederik Pénot, Vice President Corporate Marketing, Andrea Cortese, International Marketing Communication Director and Renata Rizzo, Marketing Italy Director.
The agency commissioned top director and documentary maker Finn McGough to direct the commercial, which was produced by Rogue, edited by Mark Burnett from Speade, with titles by Clayton Welham from Why Not, photography by Neil Stewart and original music entitled “Lovely Day” by Donavon Frankenreiter.
The web part of the campaign is the work of the agency VML/Y&R Italy and was supervised for Costa Cruises by Angelo Capurro, Direct Digital Sales & Marketing Director, and his team.
