The cruise industry is experiencing a record growth offering cruise enthusiasts more choices – small luxury ships to mega yachts to expedition vessels to ocean cruises and floating resorts.  Research reveals there will be approximately 96 new ships coming on board between now and 2025.
 
Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique New York City PR agency specializing in travel, stays on the pulse with current trends and counsels clients on how to grow in this market.  Cruise travel experience can be tailored according to the passengers’ preference – small ships offer more privacy and freedom while larger ships render the luxury ship experience.
 
Here are five key cruise travel trends.
 
Authentic Travel Experiences -- With the increase in the number of river cruise and luxury ships, cruise passengers are finding more authentic destination especially among active and younger tourists.  In fact, some river cruise ships are providing bikes guests can actually use to explore during on a shore excursion. 
The demand and popularity for cruise travel is evident, with so many upscale and luxurious ships set to discover the world’s most striking and alluring and hard to reach destinations.
 
Gen Z Passengers (consumers born between 1981 and 1996) are an emerging new market for cruise marketers as this group comes of age and embarks on adventures around the world on a wide range of new river, specialty and ocean cruises.  

These first-time passengers are attracted by “multiple destinations and novel experiences such as music festivals at sea” according to CLIA State of the industry report.
 
Cruise lines are also raising the bar by introducing interactive entertainment, high-tech shows and events, world class performances just to name a few amenities.
 
Instagram is turning out to be a leading source for inspiration when it comes to planning a vacation.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Trending hashtags from passengers posting selfies and amazing photos on their Instagram feeds are influencing first-time cruise passengers to book a particular cruise. 

Since many ships offer free Wi-Fi, it is easier than ever to post instantly on Instagram. 
 
Sustainable Travel – Cruise lines are using new technologies to “reduce exhaust pollution, more efficient hull and propeller design, improved water filtration and switching from diesel to liquid natural gas” says On the Luce Travel Blog. 

Did you know . . .
 
“The cruise industry is more conscientious than ever, working with local communities to preserve their heritage and implementing innovations that decrease the environmental footprint of cruise travel. The industry is also working with destinations to bring the benefits of tourism to local economies while preserving local cultures, landmarks and environments,” according the CLIA State of the Industry Report.
 
Specialty Markets – Cruise travel is a gaining in popularity with solo travel and female explorers, since it is a safe way to discover the world. 

According to the U.S. Census, “19 percent of the U.S. population has a disability and 49 percent of senior have a disability.”  Some cruise lines are making their cabins, on board amenities and shore excursions ADA accessible to accommodate the needs of physically challenged passengers – canes, walkers and wheelchairs.   
 
Corporate groups are also discovering cruise vacations are an excellent for team building activities and corporate retreats
 
Cruise travel has also been popular with multi-generational family travel, as well as family reunions.
 
Cruises are gaining steam with the personalized service, multi-destinations, as well as on board amenities such as freestyle and all you can eat buffet dining options , pools, water parks, gyms, and world-class entertainment.
 
Cruise vacations are more popular than ever as a way for globetrotters to explore multiple destinations at a time.  Our boutique NYC PR agency is here to help cruise marketers capture their share of market and share of wealth in this growing industry.
 
We are here to help.  Give us a call.
 
 

Branding distinguishes your company, product or service from competitors.  In today’s competitive market, small business and Fortune 500 companies often undergo a branding campaign to create a one of a kind brand that will resonate with customers and ultimately inspire them to choose your product or service.
 
Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique NYC travel and lifestyle public relations agency, undertakes a holistic approach to develop a company’s brand DNA from the new logos and taglines to brand guidelines, to the brand vision and to recommendations on how employees should conduct business on your company’s behalf.
 
Here are tips for developing an effective brand strategy.
 
Research – Our talented team of brand marketing specialists work closely with an independent market research company to conduct competitive analysis, quantitative and qualitative research. 

Our quantitative research initiatives range from surveys and polls to one on one interview to gather invaluable insights about perceptions about our clients’ business and our clients’ competitors. 
 
These research findings serve the foundation for developing our branding campaign.
 
Our qualitative research activities range from targeted surveys to focus groups in priority markets to ensure the new visual identity, slogans and taglines resonates with our clients’ potential customers.
 
 
Stand apart from the crowd – Develop a tagline to create an emotional connection with your audience and to engage the brand.  Test the tagline with potential audience to ensure the messages are creating the desired effect for your product or service.  Enlist support from a graphic designer to create a one-of-a-kind visual identity to create a memorable impression and to set your client apart from its competitors. 
 
Copyright and trademark – It is important to work with an intellectual property law firm to copyright and to trademark logos, slogans and taglines so clients own full rights for these creative works. 

Brand Position – It is important to develop unique attributes to differentiate your company, product, service from competitors.  It is important to maintain an open line of communication with clients, secure feedback and adjust the creatives. 

Brand Guidelines – It is important to have a toolkit to ensure graphic designers, web developers, and marketers communicate the same message, have a uniformed look in all forms of communications.  The style guide should include everything from the color palette, font, and editorial guidelines to ensure consistency with the brand. 

Create your company culture – The new brand DNA will transcend to your company culture. All new employees should receive the brand guidelines during the orientation session.  A strong brand could be extremely helpful in creating positive and lasting reputation in overall. Everyone prefers to work with those who are people oriented or driven and actually show their concern for customers. Try to be one of those companies embodying people first attitude in everything that you and your employees do.
 
Our boutique NYC travel and lifestyle public relations agency is here to help. Give us a call.

“Influencer marketing is a form of collaboration.  A business collaborates with an influential person to promote something.  It can be a product, service or campaign.  Celebrity endorsements are the original form of influencer marketing,” says Hootsuite suite.
 
Social media influencer marketing is an effective way to boost a business and to establish a product or service as a pioneer in a particular industry.  Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, understands the importance of finding the right influencer to stimulate consumers buying decisions and to make recommendations about a particular product or service.
 
Our boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency offers the following five tips for executing an effective social media influencer marketing campaign.
 
 
Devise influencer metrics, campaign goals and analysis framework – It is important to have an objective, a clear strategy and a purpose.   With the right marketing and measurements, the outcome can be achieved without any problem. 
Once the objectives have been established, it is utterly important to establish metrics for performance and measurements for success.  What specific KPI will be in place?  How will it create brand awareness?  How will you track engagements, videos views, and growth?
 
Look for the ideal influencer and get a hold of the right audience and communities – Once the campaign goal has been determined, then it is the time to think about the right influencer that will help your product or service grow. 

Our team can help clients identify the right influencer who can speak to the specific audience. The perfect influencer is the one who resonates with your brand, marketing objectives and content engagement and so.
 
Analyze growth potential including micro, macro, in-house, celebrity and so – In this phase, it is important to do access the potential growth at all micro and macro and in-house economic levels. 

In fact, our team helps clients develop  answers in advance for the queries such as the growth potential for the campaign.  How the brand is going to help the influencer in gaining more traction? How will the influencer assist the brand in getting more results?
It is important understand the close relationship between the brand, the influencer and the audience.
 
Focus on a specific platform – To start with, it is important to select the primary platform for achieving your objectives.  Make sure to use other social media platforms to amplify your message. 

While integrating your social media influencer marketing with the branding tactics of yours clients, it is important to analyze audiences. It is imperative to think of questions such as who is following the influencer?  What are the influencers interests?  What are their shopping behaviours?
 
It will actually help you select the right influencer and target the links, ads and posts to a particular audience that is more likely to complement with your website, brand, products and services.
 
Handle expectations with content deliverables and meeting requirements – This is the time to select the influencers based on this person’s ability to generate and syndicate content.   

Content is the king and the success will be defined indeed by how your influencer is going to address his or her audience and reach out to the people in the long run that will be effective for your marketing and promotional campaign.
 
In this digital era, promotional costs have been growing and companies are constantly looking at their ROI more so than even.   Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, understands that success is contingent upon choosing the right influencer for the right campaign.
 
We are here to help.  Give us a call.

Brand managers would simply like to have a brand which is relevant, hot and adapts with changes in the economy.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
 
Some brands become irrelevant over time and it needs to be reinvented and even upgraded to keep pace with the changing economy.  Successful brands such as fast food products, soda companies, personal care products and hotels often expand their products with new technologies, value propositions, and line extensions.
 
Allen Marketing Communications Inc., a travel and lifestyle public relations agency, understands the importance of staying abreast of industry trends to ensure targeted messages resonate with consumers and it will ultimate inspire them to experience a particular product or service.
 
Here are our tips for ensuring a brand stays relevant in this ever changing marketplace.

Vision – Each brand has its own ebbs and flows.  It is pivotal for brand marketers to understand of the dynamics of his or her industry.  Understand industry trends.  See what is on the horizon.  Adapt a company’s product or service to meet these changes.  

Ask Questions – The biggest fear that brand managers face is getting near sighted believing they understand the motivations for their target audience.  It is important to conduct market research to gain invaluable insights about your ever changing consumers and adapt these insights into your product value propositions.  

Innovate – For older brands, innovation is the key to inspire existing and new customers to revive and notice your product or service.  Do not turn away everything that has made your brand successful.  Build on your products strengths.  However, innovative tactics and even line extensions can ensure your product or service stays relevant with your customer base.

One of my former client’s, a luxury five-star hotel on the island of Oahu, underwent an expansion to offer a new spa featuring Asian-inspired spa therapies.  After polling its guests, the spa was a natural extension for the hotel to continue to offer its discerning clientele a new experience.

Be Open  – It is very much important to have an open mind and consider choices with a fresh perspective. Do understand that what actually made you successful years back, might be is entirely irrelevant now.  

Our savvy team of brand marketing experts designs travel and lifestyle public relations campaigns to ensure consumers actually care and will pay attention to our clients’ products and services.  With the ever changing times, it is important for consumer brands to grow and maintain its relevancy with its existing customer base and to expand to secure new clients.
 
Our boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency is here to help.  Give us a call.