HAL TV Commercial

[mariner]

Our TV channels in the Northeast have been peppered with cruise commericals lately, as is typical for the winter. Princess has a spot featuring the "Love Boat" theme. Virgin has a Boy George song. Not sure what MSC is using for music. But all feature millennial passengers or families enjoying various aspects of the ships, ports or both. They're well produced. 

 

Then today I saw a HAL spot. Ugh! OK, HAL visits various ports in the world and has FOR 150 YEARS!  (while they're selling experience I believe the perception is your old). Oh, millennials sitting on deck chairs. Really? Millennials on an excursion in lifevests. HAL offers great food (waiter putting down plate). Entertainment (a singer and a piano player).  I wanted to yawn with the lackluster visuals.

 

I'm not sure what demographic they're targeting, but the only ones I could see paying any attention are past passengers. And if they need to remind them why they sailed HAL then the line is in trouble. 

 

If they're hoping to get the younger crowd, HAL should demand its money back from the ad agency.

[Arizona Wildcat]

The real money today is in those 50+ that can take 4 weeks off a year or retired people.  Look at the huge number of cruises on HAL that are 4 weeks or more.  How many younger people have the time (or money) to do that.

[mariner]

Of late, many of those seem to be filed by passengers with credits left over when COVID hit. That was money spent in 2019 dollars. 

 

Banking on filling ships for long voyages isn't a strong strategy. 

 

HAL needs younger passengers. And gambling junkets don't pay the bills either. 

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, mariner said:

Not sure what MSC is using for music.

 

I am not a fan of MSC but I do like the music they use in their winter Caribbean ad spot. "Oh the places, the places we will go. Oh the places, the world has to show...."  (by Brandon Ray).  Very appropriate and oddly memorable.

 

 

[iceman93]

This is just more confirmation that HAL's leadership have not laid out a clear, cohesive vision or brand essence.  The marketing company can only use what they're given, and if that is vague then the advertising will be too.

 

I'll keep saying it until they hire me to run that part of the company, they should go all-in with the dual taglines "A tradition of excellence," and "Savor the journey."  Those two statements sum up, to me, what HAL should be all about.

 

- Tradition.  150 years of it, in fact.  And it's something that no other cruise line can claim.

- Excellence.  Always trying to do and be the best.  Exceed your customer's expectations.  Do what's right, even if it costs the company money in the short term.  Don't cut corners, and avoid the "easy way" to save pennies now.

- Savor.  HAL should appeal to customers who want more than a bus ride from point A to B, or who just want a floating theme park.  The on-board experience should be full of flavor, not gimmicks.  Food, entertainment, and enrichment programs should be a cut above.

- Journey.  While HAL offers some of the cookie-cutter itineraries of other lines, their focus should be on making all their voyages ones to remember.  Every step from embarkation, to sea days, to ports, to disembarkation should be part of memorable, life-changing experiences.

 

Institute that, train and reinforce those values in hiring and promotions, craft a marketing campaign around them, and just watch HAL outperform the competition.  I believe it with 100% of my being.

[shack]

19 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

This is just more confirmation that HAL's leadership have not laid out a clear, cohesive vision or brand essence.  The marketing company can only use what they're given, and if that is vague then the advertising will be too.

 

I'll keep saying it until they hire me to run that part of the company, they should go all-in with the dual taglines "A tradition of excellence," and "Savor the journey."  Those two statements sum up, to me, what HAL should be all about.

 

- Tradition.  150 years of it, in fact.  And it's something that no other cruise line can claim.

- Excellence.  Always trying to do and be the best.  Exceed your customer's expectations.  Do what's right, even if it costs the company money in the short term.  Don't cut corners, and avoid the "easy way" to save pennies now.

- Savor.  HAL should appeal to customers who want more than a bus ride from point A to B, or who just want a floating theme park.  The on-board experience should be full of flavor, not gimmicks.  Food, entertainment, and enrichment programs should be a cut above.

- Journey.  While HAL offers some of the cookie-cutter itineraries of other lines, their focus should be on making all their voyages ones to remember.  Every step from embarkation, to sea days, to ports, to disembarkation should be part of memorable, life-changing experiences.

 

Institute that, train and reinforce those values in hiring and promotions, craft a marketing campaign around them, and just watch HAL outperform the competition.  I believe it with 100% of my being.

 

I'm a marketing guy and you nailed it.  Great advice.

[ski ww]

Maybe if people wrote to head office and told them what is wrong with these commercials and why, it might get them to redo them. 

[Destiny0315]

10 hours ago, mariner said:

Princess has a spot featuring the "Love Boat" theme. Virgin has a Boy George song.

How are songs from a dated tv show and a trendy pop artist from the late 70's to mid 80's appealing to millennials who were young children at that time or not even born yet? Oh and speaking of children, Virgin doesn't even want you taking your children or grands with you!

[Mary229]

10 hours ago, mariner said:

Banking on filling ships for long voyages isn't a strong strategy. 

Yet HAL seems to do it.  The grand voyages are usually booked solidly in advance.  It is a bifurcated market.  Younger, family voyages for the Caribbean and Alaska and veteran cruisers on the longer cruises.   HAL does Alaska well and usually promotes their expertise in that area.  HAL will never be a party ship, their theme is classic, traditional, low key cruising.

[YXU AC*SE]

@mariner is this the creative in question?   Scott. 

 

 

[Mary229]

6 hours ago, iceman93 said:

Institute that, train and reinforce those values in hiring and promotions, craft a marketing campaign around them, and just watch HAL outperform the competition.  I believe it with 100% of my being.

Marketing can only get them there.  This is key to keeping them coming.  HAL is not a one and done cruise line , it is so important they train and reinforce the values to the new personnel quickly.  Also they need to instill in their new crew that this is a career not a quick buck.  That is what is missing among many of the new crew 

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, iceman93 said:

This is just more confirmation that HAL's leadership have not laid out a clear, cohesive vision or brand essence.  The marketing company can only use what they're given, and if that is vague then the advertising will be too.

 

I'll keep saying it until they hire me to run that part of the company, they should go all-in with the dual taglines "A tradition of excellence," and "Savor the journey."  Those two statements sum up, to me, what HAL should be all about.

 

 

 

The problem with using these taglines is that HAL then has to deliver on them. People have high expectations. Although "savor" has many dimensions, most will associate it with food -- and HAL would need to step up its game there. Except on its newest ships, HAL has fewer specialty dining options -- and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that more than 50% of the mentions I read here about one of the (Pinnacle Grill) are negative. HAL's MDR seems to have about an equal number of hits (and misses) as its closest competitors. 

 

And excellence?  Again, delivery is questionable. Service has always been held to be excellent (although for me, I have never really experienced any service on HAL that goes above and beyond what I've also experienced on other lines). And now, with fewer staff/crew....?  Entertainment not "excellent" either. 

 

Journey -- yes, I can see that. 

 

 

[Sea42]

Does anyone actually watch TV commercials anymore??

[Mary229]

5 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

Does anyone actually watch TV commercials anymore??

If you watch YouTube, say for ship reviews then they will show you cruise line commercials.  Sure you can skip through. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 hours ago, iceman93 said:

This is just more confirmation that HAL's leadership have not laid out a clear, cohesive vision or brand essence.  The marketing company can only use what they're given, and if that is vague then the advertising will be too.

 

I'll keep saying it until they hire me to run that part of the company, they should go all-in with the dual taglines "A tradition of excellence," and "Savor the journey."  Those two statements sum up, to me, what HAL should be all about.

 

- Tradition.  150 years of it, in fact.  And it's something that no other cruise line can claim.

- Excellence.  Always trying to do and be the best.  Exceed your customer's expectations.  Do what's right, even if it costs the company money in the short term.  Don't cut corners, and avoid the "easy way" to save pennies now.

- Savor.  HAL should appeal to customers who want more than a bus ride from point A to B, or who just want a floating theme park.  The on-board experience should be full of flavor, not gimmicks.  Food, entertainment, and enrichment programs should be a cut above.

- Journey.  While HAL offers some of the cookie-cutter itineraries of other lines, their focus should be on making all their voyages ones to remember.  Every step from embarkation, to sea days, to ports, to disembarkation should be part of memorable, life-changing experiences.

 

Institute that, train and reinforce those values in hiring and promotions, craft a marketing campaign around them, and just watch HAL outperform the competition.  I believe it with 100% of my being.

 

 

Tradition is good, but HAL's 150 years is 3 decades shy of Cunard's 180 and P & O's 185. I don't know if tradition "sells" a product well these days. With so many people, especially the coveted younger crowd, constantly online looking for what's new (and not "so last week"), does tradition impress them? 

 

Journey should set HAL apart. I haven't seen the MSC commercial, but the idea of "the places you will go" should appeal to people who don't want the ship to be their main destination. But for this to be true, HAL has to step up the support for its itineraries with speakers related to the journey and port lectures that are more than commercials for the ship's "partner" shops ashore. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

11 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

How are songs from a dated tv show and a trendy pop artist from the late 70's to mid 80's appealing to millennials who were young children at that time or not even born yet? Oh and speaking of children, Virgin doesn't even want you taking your children or grands with you!

 

Well, Princess will probably hang onto the Love Boat connection forever. That show is still in reruns somewhere. And instead of a good seafaring blast of the horn as they leave port, their horn plays the first lines of the Love Boat theme. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

So I watched that commercial. Zzzzzzzzz. That does nothing to make me want to cruise. Nothing in that looks good enough to count as "the time of my life." The voiceover sounds bored. Even the music is boring. If they're going for "time of your life" maybe they should have tried to get "I've had Time of my Life" from Dirty Dancing?

[PACD_JG]

17 hours ago, iceman93 said:

This is just more confirmation that HAL's leadership have not laid out a clear, cohesive vision or brand essence.  The marketing company can only use what they're given, and if that is vague then the advertising will be too.

 

I'll keep saying it until they hire me to run that part of the company, they should go all-in with the dual taglines "A tradition of excellence," and "Savor the journey."  Those two statements sum up, to me, what HAL should be all about.

 

- Tradition.  150 years of it, in fact.  And it's something that no other cruise line can claim.

- Excellence.  Always trying to do and be the best.  Exceed your customer's expectations.  Do what's right, even if it costs the company money in the short term.  Don't cut corners, and avoid the "easy way" to save pennies now.

- Savor.  HAL should appeal to customers who want more than a bus ride from point A to B, or who just want a floating theme park.  The on-board experience should be full of flavor, not gimmicks.  Food, entertainment, and enrichment programs should be a cut above.

- Journey.  While HAL offers some of the cookie-cutter itineraries of other lines, their focus should be on making all their voyages ones to remember.  Every step from embarkation, to sea days, to ports, to disembarkation should be part of memorable, life-changing experiences.

 

Institute that, train and reinforce those values in hiring and promotions, craft a marketing campaign around them, and just watch HAL outperform the competition.  I believe it with 100% of my being.

Nice...but that would mean HAL would have to charge more to meet that expectation.  Do you honestly think HAL would have as many bookings if their fares were 25% higher than they are now?  My bet is  they'd be even more in the red if they did that. 

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

true, HAL has to step up the support for its itineraries with speakers related to the journey and port lectures that are more than commercials for the ship's "partner" shops ashore. 

Yes, they used to do a very good job of programming journey topical entertainment and lectures.  Now it is all multi media presentations.  They are following the old adage “if you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bs.”

Edited February 8, 2023 by Mary229

[rubytue]

12 hours ago, YXU AC*SE said:

@mariner is this the creative in question?   Scott. 

 

 

If this is the commercial in question, full of millennials as the OP mentioned… I don’t know what to think. If the leads in this were born 1984-2000… what the heck do I look like?! 😂

[3rdGenCunarder]

48 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Yes, they used to do a very good job of programming journey topical entertainment and lectures.  Now it is all multi media presentations.  They are following the old adage “if you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bs.”

 

I wanted to use the laughing icon, but this is too true to be funny.

[3rdGenCunarder]

22 minutes ago, rubytue said:

If this is the commercial in question, full of millennials as the OP mentioned… I don’t know what to think. If the leads in this were born 1984-2000… what the heck do I look like?! 😂

 

Yeah, I'm trying hard not to think about that. I took another look at the commercial and I figured out that the gray hair is bothering me. Not because I have anything against people with gray hair--mine is under the blonde somewhere. 😉 But it does make them look older than much of that age group, and combined with "time of your life," I'm getting the message "do something before your life runs out of time." Depressing.

[ShipWalker]

7 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

...I'm getting the message "do something before your life runs out of time." Depressing.

 

"Put a HAL cruise on your bucket list today"

[rubytue]

45 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Yeah, I'm trying hard not to think about that. I took another look at the commercial and I figured out that the gray hair is bothering me. Not because I have anything against people with gray hair--mine is under the blonde somewhere. 😉 But it does make them look older than much of that age group, and combined with "time of your life," I'm getting the message "do something before your life runs out of time." Depressing.

That couple is, in my mind, late 50s. At best they are late Gen-Xers. I’m rock solid middle of GenX. I do feel that HAL is trying to win over GenX. But that ain’t it. 

[Mary229]

26 minutes ago, rubytue said:

That couple is, in my mind, late 50s. At best they are late Gen-Xers. I’m rock solid middle of GenX. I do feel that HAL is trying to win over GenX. But that ain’t it. 

I think HAL wants younger people to fill their 7 day cruises which do pay a lot of bills.   They still want us boomers to go on the longer journeys where they have a willing audience who will pay a higher day rate.    Many of us are done with entry level cruises.  The longer cruises not only are profitable but they are an aspirational goal for younger people. So as 

i said before it is a bifurcated market model.  To me that is not a problem.  

Edited February 9, 2023 by Mary229