Drivers of the Cunard Cruise Ship Business - Essay Example

? Marketing Metrics Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 20 March Cruise ship marketing encompasses global marketing strategy. The research centers on the cruise ship marketing strategy. The research includes secondary data used to support the thesis. Profitable Cruise ship marketing includes global marketing strategies. 1. Cruise Ship Industry Reports. The cruise ship industry continuously generates an increasing trend. The same trend is considered a mainstream instead of a niche holiday. The trend shows that the ships are the destination goals of many of the cruise ship clients within the United Kingdom market segment. The mere thought that the cruise ship market segment will become saturated is illogical. In the cruise ship’s French market segment industry indicates the government had taken the industry on board. Consequently, the United Kingdom government must follow the example of the French government, in terms of prioritizing the cruise ship industry (http://www.cybercruises.com/shiplist.htm). 2. Cruise Market Watch In terms of United States cruise ship travel (http://www.cruisemarketwatch.com/blog1/market/), there are statistical data indicating which sector leads. In terms of age, cruise ship customers belonging to the 40-49 years of age ranks no. 1 & 2 at 26 percent. Cruise ship customers belonging to the 60 and above years of age ranks no. 1& 2 at similar 26 percent. Lastly, the cruise ship customers belonging to the 50-59 years of age ranks no. 3, at 22 percent. The income data indicates a striking cruise ship company impression. First, cruise ship customers belonging to the $100,000 to $200,000 annual income ranks no. 1 at 39 percent. Second, cruise ship customers belonging to the $75,000 to $100,000 annual income ranks no. 2 at 19 percent. Third, cruise ship customers belonging to the $60,000 to $75,000 annual income ranks no. 3 at 16 percent. The same statistical data indicates a convincing gender story. There are 78 percent married persons using the cruise services, generating a rank of no. 1 for the Male cruise ship customers. On the other hand, there are 22 percent married persons using the cruise services, generating a rank of no. 1 for the Male cruise ship customers. Further, the data indicates that there is a significant difference when the race criteria are used. The white gender represents 91 percent of the cruise ship customers. The Americans represent 3 percent of the cruise ship customer pie. Last, the other race profiles represent 6 percent of the cruise ship customer pie. In terms of employment status, there is a significant difference. The graduates comprised 75 percent of the cruise ship customer population. On the other hand, the undergraduates comprised 25 percent of the cruise ship customer population. The graduates include those with doctoral degrees. In terms of employment status, there is also a significant difference. Statistics indicate the full time workers represent 63 percent of the entire cruise ship population. On the other hand, only 20 percent of the entire cruise ship population had retired from work. 3. Drivers of the Cruise ship Business. There are many factors driving the cruise ship business to continue serving the needs of the current and prospective cruise ship customers, including customers of Cunard cruise ship lines. Customers. Cunard shipping lines is one of the oldest and finest cruise ship lines in the global, especially United Kingdom, cruise ship industry. The Cunard cruise ship lines offers cruise to major ports of the world. The ports include Mediterranean, Caribbean, Northern European, and other World cruise ship tours (Kotler, 2009). Carnival United Kingdom Chief executive David Dingle emphasized 2010 was the most successful year for the company, in terms of cruise ship financial performance. The company’s acquisition of several cruise ships bolstered its financial performance. The company acquired Caronia, QE2 and the brand new Queen Mary 2. The three cruise ships had different sizes and different amenities to cater to the different cruise ship needs of the company’s current and prospective customers. Some clients prefer smaller cruise ships to avoid the crowds of the bigger cruise ships. Other clients prefer to bigger cruise ships because there are more cruise ship facilities to tour, use, and relax. With the different cruise ship sizes, the company has the flexibility to be more creative with its itineraries and deployments. Consequently, many travel agents and passengers prefer to enjoy their vacation within one of the Cunard cruise ships. The Queen Victoria ferries customers along the USA West coast and Panama Canal areas. To increase its current and prospective customer based, the company offers its Queen Victoria ship for the Mediterranean ocean areas (Buttle, 2009; Hartline, 2011). The other cruise ship, Queen Elizabeth, is assigned to ferry clients to the Southampton area. The Queen Victoria won the best cruise ship award by Cruise. Co.uk. likewise, Cunard cruise ship lines won the Best Cruise Line award for three years, including 2010. Curnard cruise ship lines President and managing director, Peter Shanks, stated the Cunard cruise ship line customers prefer to take their meals in the main dining rooms or buffet restaurants but interest in the alternative dining options is increasing. The cruise ships also hire top chefs in their cruise lines. Chef Marco Pierre White, P & O Cruises, and Chef Todd English were hired to fill the current and prospective customers with delightful and mouth watering food menus. In terms of survey, a survey was conducted among the Cunard Line customers show between 82 percent and 97 percent of the Cunard Line customers will recommend the Cunard line cruise to their friends and relatives. The customers are given meal alternatives to fit their diverse cultural and personal preferences. The current and prospective customers’ meal choices include traditional fixed table dining, freedom dining, Sindhu alternative dining, Wine and Dine and other dining alternatives. The most popular customer meal choice is “wine and dine”. Some of the Cunard cruise ship passengers prefer Pan –Asiatic cuisine served in the Orchid Restaurant section of the Cunard cruise ships. Russell McCalley (2002) reiterated “Each marketing channel will have a unique structure for every company employing the same marketing channel. Even though there may be several companies involved in marketing similar products in the same channel, they will not usually utilize all of the same wholesalers and retailers in the channel. Different product groups, service needs, company policies, and the like will require different channel structure. This chapter will provide the basic alternatives and elements of the typical marketing channel structures.”. Likewise, marketing is grounded on filling a need, vacation need of the cruise ship customers (Kotler, 2006; Weber, 2010) Capacity. The Cunard cruise ship offers the capacity to serve the diverse needs of the customers (Czinkota, 2007; McDonald, 2007). In a survey among 2000 Cunard shipping line customers, 85 percent of the Cunard shipping lines customers stated they purchased wine during the cruise. The highest percentage of wine drinkers came from East Anglia (89.5 percent) and the lowest wine drinkers came from the Northern section of England (78.9 percent). In June of 2011, the company, Cunard cruise ship lines, bought the Seabourn Quest to fill the increasing needs of the current and prospective cruise ship customers. Records show that many of the customers of Cunard cruise ship lines are repeat customers. The company has the capacity to serve the cruise ship needs of clients requesting for an American version of the cruise ship experience. The average customers prefer the higher priced cruise ships because they have more capacities and facilities compared to the smaller cruise ship lines. The Cunard Cruise ship company has the capacity to fill the Alaska cruise adventure of its current and prospective customers. Similarly, the Cunard Cruise ship lines has the capacity to fill the needs of current and prospective customers for an Alaska tour experience, which increased by 66 percent during 2009. The Cunard cruise ship line has the capacity to fill the Yukon and Canadian Rockies tour needs of the customers. The Cunard cruise ship line has the capacity to fill the needs of current and prospective customers for tours reaching Australia, Aisa/Pacific, and South America. Lastly, the company acquired the Niewu Amsterdam cruise ship to augment its current cruise ship fleet count. The company also acquired the Costa Favolosa and the Costa Fascinosa. Strategic cruise ship marketing includes internal marketing. According to Richard Varey (2000), internal marketing is “Current marketing terminology usually reserves internal marketing for the application of marketing management knowledge - which was originally developed for external marketing - on the ‘internal market’, that is the employees. The purpose is to get employees in tune with existing conditions and procedures as well as with major changes - such as a revised business mission after a merger - thus making them better equipped to handle the external marketing.” Utilisation. Customers use the facilities of the cruise ships, especially Cunard ships, to fill their diverse needs. Customers use the ships for their overnight shopping in Dubai. The passengers will save on hotel costs by staying overnight in the cruise ships. In the same manner, the passengers can shop in Australia without having to for a hotel in Sydney. Going further, the customers can visit Alaska without the need of finding the nearest safe place to sleep overnight. The customers can use the ships for a 100 night world cruise. The world tour tickets are top sellers. Average Spend. The average spend of each cruise ship customer is on travel. The customers spends one’s times relaxing in an atmosphere away from the busy schedules of city work life. The customers are “carpeted” away to a far away nostalgic place to give their mind and body a time to escape from the pressures of work and other commitments. The average customers spend their average time using the many luxurious and pampering facilities of the cruise ships. The cruise ship customers can save on hotel costs by sleeping in the cruise ship while travelling to some of the major cities and places of the world. In terms of older people spending their retirement money and time on cruise ships, George Moschis (1994) insists “Money management practices of older adults help us understand several aspects of their consumer behavior. Saving and spending patterns of older consumers tend to affect their expenditure patterns in specific consumption areas such as food, housing, and transportation. However, little is known about the factors that affect these behaviors and their motivations. Economic models do not explain consumer behavior very well. For example, according to the life cycle hypothesis, baby boomers are expected to save relatively more, and the elderly to draw down their assets.” During 2010, the Cunard shipping lines customers used 2,955 sea day passes and 515 massage services in open air cabanas within the Cunard Cruise ship. 3,040 people enjoyed the Oasis spa during the year. Kalman Applbaum (2004) proposes “Concurrent with this accentuation of marketing’s role in corporate expansion, there is a mushrooming of popular literature that describes the world as altogether different from what it was twenty years ago. This new condition, termed globalization, is described in legions of tracts ranging from recondite academic journals to logos on the front plates of recycling bins. The varying definitions of globalization seem to point to single, ostensibly self-contradictory binaries: extreme fragmentation and connectivity. A focus on fragmentation reveals the impending dissolution of existing geo-social boundaries, the rise of the agency of individual imagination, and the consequent emergence of culturally intermingled identity and lifestyle patterns” Trend. The current trend in the cruise ship industry will continue to rise. With the increase the world’s population, there is a logical basis for projecting that the current overflow of cruise ship customers will increase. With the purchase of more cruise ships, many of the current and prospective customers will have more time to travel to Australia, Canada, Northern United States, Southern United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific ocean lanes to savor the diverse environment while comfortably sleeping (in the cruise cabins) between stopovers. In terms of the global cruise ship marketing strategy, Harvey James (1993) reiterated “As the intensity of global competition increases, many companies are forced to reevaluate their niche in the world marketplace. For some companies this entails strengthening their domestic position against competing foreign products. Other firms respond by aggressively expanding their operations into foreign markets. For many, collaborative agreements with other businesses are an effective alternative to the more traditional approaches. These partnerships -- which can extend to strategic alliances -- may be viewed as intermediate positions between a focus on domestic markets and full-scale global operations.” Fearless forecast. The fearless forecast is that cruise ship revenues will continue to increase. With the cruise ship’ promotional campaigns of low cruise prices, more customers will be able to afford the next cruise ship invitation. The purchase of more cruise ships will encourage the current and prospective customers to increase their cruise ship itineraries. Offering discounts to current and prospective customers will increase the demand for the cruise ship tickets. With the popularity of the world tour promotion, more ships will allow more current and prospective customers to avail of the next world tour schedule. 4. Small Number of Key Players. In terms of strategic marketing strategy, Tony Proctor (2000) emphasized “Measuring the size of the market, identifying the trends and being able to predict how the market is going to develop in the future are critical factors in understanding the state of strategic windows. Organizations need to have a firm grasp of the methods of assessing market size and forecasting the size to which a market will grow. Both short- and long-term forecasts are important. Long-term forecasts are most useful for medium- and long-term strategic planning purposes, whereas short-term forecasts enable organizations to monitor the effectiveness of earlier long-term forecasts. Market size and projected market growth rates are not the only important dimensions of market analysis. One also needs to understand the factors which influence the profitability of a market at its various stages of development.” As of March 12, 2012, there are many competitors in the vibrant and profitable cruise ship industry (http://www.cybercruises.com/shiplist.htm). First, Abercrombie & Kent cruise ship company (United Kingdom) sets sail its Eclipse vessel for the Galapagos region. The company’s Sunboat III and Sunboat IV are river vessels traveling the long stretch of the fabled Nile River. The company’s Safari Quest Yacht sets sail for the cold temperatures of Alaska. The Yangzi Explorer travels the wide coastal regions of the new economic giant, China. Second, the Amawateways cruise ship company is based in Westlake Village, California. The company’s Zambezi Queen cruise blazes trails to Africa’s rivers. The company’s Amalotus takes in 124 customers into the mysterious world of the Mekong River. The company’s Amakatarina brings it valued cruise ship clients to the territorial waters of Russia. The company’s La Marguente ferries 92 tourists through the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia. Third, the Ambassadors International cruise ship company purchased another company, Windstar Cruises in May 2011. The company’s Contessa entertains 49 customers as they pass through Catamaran. Presently, the company’s Columbia Queen is being repaired in Oregon, United States. Fourth, the Noble Caledonia cruise ship company is based in the United Kingdom. The company’s Island Sky, a cruise ship, is the former Renaissance VII cruise ship, which carries 114 ocean tourists. The company’s Hebridean Spirit carries 79 customers, formerly named Renaissance VI. The company’s two other cruise ships are Megastar Capricorn and Sun viva 2. Fifth, the Saga Holidays has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States. The company’s Saga Spirit can ferry customers. The company’s Spirit of Adventure can ferry 470 customers. The company owns another cruise ship, Saga Pearl II. 5. Trade publication. The Trade publications show there is a high demand for cruise ship travel. The CLIA 2012 Industry Sourcebook states the United States cruise ship industry is the fastest growing travel industry segment. The growth reached 2,800 percent from its origin in 1970 (500,000 enjoyed cruise ship travel). In 2010 alone, the cruise ship lines saw 14,800,000 cruise passengers. The cruise ship industry brought $37.85 billion to the United States economy in 2010 alone. The cruise ship industry generated 329,943 American jobs. From 2000 to 2011, there were 143 ships built to fill the high demand for cruise ships. Marilyn Stone (2004) emphasized “Markets have the power to dictate the destiny of countries. An example of this was the ejection of the UK and Italy from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) of the European Union (EU) in 1993 when the markets showed their lack of confidence in their currencies. The currencies fell outside the permitted deviation limits of the mechanism and were automatically excluded. There remains considerable authority on the part of governments to carry out actions in relation to interest and exchange rates. This is especially the case when they are not constrained by supranational legislation related to taxation, competition policy, direct influence on large projects deemed to be of national importance or co-operation with other governments.” Based on the above discussion, cruise ship marketing includes worldwide marketing strategy. The cruise ship marketing strategy is a unique marketing strategy. The secondary data affirms the profitability of cruise ship marketing strategy. Indeed, profitable Cruise ship marketing incorporates global marketing strategies. REFERENCES: Applbaum, K. (2004). The Marketing Era. London: Routledge Press. Buttle, F. (2009), Customer Relations Management. London, Elsevier Press. Czinkota, M., (2007) International Marketing. London, Cengage Press. Hartline, M. (2011) Marketing Strategy. London, SouthWestern Press. James, H. (1993). When Businesses Cross International Borders. London: Praeger Press. Kotler, Philip, Keller, Kevin, Marketing Management, Pearson, 2006 Kotler, P. (2006) Marketing Management. London, Pearson Press. McCalley, R. (2002). Marketing Channel Development and Management. London: Quorum Press. McDonald, M., (2007) Marketing Plans: How to Prepare them, How to Use Them. London, Butterworth –Heinemann Press. Monchis, G. (1994). Marketing Strategies for the Mature Market. London: Quorum Books. Proctor, T. (2000). Strategic Marketing. London: Routledge Press. Stone, M. (2004). International Strategic Marketing. London: Routledge Press. Varey, R. (2000). Internal Marketing. London: Routledge Press. Weber, P. (2010) Marketing Analysis. London, Grin Press. Read More