Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?This year, American Queen Voyages launched its inaugural Alaska expedition season (May–September) aboard the brand-new Ocean Victory. As a cruise line primarily known for its unmatched river cruising experience, this was the first time the company was breaking into the expedition cruise market. Our company was tapped in January 2022 to build buzz around the cruise line in general and launch Ocean Victory’s inaugural season with well-placed stories in both trade and consumer outlets. The challenges faced were sourcing press visits throughout the summer and hosting a successful launch event in the height of stronger COVID-19 restrictions for cruise vessels in Canada and the United States. Our company set a goal of securing 100 placements for the inaugural season along with hosting 10 journalists across trade and consumer outlets. In addition, the client set a goal of securing an exclusive feature with Travel + Leisure surrounding a partnership with acclaimed acoustic ecologist Dr. Michelle Fournet. The biggest challenge we had to overcome was that at the beginning of the season, many travelers were still weary of cruising due to the CDC’s COVID-19 warning on this particular travel experience. The agency worked closely with the cruise line to showcase its strict COVID-19 health and safety protocols to ensure guests and press felt comfortable traveling aboard the ship.

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)The launch of American Queen Voyages’ inaugural Alaska expedition season aboard the new Ocean Victory was a huge success, with results surpassing our goals and the client’s goals for the campaign. To secure a steady stream of news leading up to the launch, we distributed a series of press releases, targeted pitches and exclusive interview outreach. Through a comprehensive pre-launch media relations strategy, American Queen Voyages was able to book 70% of its rooms for the entire season before the inaugural sailing even took place. To continue to build buzz, we hosted a VIP launch event where we invited the top trade publications to sail from Seattle to Vancouver alongside American Queen Voyages’ top executives, including the company’s president, and its top sales executives, to get a sneak peak of the new ship and the expedition experience ahead of its inaugural voyage. Finally, our company supplied a steady stream of press visits throughout the inaugural season, which allowed for nonstop coverage. Overall, we secured 13 journalists for press visits, including consumer outlets such as AZCentral, USA Today, The Points Guy and Matador Network. In addition, the agency hosted a successful VIP launch event in which we secured seven trade journalists from outlets including Travel Weekly, SeaTrade Cruise News, TravelAge West, Travelweek and more. Throughout the launch, we secured 137 placements culminating in 1,278,244,391 impressions and $191,736,659 in advertising value. Top outlets included USA Today, Condé Nast Traveler, The Boston Globe, AFAR, Time Out, Men’s Journal, AARP, TravelPulse and The Points Guy. In addition, our company secured the coveted exclusive interview with Travel + Leisure and Dr. Michelle Fournet. Due to our successful launch strategy, the inaugural Alaska season had the highest number of bookings for any of its product lines, with 2023 bookings pacing ahead of projections.

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?Over the course of the campaign, American Queen Voyages invested roughly $13,000 in flight costs for the 13 visiting journalists throughout the Alaska season. Despite the challenges surrounding consumer mentality and the cruising industry, the return on investment was extremely high. The ad value of this launch reached $191,736,659, making the return on investment 1,474,797%.

Objective(s): What problems did the sales, marketing & guest satisfaction, or revenue optimization technology aim to solve?

Innovative use of technology: The extent to which new directions are charted or old challenges are resolved by using the technology in a new way.

Implementation & creativity: How was the technology implemented so that it was easy to use, solved a manpower problem, streamlined a function, or fueled recovery?

Results & Evaluation: How did the technology move the department or business forward to achieve goals, revenue or otherwise?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your marketing?

Initiatives: Describe the promotion. What was your organization’s message and how does it foster diversity? How was the target audience channel developed/pursued?

Results: Please describe how your organization was purposeful in advancing diversity through this initiative. Please describe the metrics you used to judge success. What were the forecasted and actual outcomes described in your Key Performance Indicators (KPI)? What impact did the initiative have on your organization and for your customers?

Entry TitleAmerican Queen Voyages Makes a Big Splash with the Launch of Ocean Victory in Alaska

DivisionPublic Relations/Communications - NEW OPENING/LAUNCH

CategoryPublic Relations/Communications