2019 Gold Travel and Leisure

Agency: MRM//McCann London

Client: Crystal Cruises

Campaign Name: Where luxury is personal

Campaign Overview

Luxury cruise company Crystal needed a stand-out brand campaign in a sea of sameness

Strategy

Each Crystal crew member and their guests has their own take on luxury.

To some, luxury is a truffle sauce or Bearnaise sauce, for others it might be good old tomato sauce.

Luxury is a moveable feast. Impersonal luxury feels fussy, fake and intimidating.

That insight became crucial to the campaign.

Crystal wanted people to know that luxury was whatever they wanted it to be.

The creative challenge was to show how real luxury makes someone feel, to relax and reconnect.

Talking to them in a personal way, about what they love doing, was key.

Creativity

The new brand campaign put guests and crew at the heart.

The core idea was summed up in a fresh strapline: “Where luxury is personal.”

It featured stories of real people talking about how luxury felt to them.

Their stories created intrigue and emotional connection but left plenty to the imagination.

They disrupted the generic cruising category with dramatic skies, creating atmosphere.

Email and banner ads appealed to people's interests to make the campaign more personal.

Destinations were discarded in favour of discussing the things Crystal customers enjoy.

Smart data was used to dial up messages about cuisine to foodies; for adventurers the focus was personalised excursions.

Results

There was a 1150% increase in online bookings.
Call volumes were the highest ever, up by 15% from the previous year. There was an 11.2% increase in new monthly website visits. Intent to book activity increased by 350%.

Crystal was attracting a new kind of customer, alongside loyal ones. Luxury shoppers visiting the site went up by 158%.

Conde Nast liked the ads so much they put them in the front inside cover of their magazine, at no extra cost.

The Team

Nicky Bullard, Chairwoman & Chief Creative Offficer, MRM McCann - Nadia Kamran, Group Creative Director, MRM McCann - Michael Poole, Associate Creative Director, MRM McCann - Andrew Pogson, Associate Creative Director, MRM McCann - Tom Bellamy, Associate Creative Director, MRM McCann - Thibaut Leroy, Senior Account Director, MRM McCann - Matt Llewellyn, Senior Account Manager, MRM McCann - Ross Dean, Senior Project Manager, MRM McCann - Danny Elliot, Designer, MRM McCann - Lucian Adamoli, Designer, MRM McCann - Vanessa Rodriguez, Advertising Manager, Crystal Cruises - Carmen Roig, Senior Vice President, Crystal Cruises - Kari Tarnowski, VP Marketing, Crystal Crusies - Tracy Volaric, Graphic Designer, Crystal Crusies

Contributors

American Eagle