Carnival Corporation to Launch First Ever Multi-Brand National Marketing Initiative Targeting "New-to-Cruising" Consumers and Offering Chance to Win Yearly Cruise for Life

MIAMI, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest cruise company, today announced its first-ever multi-brand marketing initiative incorporating all nine of its leading global brands to drive increased awareness, consideration and demand for cruising as a great vacation option at an exceptional value. Targeting consumers who are new to cruising, the campaign will kick off on November 24 with several digital and social elements and will continue to ramp up through 2015.

As part of the marketing effort, Carnival Corporation will introduce the "World's Leading Cruise Lines Marketing Challenge" – an interactive crowdsourcing program in which CEO Arnold Donald and celebrity emcee Cedric the Entertainer ask consumers to "join the company's marketing team" and pick their favorite TV ads from a selection of creative concepts, with the chance for one lucky participant to win a yearly cruise for life.

Carnival Corporation's newly redesigned World's Leading Cruise Lines website – WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com – will serve as the campaign hub. The new site will feature content from each of the company's nine brands and also house new tools and functionality in support of the campaign.

The campaign elements are designed to educate consumers and especially non-cruisers on why cruising is an extraordinary vacation experience at an exceptional value.  The campaign will help consumers understand how contemporary cruising has evolved, with grand cruise ships offering something for everyone and how common myths about cruising are untrue. The campaign will also encourage consumers to consult a travel agent as a valuable resource for planning a cruise vacation.

The goal of the marketing program is to help inspire consumers to consider cruising as one of their top options when planning vacations -- and, ultimately, to grow demand for cruising. While cruising continues to grow in worldwide popularity, with nearly 22 million people expected to have taken cruises in 2014, only about 3.3 percent of people in North America in any given year go on a cruise – providing a significant marketing opportunity.

"Across our portfolio of nine brands and more than 100 cruise ships visiting over 700 destinations around the world, Carnival Corporation carries more than 10.5 million guests a year, accounting for one out of every two people who cruise anywhere in the world," said Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald. "With so many distinctive experiences offered by our industry-leading brands, we truly believe the Carnival family has a cruise for everyone. Our job is to help people understand why cruising is such a great vacation, and to help them find which of our nine cruise brands is the right one for them."

Donald added: "I'm asking consumers to join our marketing team and weigh in with a vote as well as give us their advice on our upcoming marketing efforts. In return we have an extraordinary giveaway – one lucky person will win a cruise a year for life! So we encourage people to go to WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com, and check out the advertising concepts. We like all of them but want help in choosing the best one. While on our site, we encourage people to also check out our CRUISE-A-NALITY tool. It's a fun and easy way to find out which of our cruise brands is the best fit for their personality. Finding the right cruise brand to sail helps make sure people have a good experience, and we are excited that CRUISE-A-NALITY can help do just that."

Carnival Corporation's marketing initiative will include the following elements aimed at growing awareness, consideration and demand for cruising among consumers:

• The "World's Leading Cruise Lines Marketing Challenge": Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and celebrity emcee Cedric the Entertainer will invite consumers to "join" the Carnival Corporation marketing team and help select creative elements for the marketing initiative. On WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com Mr. Donald will introduce six distinct advertising concepts and ask consumers to help further shape the stories, as well as vote for which ad concept does the best job of both dispelling misconceptions about cruising and bringing the cruise experience to life.
• CRUISE-A-NALITY: One aspect of WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com allows vacationers to find their "CRUISE-A-NALITY," which is an interactive tool to help consumers find their individual cruise persona -- type of cruiser based on likes and dislikes -- from a total of 30 personas. After answering six simple questions, the CRUISE-A-NALITY tool provides consumers with their persona, cruise brand recommendations and links to find more information to begin planning their vacation – with a reminder to contact their travel agent for additional guidance on which cruise is right for them. Once visitors know their CRUISE-A-NALITY, they are encouraged to call their travel agent as well as share their results through their Facebook and Twitter social media channels.
• Twitter Contest: Carnival Corporation will kick off the launch of its new Twitter handle, @CarnivalPLC, on November 24 with a contest encouraging consumers to share what they love about cruising. In addition to instant prizes for tweets at 50,000, 150,000, 250,000, 400,000, 500,000 and 750,000, one individual will be selected at random to receive, for themselves and a guest, 100 days of cruising on their choice of Carnival Corporation's U.S.-based brands to be used at their discretion.
• WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com: This site – which promotes the company's nine brands – serves as the hub for both the campaign and an information source on cruising options and experiences on Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in the U.S.; AIDA Cruises in Germany; Costa Cruises in Italy; and P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (United Kingdom). The site will help serve as a continuous communication platform for consumers and travel agents.

All sweepstakes rules and eligibility information will be available at WorldsLeadingCruiseLines.com.

About Carnival Corporation
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).

Together, these brands operate 101 ships totaling 214,000 lower berths with seven new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2015 and 2017. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.  Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com, www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com, www.pocruises.com.au, and www.pocruises.com.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc

Related Links

http://www.carnival.com