The agency was selected from a closed-invite pitch among four rivals, according to Kelvin Tan, regional manager of international sales and marketing, RCI. While he would not go into specifics, Tan said the account was worth "over a million US dollars" and extends across all of Asia-Pacific, Japan and South Asia.
RCI adds to DraftFCB's regional portfolio, which includes Sunkist, SC Johnson and the Hong Kong Development and Trade Council. The RCI account will be handled through the Singapore office, with no new regional hires planned. "We are very excited about this win," said Bhaskar Rao, CEO of DraftFCB Singapore. "It's a high-profile piece of business and we are honoured to be chosen."
The brief is to develop the RCI brand as it docks its first ship, Rhapsody of the Seas, in Asia at the end of this year. Although RCI has had a regional presence since the mid-90's, the cruise company intends to focus more on domestic markets. "In the past, our customers were mostly from North America and Europe," said Tan.
"Almost all our itineraries were long, about two weeks each. Now we have a new target - the Asian market." To this effect 70 per cent of the ship's regional itineraries will entail shorter trips, culturally-sensitive menu items and more visual entertainment. RCI will also target the incentive and corporate audience by offering its ships as function venues or company retreat destinations.
But more importantly, according to Tan, through its marketing the company hopes to change a certain stigma associated with cruises as merely places to gamble and eat.
Some RCI liners, for example, include rock-climbing walls, an ice-skating rink and pool tables. "We're not just targeting cruise people, but anyone who goes on vacation. Anyone who goes to a resort."
DraftFCB will be charged with developing work for two audiences: the home port and fly cruise markets. Home ports, where ships will be docked, will be Singapore, Hong Kong Shanghai and Australia. Fly cruise markets indicate cities where customers must fly in to join the cruise. Initial targets include Japan, Indonesia and India.
The first campaign is expected to roll out in September.
