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Celebrity Ad in the UK

upwarduk

By upwarduk,
in Celebrity Cruises

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upwarduk

upwarduk

Posted
Posted

I have recently been asked to comment via a survey about an Advertisment that Celebrity are thinking about showing, I assume here in UK.

I cannot see the point of the survey, as everyone in it is just shouting'Marco.'

I just don't understand it.

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BDRebel

BDRebel

Posted
Posted

It's a play on the children's pool game "Marco Polo". The one who is "it" closes his eyes. When he shouts "Marco", the other players shout "Polo". The object is for "it" to tag one of the other players.

As far as the advert, the ship is "it", shouting "Marco", hoping for you to answer "Polo". (or at least that's how I interpret it).

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villauk

villauk

Posted
Posted (edited)
Glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand it!!:confused:

 

Perhaps because the majority of us don't have pools at home - only the use of public 'swimming' pools :confused:? Never heard of the game, nor have my kids :confused:.

Edited by villauk
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BDRebel

BDRebel

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That's the problem with Americans producing advertisements for the British:D

(Rather like the Chevy Nova not selling well in Mexico. Nobody told Chevy that translated, "No Va" (Spanish) means "Doesn't Go":eek:

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ghstudio "Live from...." Rare

ghstudio

Posted
Posted

I think few in the US can identify with the ad....which celebrity already ran at some likely considerable expense with their new advertising agency. At least they are getting smarter about testing how to spend their advertising dollars.

 

Speaking as an American from the US, I had no clue what the ad was about....never heard of the pool game (and I've had two kids grow up with pools and also using public swimming pools). It's completely wasted on me, but fortunately for celebrity, I'm not their target market. Unfortunately, I checked with both of my kids who are right smack in the middle of the target demographic and they had no idea about a game called marco polo.

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patty1955

patty1955

Posted
Posted

Speaking as an American from the US, I had no clue what the ad was about....never heard of the pool game (and I've had two kids grow up with pools and also using public swimming pools). It's completely wasted on me, but fortunately for celebrity, I'm not their target market. Unfortunately, I checked with both of my kids who are right smack in the middle of the target demographic and they had no idea about a game called marco polo.

My kids played Marco Polo when they were small and I didn't have a clue what the commercial was about the first time I saw it. I guess I don't connect annoying, children's games with Celebrity.

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uktog "Live from...." Rare

uktog

Posted
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Surely (oh wait this is Celebrity) someone in Head Office checks the understanding with some UK staff pre production?

 

Or do we have a culture where everyone says yes regardless....

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lovescarborough

lovescarborough

Posted
Posted

I got the ad with the guy ordering 2000 pounds of fresh fish from the local market with the Celebrity ship in the background. The survey then asks if it makes you more or less likely to want to book a Celebrity cruise. Really? Who are they paying to make these stupid adverts? We have done many Celebrity cruises and do like them but trying to push the quality of the food is not a good reflection of the standard onboard nowadays. The ships themselves are mostly beautiful but the food has definitely declined.

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ghstudio "Live from...." Rare

ghstudio

Posted
Posted
I got the ad with the guy ordering 2000 pounds of fresh fish from the local market with the Celebrity ship in the background. The survey then asks if it makes you more or less likely to want to book a Celebrity cruise. Really? Who are they paying to make these stupid adverts? We have done many Celebrity cruises and do like them but trying to push the quality of the food is not a good reflection of the standard onboard nowadays. The ships themselves are mostly beautiful but the food has definitely declined.

 

The job of advertising is to attract people to book a cruise. Celebrity's job is then to provide what was advertised and meet any expectations set by the advertising.

 

Since Marco Polo appears to be a kids game...that's a miss since Celebrity is not known for their large number of kids....and images of someone ordering 2000 pounds of fresh fish don't match any reality that I know of...in fact, I don't think Celebrity is sourcing food locally even for Luminae, even though that was one of the talking points when Luminae was announced.

 

I kind of agree that if they want effective advertising, show pictures of the ports, show pictures of people enjoying themselves....including some older folks. One of the biggest misses may/will be if they are successful in attracting some millennials or other younger folks and they find that 75+ % of the passengers are over 60....that's a disaster in the making.

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DYKWIA

DYKWIA

Posted
Posted
The job of advertising is to attract people to book a cruise. Celebrity's job is then to provide what was advertised and meet any expectations set by the advertising.

 

Since Marco Polo appears to be a kids game...that's a miss since Celebrity is not known for their large number of kids....and images of someone ordering 2000 pounds of fresh fish don't match any reality that I know of...in fact, I don't think Celebrity is sourcing food locally even for Luminae, even though that was one of the talking points when Luminae was announced.

 

I kind of agree that if they want effective advertising, show pictures of the ports, show pictures of people enjoying themselves....including some older folks. One of the biggest misses may/will be if they are successful in attracting some millennials or other younger folks and they find that 75+ % of the passengers are over 60....that's a disaster in the making.

 

 

Unfortunately, in the UK, older people are only used to advertise a few things

 

(1) Saga products

(2) Funeral planning / insurance

(3) Mobility aids

(4) Werther's Original sweets

 

using older people will probably reinforce the prejudices people who've never taken a cruise have about cruising, namely that it's for retired people.

 

Vegas does the same, all the promos for the hotels feature beautiful people in designer suits, aged in their 30s - not a stag party, OAP, Mobility Scooter, 30 Stone Giant in sight.

 

Selling a cruise in the UK by linking it to a pool game seems bizarre for a number of reasons (1) 99.99% of people in the UK don't have their own pools so probably have never heard of or played Marco (2) say Marco and link it to Cruise Ships and many people in the UK will immediately think of either the UK based Marco Polo Cruise Ship or Marco Pierre White, the famous UK Chef who is doing a lot of work with P+O - i.e. a Celebrity advert is obscure and people think its an advert for a rival cruise company! and (3) Does anyone seriously in the UK who wants to lie around a pool and play pool games think I must book a cruise to meet that need? When they can jump on a plane and be lying next to a 1001 Olympic sized pools in Spain in just over 2 hours.

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted

I finally went to Youtube this morning to look at this commercial. Even understanding the game that my grandchildren play, I'm at a loss trying to identify the message that the commercial is meant to convey. :confused:

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Suzy Smith

Suzy Smith

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just watched it on YouTube and most of the advert consists of only two words - "Marco" and "Polo". You have to watch it right to the very end for any mention of Celebrity. Cruise & Maritime (who operate the UK-based cruise ship, Marco Polo) will love it!:)

Edited by Suzy Smith
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