One of the most important parts for businesses in successfully selling a product or service is creating advertisements that appeal to and persuade prospective customers. Businesses invest a lot of time, money, and research into understanding who their customers and future target audiences are, the desires of these customers, and how best to showcase their products and services to appeal to customers. In these three examples of print advertisements for cruise ship companies, there are similarities and differences; however, they are designed to appeal to different types of customers and this can be understood by analyzing the images and style of each company’s advertisement.
The first advertisement is for the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship Breakaway. The full-page ad shows the front part of an enormous, colorfully painted ship with the New York City skyline in the background. The image is also designed to give the illusion that New York City itself is on the ship. The text of the advertisement says, “New York’s newest ship brings everything you love about NYC to sea,” and then describes a few of the amenities offered on the ship that are similar to the entertainments people enjoy while visiting New York City, including Broadway musicals, fine cuisine, and shops (“New York” p. 127). The text also mentions that the ship will sail to Bermuda. The image that NCL selected for this advertisement will appeal to customers who love the gigantic size and colorful lifestyle of New York City, which is reflected in the image of a very large cruise ship and skyscrapers. The image also shows the blue ocean, blue sky, and mentions its destination of Bermuda; therefore, the expectation this advertisement creates for customers is that they will enjoy the best entertainment that New York City offers as well as the balmy, perfect, tropical days of Bermuda. With its full-page size, images of a large ship and buildings, as well as text description suggesting a great many different kinds of entertainment, this advertisement is not for customers who is looking for economy, savings, and are on a budget. It is designed instead for customers that expect to be entertained in many ways and are willing to pay for the convenience of having it all available aboard one big ship. It is for the customer that enjoys size, crowds, and twenty-four hour entertainment.
The second advertisement is for Regent Seven Seas Cruises. It is not advertising a specific ship, but a cruise line in general. Text is minimal; instead the focus is on a close-up photo of a casually but well-dressed couple who are aboard a ship, raising wine glasses to each other in the bright afternoon sunlight. However, the text that is included is important. The most eye-catching and largest text reads, “enjoy . . . it’s all included” (“Regent” p. 53). Additionally, in small text at the bottom of the full page advertisement are the words, “Elegant Mid-Sized Ships With All Ocean-View Suites and Private Balconies” (“Regent” p. 53). The target audience for this company’s advertisement appears to be wealthier consumers who value relaxation, privacy, and a more intimate setting for their cruise experience. The obvious luxury of the image coupled with the text suggests that for the discriminating, wealthy customer, every relaxing and desirable amenity can be paid for in advance so the customer can enjoy an all-inclusive, worry and hassle free getaway.
The third advertisement is for Oceania Cruises Cruise Specialists. This advertisement is in a sidebar in the magazine. It is very heavy in text, with a small silhouette image of elephants in their native savannah habitat toward the top and a small cruise ship icon at the bottom. Central to the advertisement is the text, “Around the world in 180 days,” which suggests that this cruise line specializes in very extensive, lengthy, and adventurous excursions (“Oceania Cruises” p. 110). In fact, the advertisement includes the specific dates of one of the cruises, which begins on January 10, 2015 and ends on July 8 of 2015. Although the advertisement does not publish prices and it is obvious that such a lengthy cruise would be very expensive, it also includes several statements that show the cruise line can provide a good value or bargain for its customers. For example, it mentions “Early Booking Opportunity,” “2-for-1 Cruise Fares,” and “Early Booking Savings up to 70%” (“Oceania Cruises” p. 110). However, the advertisement also offers an “Exclusive Prestige Package” for its customers who are more interested in luxury than bargains. The Oceania Cruises company appears to understand that because such a lengthy cruise will have a limited appeal because only people with a solid six months of time to spend away from work will be able to go, it must offer trips that both the luxury seeker and the bargain hunter can afford. Oceania Cruises’s customers are looking for the adventure of a lifetime.
The similarity between the advertisements is that they all advertise a cruise ship vacation. However, the types of cruises offered by each company are very different from each other. NCL’s cruise is a giant ship with non-stop entertainment, Regent offers quiet and expensive luxury, and Oceania provides a very lengthy worldwide adventure. The types of images and text used offer distinct impressions of how different each cruise line is from the others. For example, Regent’s cruise may appeal to wealthy couples who desire a short but extravagant getaway from a busy lifestyle, while Oceania’s 180-day journey would appeal to people prepared to invest a lot of time and personal energy in a vacation that is less of a getaway and more of an adventure. One thing that all of the advertisements have in common is that the information they provide is designed to invite the potential customer to further investigate the cruise company and its offerings, which is done in all three cases by providing a phone number and a web address. All of the advertisements are very appealing to view. Although the NCL and Regent cruise companies display full-page advertisements that suggest a lot of luxury and entertainment, the smaller sidebar ad for Oceania Cruise’s 180-day adventure tour is intriguing because it suggests a very different experience from what the more typical cruise lines offer. Instead of blue sky and water, there are elephants, which suggests that the scope of this cruise goes far beyond the typical five to fourteen day trip. Perhaps this is why even though the advertisement is much smaller and full of text, it is for me at least the most interesting of all of the cruise advertisements.
Using different types of images, amount and placement of text, colors, and size of the advertisement, these three cruise companies appeal to very different types of customers and travelers. There is really no “best” advertisement because the target audience for each advertisement is very different in its interests, budget, and amount of time they have for a cruise. Even if people who want to go on a cruise view all of these advertisements, they will not need to do a deep analysis to quickly understand which of these cruise lines will be the best for what they desire. The images and text offer a quick impression that is simple to interpret, creating a style in the advertisement so that the target audience can easily find what they seek.
Works Cited
New York Abandons Land [Advertisement]. Condé Nast Traveler, Mar.2013, 127. Print.
Oceania Cruises [Advertisement]. Condé Nast Traveler, Aug.2013, 110. Print.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises [Advertisement]. Condé Nast Traveler, Aug.2013, 53. Print.
