Celebrity Cruises to push premium message to trade in new programme
Celebrity Cruises is launching a marketing partner programme this month to educate trade marketers about its products as the line cements its place in the premium cruise market.
UK and Ireland sales director Claire Stirrup said the programme was part of the line’s efforts to work with trade partners “closer than ever before”.
Some trade marketers joined ship visits last year as plans around the programme were finalised.
At the line’s Agent Appreciation Awards in central London on Thursday (11 January), trade marketing team members were present just days before the official launch of the Marketing Partner Programme.
Stirrup said: “Yes, we need to train and work with frontline sellers, but of course we’ve got a lot of new people to educate in the trade.
“It’s about educating trade marketers on the brand, as a lot of them have never been on a cruise ship. We want to show them why people should book Celebrity and give them the latest content.”
She added: “What trade partners have told us, when we do ship launches, is that everything is aimed at the sellers, but actually the marketers need to know about the brand too. We’ve not worked that closely with the marketing teams before.”
Trade marketers will have access to webinars hosted by the Celebrity’s marketing and trade marketing teams, which are led by Leigh Thomson, UK and Ireland head of marketing communications and sales support.
Stirrup said the line had the capacity to work with every trade partner’s marketing team in the country.
Giles Hawke, Celebrity’s EMEA vice-president, added: “[Trade marketers] need to understand everything about Celebrity because while it’s essential that the frontline agents have an understanding about Celebrity, if you’re the marketer pulling together a marketing piece for a mailing list you need to know Celebrity inside out.”
One of the messages that will be shared with trade marketers later this year is the line’s shift from being a luxury line to a premium one, Hawke added.
President Laura Hodges Bethge announced the move at Celebrity Ascent’s naming ceremony last year, saying the ship would offer “the best premium vacation ever”.
“We’re going to be defining what is unique about Celebrity Cruises,” Hawke explained. “When we ask about Celebrity, they often say we’re just better [than other premium lines].
“We’re not just comparing ourselves to other cruise lines but also to really good top-end hotel groups. It’s just about giving real clarity to agents and customers. We know that we will shine in the premium market.”
He added: “Part of it is when you look at our family of brands in the Royal Caribbean Group, we’ve got Silversea in the luxury space, we’ve got Celebrity in the premium space and Royal in the family space.
"So, it’s part of a real drive to make sure that we’ve got clear blue sky between our different brands so we’re not all trying to be in the same space.”
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