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Celebrity's New Ad Campaign : Answer the call of Modern Luxury

Andy

By Andy,
in Celebrity Cruises

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AtleeH

AtleeH

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm pretty sure this ad isn't referring to marco polo, the pool game, but Marco Polo, the ancient Italian traveler/adventurer who spent several years in the far east.

 

And I still believe there aren't that many who know who the ancient Italian Marco Polo is.

 

If the target audience is 20s-30s, then I'm pretty sure we all "get" this ad. I'm in my late 30s, and Marco Polo was a VERY popular pool game when I was a kid. It was still popular with kids when I was a young adult lifeguard. However, even though I get the Marco Polo thing and the "answer the call" bit, it doesn't appeal to me at all. While all of the people in the ad are adults, Marco Polo is a kids' game, and the last thing I want on a "luxurious" cruise is a bunch of kids in the pool. The fact that Celebrity caters less to families with children than other lines do is one of the main reasons I sail with them, and this is something they should NOT lose sight of if they want to continue to attract a younger crowd (DINKs, of course, but also people with kids who want to leave them with Grandma so they can enjoy a luxurious adult vacation).

 

I think it is absolutely possible for Celebrity to create an air of luxury and market themselves in a way that differentiates them from the other mass market lines, but they ABSOLUTELY have to back it up or they will lose new young customers after one cruise (or one trip to the horrible website). While younger people generally don't care about white-gloved butlers escorting us around and opening doors, we do care A LOT about interesting food and drinks; excellent but unobtrusive service; high-quality, varied entertainment; beautiful, modern decor; lack of crowds and plenty of privacy; the ability to do what we want, when we want.

 

We have our third X cruise coming up and I am interested to see how the new suite structure, built-in drink packages and other changes since our last cruise in 2014 will have changed the overall feel of the experience.

Edited by AtleeH
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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

Posted
Posted
I'm pretty sure this ad isn't referring to marco polo, the pool game, but Marco Polo, the ancient Italian traveler/adventurer who spent several years in the far east...
The pool game is centered on the call "Marco" and the response "Polo", as is the ad. Other than the game stealing the name from the explorer, please explain how the call and response process relates to the explorer.:confused:
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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
If the target audience is 20s-30s, then I'm pretty sure we all "get" this ad. I'm in my late 30s, and Marco Polo was a VERY popular pool game when I was a kid. It was still popular with kids when I was a young adult lifeguard. However, even though I get the Marco Polo thing and the "answer the call" bit, it doesn't appeal to me at all. While all of the people in the ad are adults, Marco Polo is a kids' game, and the last thing I want on a "luxurious" cruise is a bunch of kids in the pool. The fact that Celebrity caters less to families with children than other lines do is one of the main reasons I sail with them, and this is something they should NOT lose sight of if they want to continue to attract a younger crowd (DINKs, of course, but also people with kids who want to leave them with Grandma so they can enjoy a luxurious adult vacation).

 

I think it is absolutely possible for Celebrity to create an air of luxury and market themselves in a way that differentiates them from the other mass market lines, but they ABSOLUTELY have to back it up or they will lose new young customers after one cruise (or one trip to the horrible website). While younger people generally don't care about white-gloved butlers escorting us around and opening doors, we do care A LOT about interesting food and drinks; excellent but unobtrusive service; high-quality, varied entertainment; beautiful, modern decor; lack of crowds and plenty of privacy; the ability to do what we want, when we want.

 

We have our third X cruise coming up and I am interested to see how the new suite structure, built-in drink packages and other changes since our last cruise in 2014 will have changed the overall feel of the experience.

 

 

I think, unfortunately, that you've hit the nail on the head. :(

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure this ad isn't referring to marco polo, the pool game, but Marco Polo, the ancient Italian traveler/adventurer who spent several years in the far east.

 

And I still believe there aren't that many who know who the ancient Italian Marco Polo is.

 

I think the ad IS referencing the pool game hence the "answer the call".

They do try to tie in the explorer since he is one of the people calling "Marco".

I think it's just misguided and empty.

I saw the full ad on TV yesterday and when it was over just thought "Huh ????"

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Rob the Cruiser

Rob the Cruiser

Posted
Posted (edited)

Setting myself up to receive massive flame-o-grams but we like the ad. We saw it for the first time a few minutes ago. It played during the Travel Channel series 'Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations' show. Liked it so much that we recorded it.

 

What a coincidence. We had been looking at our reservations a few minutes before it was broadcast.

 

Does the explorer climbing in the ice look familiar? He is our fearless Panama Canal expert, Milos!

Edited by Rob the Cruiser
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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
Setting myself up to receive massive flame-o-grams but we like the ad. We saw it for the first time a few minutes ago. It played during the Travel Channel series 'Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations' show. Liked it so much that we recorded it.

 

What a coincidence. We had been looking at our reservations a few minutes before it was broadcast.

 

Does the explorer climbing in the ice look familiar? He is our fearless Panama Canal expert, Milos!

 

You saw a different commercial than the one we saw.

LOVE Milos and would love to have seen him. :)

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Alsmez Great Review Rare

Alsmez

Posted
Posted
I'm pretty sure this ad isn't referring to marco polo, the pool game, but Marco Polo, the ancient Italian traveler/adventurer who spent several years in the far east.

 

And I still believe there aren't that many who know who the ancient Italian Marco Polo is.

 

I don't know what else "answer the call" could possibly mean in relation to Marco Polo, unless they are referencing the game. Also, while I am relatively sure that most people my age know who Marco Polo is, I am also sure that when most people my age hear "Marco.......Polo" called out, the first thing they think of is their favorite childhood pool game, not the explorer.

 

I will say that Celebrity managed to put me in a "summer vacation" state of mind with the Marco Polo call, which is exactly what they were trying to accomplish, no doubt. However, the images they used didn't adequately illustrate "modern luxury" or really anything about Celebrity to me. Having been on Reflection and Equinox, I can think of at least 15 areas of the ship or onboard/port activities that they could have used to evoke a sense of luxury and show potential cruisers exactly what they could expect to enjoy aboard a Celebrity cruise. Not an entirely bad idea, but poorly executed, for sure. Not unlike some of their changes on board, I think! :)

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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
Then there must be more than one ad. He is on a ledge of of a cave, surrounded by ice. He is wearing a helmet with a light on top of it.

 

Not one of his famous hats? :p

 

I'll be sure to look for it.

I don't particularly like Anthony Bourdain but may watch to see Milos.

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chamima

chamima

Posted
Posted
No need to torture yourself by watching Anthony Bourdain.

 

Here it is:

 

https://youtu.be/6AK5EVpk_0Y

 

Milos is at 24 seconds of the 1 minute ad.

 

 

 

Thanks!:D

Milos (in the close up) seems to BE Marco Polo!!! (Which fits into how he presented all of the historic info he presented on our Australia/New Zealand cruise!

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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

Posted
Posted
If it takes more than a minute to figure out what commercial is all about - it is a very bad commercial. Some 30 sec Ads are brilliant, but seems that agency that Celebrity contracted is too dumb to come up with something smart and modern.
Another attribute of a bad ad is that you remember parts of it (eg the "Marco" "Polo" part) but have no recollection what it advertised. Most ads that come on my car radio, I immediately remember hearing that music tens if not hundreds of times in the last month, but I couldn't tell you what product was advertised if my life depended on it. Other than this CC discussion (which has deepened my distaste for the ad), I doubt that I'd have a clue what product went with "Marco" "Polo". Utter fail.
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GottaKnowWhen

GottaKnowWhen

Posted
Posted
I don't know what else "answer the call" could possibly mean in relation to Marco Polo, unless they are referencing the game. Also, while I am relatively sure that most people my age know who Marco Polo is, I am also sure that when most people my age hear "Marco.......Polo" called out, the first thing they think of is their favorite childhood pool game, not the explorer.

...

 

I didn't grow up around a pool, and the times I did go to a pool it was with family, and we went to go swimming. Never played "pool games" and never heard of a marco polo game until a few comments in this thread. So, for me, the message of the ad goes right over my head. Despite that, I think it is a "good" ad in that it draws the viewer in and gets them thinking about Celebrity. I just wish they didn't close with the "Save big bucks right now!" message - that sounds like McDonalds or Walmart.

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BrendaJ

BrendaJ

Posted
Posted

I hope you aren't all judging the Modern Luxury campaign by the "Marco Polo" ad. I'm probably the only one that kind of liked it as I like the music, and I think the mysterious, vague nature of the ad draws attention to it. I'm sure this ad is the first in a long line of ads -

shows more of the ships, food and what the cruise experience is actually like.

 

Let's wait and see where they go with this campaign before judging it too harshly. I think modern advertising has to be different to attract attention - just look at Apple ads - sometimes it takes a while to figure out what they're trying to sell, but it's harder to overlook an ad when it's a bit confusing. Full disclosure - I know nothing whatsoever about marketing. I'm in the age group that didn't play Marco Polo in the pool, but I watched people 20 years younger than me doing it.

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BrendaJ

BrendaJ

Posted
Posted (edited)
:confused:You seem to be unaware that the ad you link to is two years old, and has nothing to do with this new ad campaign.

 

Oops - sorry about that - I posted the wrong link.

was posted by Celebrity three weeks ago.

 

 

And

from a few months ago, introducing "Modern Luxury".

 

Edited by BrendaJ
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ISABELLA

ISABELLA

Posted
Posted

The whole purpose of any Ad to show you the product the way that makes you want to try or buy this product. But if you watching the Ad and trying to figure out what is it they are selling, audience will loose the interest watching it.

Ad must have something very memorable in it... I still remember Princess ads when they advertised first Grand Princess - that was WOW! I wanted to book it at any price. We were fortune to sail on the first Caribbean sailing. Will never forget the ship or the cruise..

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TravelerThom

TravelerThom

Posted
Posted (edited)
...And
from a few months ago, introducing "Modern Luxury"...
While the title of that link is indeed "An Introduction to Modern Luxury", the tag line "Modern Luxury" has been used by Celebrity since at least 2011. The new campaign is entitled "Answer the call of Modern Luxury", and the first reference I have seen to the new campaign was the 14 Jan 2016 dated article in SeaTradeCruise News (there may well be something earlier, but I couldn't find it), so I don't think the link has anything to do with the new campaign.

 

PS I do think the ads you are finding give nice view of Celebrity ships. Unfortunately nothing like that in the new ads.

Edited by TravelerThom
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AtleeH

AtleeH

Posted
Posted

It's obvious, I'm way too old, and so far out of the loop. That ad went over my head. I have never heard of the pool game marco polo. It's a new one on me.

 

In my advanced age, I could actually relate referencing Marco Polo. Old Marco was an adventurer, and now we can cruise on Celebrity and go an an adventure.

 

But how does referencing an old swimming pool game, marco polo, excite, entice the 30 somethings into cruising on X?

 

 

I think, unfortunately, that you've hit the nail on the head. :(

 

 

 

 

 

I think the ad IS referencing the pool game hence the "answer the call".

They do try to tie in the explorer since he is one of the people calling "Marco".

I think it's just misguided and empty.

I saw the full ad on TV yesterday and when it was over just thought "Huh ????"

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