Carnival Cruise

Carnival Cruise Lines is known as the “Fun Ship” and is marketed towards families and low price travels. Lately, Carnival Cruise Lines has been in the public eye because of a few incidents and these are affecting the cruise industry as a whole. Incidents such as running aground to multiple fires aboard a ship make marketing efforts a struggle for Carnival and the cruise industry. Carnival is plagued with high-profile media coverage that includes a pirate attack, person overboard, person missing, death, virus outbreak, rape, collision, and robbery.

In 2012 lives were lost when the Costa Concordia ran aground and partially sank in 2013 when Carnivals Triumph had a fire and drifted in the Gulf of Mexico. Publicity from these types of events makes customers second guess taking a cruise especially when they see how Carnival reacts in the face of tragedy. The biggest problem with how Carnival handled these incidents is the role social media played with word of the incidents traveling fast.

When Carnival apologized in a public forum they as much as admitted guilt publically.

Problem Identification

Carnival Cruise Lines has a crisis communications team and two outside PR agencies. Despite utilizing these during a crisis they posted openly on social media for the all to see the chaos transpiring. Being open and transparent is the right thing to do but during a crisis is the time to communicate vetted and truthful information.

Components of the Problem

There are two components to the problem regarding social media use and the apologetic use of communication.

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Using social media as a way to communicate during a crisis created a problem for Carnival Cruise Lines. Social media was not used properly to announce updates on the crises and the communication was not consistent. In one incident the company did not claim responsibility which left the media to sensationalize it. On the other, they were apologetic which is perceived as an admission of guilt. However unaware of their actions could result in lawsuits leading to total bankruptcy.

Marketing Mix

Product: Affordable cruise line that is fun focused on the ship, safe, and family-oriented. Price: at $175 per person, per night which they are happy to be considered the Wal-Mart of cruise options.

Place: Headquartered in Miami, Florida strategically located for travels to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Mexico, and even European locations.

Promotion: Advertising is seen on television, radio, and social media. They boast the lowest price possible offering 110% credit on board if there is a better price found within 48 hours of booking. The VIFP is free to sign up for and offers promotional pricing and deals.

People: Families, young couples, older couples, and singles are who they market to offer something for everyone at every stage and age.

Social Media Plan

Marketing through social media has become a part of the marketing mix used to attract new and old customers. There have been negative and positive outcomes of their use of social media mainly Facebook. But, Facebook gives them the ability to reach the public, passengers, and families of passengers to keep them updated on what is happening, cruise specials, or in the event of a crisis.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

1. Carnival Cruise Lines offers a relaxing and fun experience that caters to adults and children.
2. Offering a price match guarantee so that customers know they are getting the best deal.
3. They have launched an app for customer use on the ship and have a strong social media presence.
4. With options of cruising to the Caribbean or Europe destinations are offered for everyone to enjoy.

Weaknesses

1. A lack of communication for the employees in the event of a crisis causes high turnover rates.
2. There are several crises troubling Carnival Cruise Lines causing damage to their reputation. This decreases the customers willing to take a cruise
3. They offer great location options for cruises, but other cruise lines offer more and different locations.
4. Activity on social media is not used in a positive way with apologizing at times of crisis and appearing to admit guilt which is not a positive use of social media and leaves the public feeling negatively towards the cruise line.

Opportunities

1. An opportunity to increase communication for passengers on the ship would be to have an app to communicate information.
2. An app could be used in many ways for communication. Loyalty members could receive offers, book cruises, and ask questions.
3. Unhappy customers can also be reached to offer a resolution to the problem. This is an opportunity to make the customer happy and turn the negative feedback into positive feedback.
4. There is an opportunity to offer a money-back guarantee which shows that the cruise line is committed to the happiness of customers. A final opportunity that could be utilized is a money-back guarantee if there is a chance of an accident or disaster the customers will get compensated.

Threats

1. When the economy is weak luxury trips such as a cruise with Carnival suffer. Potential customers will spend money on necessities instead of taking vacations.
2. Social media is a threat in the way that those that promote and those that are negative about experiences will have an impact on them. Negative publicity hits harder and spreads faster than positive.
3. Weather and natural disasters are a threat as their destinations see hurricanes and tropical storms in their cruising areas.
4. Terrorism threats also affect travel around the world and to countries outside of the U.S. and Europe.

Sound Alternative/Measurements: Two Possibilities

One alternative would be to have a live chat to give customers that instant connection to get questions answered. Also, this could go with a FAQ section that would include an explanation of any issues that are happening including what they are doing to fix them this will help minimize the negative fallout. This would be measurable by monitoring the traffic and customers’ feedback on their experiences using them. Customers would be asked to complete a follow-up survey about the experience.

Second, use an alternative response to a crisis and manage it with crisis management. The difference in responses of the Concordia and Triumph was an indecisive use of social media. Using a consistent way to convey and notify the public of what is or has happened directly from the Carnival Cruise line so that customers will trust the company to convey the truth in these types of events. This will be measured by feedback from surveys and monitored on social media as to what the customers are saying about the crisis.

Recommendations

The recommendation that would be best for Carnival Cruise Lines would be to offer special promotions to detract from the negativity on social media that were aboard cruises that had technical issues or any other kind of crisis. After the customer takes advantage they would be asked to update their comment with an honest updated review. Then update the negative comments with positive comments. This shows that the company is taking action to address any issues.