July 24, 2012
Source: tumblr.raisedbywolves.ca via Andrea on Pinterest
When you think of cruises what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For me, the first thing that comes to mind is senior citizens. Well, senior citizens and Spam, but mostly seniors. You know… you hear about those retired couples talking about the ten cruises they took last year, and how they can’t wait for their next “adventure.” Maybe it’s all the food, maybe it’s all the bingo – who knows, but these cruise lines definitely have a loyal fan base. So you can imagine how surprised I was to hear on the radio the other day, that one of the major cruise lines is steering towards another audience: hipsters. Hearing this reminded me of how important it is to #1: know your audience and #2: remember loyalty is a two-way street.
I know, you’re probably still trying to wrap your head around hipsters and cruises. It’s like trying to market skinny jeans to seniors or something – total ew. Well it’s really happening. One of the largest indie festivals in the world, Coachella is teaming up with none other than Carnival Cruise lines to bring to you the S.S. Coachella (no this is not a joke), a “musical voyage.” After all the bad publicity Carnival has gotten in the past couple of years, from the stranded with Spam incident to boat collisions to the capsizing of the Costa Concordia, I suppose the S.S. Coachella seems like a way to regain their proud title of queen of the high seas. However, since the announcement, the comments have seemed to suggest otherwise. Comments such as, “BREAKING: Somali Pirates Deem Coachella Cruise Ship ‘Too Obnoxious to Seize,” and, “SS Coachella, talk about cashing in,” from Twitter.
At Pocketstop, we obsess over organizing human behavior and using that data to create fanatical loyalty between the brand and their audience. By getting to know their audience, where they hang out and what they like to do, the brand connects with their consumers on their level, and in a way that is safe and comfortable to them. That way brands are not forcing themselves on consumers who are not interested, but instead targeting the right audiences: Audiences that are interested and have the potential of being loyal. And, once the trust and loyalty is there it is important for the brand to nurture that loyalty. Just as in any relationship, loyalty is a two way street. Once you land the sweet and cute boyfriend you can’t go off and start flirting with other guys and expect him to stick around, can you?
- Katie Cohen, Junior Copywriter
