85: Race Cars on a Cruise Ship? Surprises Abound in Travel Marketing

Jun 29, 2018

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Norwegian Cruise Line is a leader in the travel industry and an expert in product launch marketing. Their CMO and Senior VP, Meg Lee, is Drew’s guest for this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite. Tune in as Meg and Drew talk marketing over a glass of champagne aboard Norwegian's Bliss ship in NYC.

On this episode, Meg shares her tips on how to handle product launch marketing and the benefits of having diverse channels of marketing. She touches on how she sells fun, whether it's through the smoked Texas BBQ (prepared off-ship), or the electric race car track available to guests on the ship. Overall, she talks through how she completes her main job: filling 16 huge ships with excited travellers.

Don’t want to miss this entertaining and educational episode.

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Use a variety of marketing strategies when launching a product

Meg and her team at Norwegian Cruise Line recognize the importance of using many different marketing channels when preparing to launch a new ship. Using social, video, print, and word of mouth platforms allow the Norwegian brand to reach as many people as possible. It’s always important to curate and organize the content you’re developing so that the right message can be shared at the right time.

Relationships can be your best marketing strategies

In the travel industry, the best resource available for product launch marketing is travel agencies. The relationships Meg has built with travel agents are invaluable and offer an unparalleled level of expertise and knowledge to potential customers. Forming relationships in your own industry like these should be a top priority.

The benefits of using creative product launch marketing strategies

By using creative marketing for your B2B or B2C business, you can stand out from the competition. Creative ideas make your brand memorable and allow you to go deeper into storytelling mode. Without creative storytelling, you're just sharing data and facts. Meg also urges marketers to never let fear be a driver of their decisions.

What You’ll Learn

[1:04] Meg’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment
[6:35] The customer journey for Norwegian Cruise Lines
[9:52] Why differentiation matters for Norwegian Cruise Line
[12:47] How the Norwegian brand leverages word of mouth marketing
[14:15] The challenges of marketing and selling a brand new cruise ship
[22:17] The role of B2B marketing in the travel industry
[27:55] How Norwegian Cruise Line utilizes video marketing strategies
[31:09] Meg’s “two do’s and a don’t” for marketers

Connect With Meg:

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Leadership webpage
Connect with Meg on LinkedIn
Follow Norwegian Cruise Line on Twitter
Follow Norwegian Cruise Line on Facebook

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew