The line unveiled its new advert last night, which will screen between the breaks of Channel Four’s prime time show Homeland, which starts at 9pm.
The 90 second advert features real passengers and crew and was filmed along the Spanish coastline. It has no speech, but was designed to focus on the sensory experiences of a cruise, looking at the food, drink, and destinations which the line visits.
“We wanted to keep it authentic,” explained Jo Rzymowska, UK and Ireland managing director of Celebrity Cruises. “There are no models in the filming – all the people are guests and crew from our ship. We wanted to inspire people – it’s about getting them to understand the brand… We want to make people think about cruising in a different way."
She added that the screening of the advert was also timed to ensure that Celebrity Cruises was “front of mind" to those making bookings during the wave period.
Rzymowska was also keen to stress that the TV advert would be made available for agents to use on their own websites to show customers. “It will be accessible for trade partners so that they can use it too. We know content is king, and we want to provide our partners with an opportunity to get that message out there," she said.
It forms part of a campaign that will run through October and November, which will include a social media drive using the hashtag #adifferentview as well as trade activity.
This will include a dedicated microsite and agent competition, with clips from the advert posted on the line’s trade partner Facebook page at Facebook.com/CelebrityTravelAgents, and agents asked to say how they believe the images capture “a different view”.
“We want agents to feel engaged with the campaign, and put their own captions with the images,” said Pascale McBain, trade marketing manager at Celebrity Cruises.
Vouchers will then be awarded to the best agent captions, with four £50 John Lewis and Waitrose vouchers being sent out a week.
“We want to keep the campaign alive and make agents feel like they’re part of the process,” McBain added.
The adverts will also run in shorter 30 and 10 second edits throughout October and November on Channel 4, More4 and Film 4.
