Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

You can learn a lot about a company from how they respond to a crisis.  It is at these times that a company is put under a lot of stress and has the chance of buckling.  How they manage that stress and how they treat their stakeholders can maintain a company’s image or completely ruin it.  Think back to the huge BP oil spill in the Gulf.  In order to even maintain their business after such a damaging event, they had to prove that they were willing to do anything for the people of the Gulf Coast.  However, there are still customers who would rather pay more and drive until they find a different gas station.

Carnival is no exception to crisis management and it was put to the test on November 8th, 2010.  The Carnival Splendor’s engine caught fire and left the ship (with about 4000 passengers and crew) stranded in the Pacific Ocean with no electricity, toilets or hot food for three days.  This may have been the only cruise where passengers disembarked having lost weight.  Eventually it was pulled to land by 6 tugboats and was escorted by US Coast Guard cutters.   This was undoubtedly a crisis situation for Carnival, and they handled it with ease, both onboard and on land. 

The Carnival land offices contacted government officials and the stranded ship received assistance from both the US Navy (who brought supplies to the ship) and well as the US Coast Guard.  They also sent out press releases updating the media on the situation and continued to do so once the ship made it to land and needed to be repaired.   It was the land office that was responsible regularly for updating stakeholders that were not onboard.

Meanwhile onboard, as soon as “Alpha Team” (the emergency code for the Fire Squad) was called, all of the senior officers jumped into action.  They took a few moments to assess the situation (thick smoke that was hard to see through in the engine room), and the senior officers began calmly alerting passengers and staff of what to do. Updating them every 5 minutes, onboard the guests were constantly kept up to date with whatever information the officers had to offer. 

After the ship returned to land when guests were able to communicate with their families and media (of course), Carnival was put under fire (no pun indented) for not mentioning “fire” when the passengers were first told to move to open decks.  As John Heald points out in his blog, “at this point I had not used the ‘F’ word because the reports from the engine room were that all the teams could see was thick white smoke……no flames…… just thick white smoke. And those words had been repeated to me by the captain when he had me make announcements. He used the word ‘smoke’ not ‘fire’ and so those were the words I had repeated to the guests.”  As it was made clear in class, it is important to always state the truth.  If he had said fire and it was simply smoke, he would unnecessarily caused panic with the guests and would have “lied” then too.  By telling the passengers that it was smoke in the room, he stuck to one of the cardinal rules in crisis communication, tell the truth.

It is also important to express concern for the victims and to make them one of the top priorities.  After all, if your company has not customers, it is pointless.  While onboard, Carnival offered an open bar to its guests as they were stuck at sea.  But of course, this is not enough to compensate for what they had been through and only a small part of damage control.  Carnival’s CEO and President at the time, Gerry Cahill, said in a statement, “The safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority, and we are doing everything we can to allow them to return home as quickly as possible.  We know we've ruined their vacations, so we thought the best thing to do was to give (passengers) their money back, make them whole, then give them their vacation back with credit for a free future cruise.”  Such a reimbursement is extremely rare in the travel industry but Cahill wanted them to know,  “we sincerely apologize to our guests for this unfortunate situation and offer our thanks for their patience and cooperation during this challenging time."

I don’t think that Carnival could have handled this situation better.  They remained calm, provided restitution quickly, supplied publics with information, and most importantly, they made sure that those onboard were kept safe and informed.  One of Carnival’s strengths in this crisis was that they used multiple channels to communicate.  As I have mentioned before, John Heald is an amazing blog writer.  He knows precisely how to word his entries to keep them informative as well as entertaining.  Carnival lucked out that he was the cruise director on the Splendor while it was stuck at sea.   His follow up entries gave extreme detail of the events and hopefully calmed some fear in those that were traveling shortly there after.   I am sure that many may have been a little concerned to book a cruise right after this happened, but I believe that it shows that their staff is trained, and their ships are equipped to deal with these types of events.

If you have time, I recommend that you take a look at John Heald’s Blog as he gives a first hand account of what life was like on the Splendor while it was stuck out at sea.  It is a very captivating and well-written blog.  The blog also takes time to address all of the rumors and let’s people know what Carnival was doing for its guests that were onboard.  Oh and if you hadn't guessed, it is a remarkable story. 

Smoke On The Water- Part 1

Smoke On The Water- Part 2

Smoke On The Water- Part 3

Smoke On The Water- Part 4

Smoke On The Water- Part 5

Smoke On The Water- The Final Chapter

Blogging at Sea

Let’s hop in our time machine to 1984, when Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” had just been released, and fashion was not exactly having its shinning moment (big hair and lycra skirts anyone?). 1984 however marked a huge achievement for Carnival Cruise Line; they were the first cruise company to advertise on network television. Spending $10 million to advertise during “The Love Boat” (fitting, right?) and network news shows, carnivals spokesperson could be seen enjoying all cruise amenities. Do you recognize her?

That’s right, Kathie Lee Gifford, then Johnson, who is best known for the 15 years she spent as a co-host on the “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” show. She had previously dabbled a bit in acting and singing. Carnival utilized her vocal abilities and Kathie Lee sang “Ain’t We Got Fun” as well as renditions of “If They Could See Me Now.” When she started as the spokesperson for Carnival, she didn’t have nearly as high of a profile. But as the television show became more successful, so did having her as the Carnival spokesperson. As it is with any brand, having that over-the-top “fun” personality as well as a recognizable face associated with the Carnival name, gave the cruise line credibility.

Carnival has several different blogs about their company. A potential guest can find any bit of information that they might be looking for. In fact, I feel as though, every week I stumble upon a completely new blog. Previously, I have explored their media relations news blog and John Heald’s (senior cruise director) blog. This week, I found a few more blogs that are written by Carnival Staff in the Funville section of their website. While I cannot be sure that Carnival management doesn’t edit their content, it seems as though the shipboard staff genuinely enjoys working for the company. Carnival’s slogan is “Fun For All. All For Fun,” and this is not limited to the experience that a guest will have on board. When it is the staff’s job to ensure that every passenger has a “fun” time, it requires a certain type of energetic, and enthusiastic individual. So while these employees, undoubtedly, work hard every day, Carnival does what it can to make sure that their employee’s are happy and that a new adventure awaits for them around every corner.

While exploring the Funville blogs, I found one in particular that was written by the Cruise Director on the Carnival Miracle, Malcolm “WooHoo” Burn. He begins his post stating, “Just returned back from my vacation, and boy was it interesting!... But it’s so nice to return to my other family on the Miracle.” I feel that it is through this very simple line, that one can tell that he is happy where he works. While there are definitely parts in the blog where he is selling the cruises that the Miracle takes, he also gives you a small behind the scenes look at life on board and the crazy guests he has come across. It seems that they have a “Mayor O’Funville” who writes most of these blogs. If I had to guess, I would say that this is probably someone in their PR department who is hired simply to maintain their social media. While it is beneficial to have someone who knows everything that is happening in Carnival to blog for them, it also is nice to hear from their shipboard staff as well.

Ahoy!!

So let’s pretend that I work for Carnival (how fun would that be?) and I have a brand new ship joining my fleet.  Like I said last week, I can talk it up on Twitter, in my blog or on Facebook to let my guests know.  Or, I could use more traditional media forms and create a media kit that includes a press release.  When your company is tweeting on twitter or writing a blog, you control the content.  However, when you release a press release in hopes that a newspaper or the like will cover it, you have to put your faith into the journalist hands.  Some companies will just run the release as is, where as others will edit it first. Unlike someone working for the company, they are nonbiased and not required speak as highly about your company.  

While Carnival Cruise Lines have definitely brought themselves into the digital age (making great use of social media where they can control their content, I might add), they are still using traditional media relations as well.  Except instead of sending out hard copy media kits, everything can be found online.  If you go to the Press/Media section on their website, you are able to find anything you would be looking for as a journalist.  They have Press Kits and Fact Sheets that are broken down into each specific ship and a general one on the company.  They also have a section where you can find proper press releases that Carnival has written about their upcoming events.   I would say that one of Carnival’s downfalls in this area is that they have not had one since October 24^th.  I find it hard to believe that nothing has happened in the last month that is newsworthy enough to write a press release.

On the other hand, almost daily, Carnival posts a story on their news blog.  This blog is very different then John Heald’s blog that I explored last week.  Unlike John’s blog, the news blog typically posts very short straight to the point stories of events or changes in the company.   For instance, their last blog post was a short 5 sentence about new ships based in New Orleans and the $25,000 donation they made to Reconcile New Orleans.  In these few short sentences we learn about the charitable act that carnival did, while also letting people know about new services.   This blog is defiantly less entertainment based but still very beneficial to Carnival.

One thing that Carnival does really well is not only on its home page, but every page on the media site, Carnival clearly directs journalists how to contact them for media inquiries and editorial photo requests.  As for improvements that Carnival could make, I would suggest that they have more formal press releases.  It is rare that Carnival will use a printed media and I get that we have moved into an age of digital media, but even bloggers could benefit from these press releases.  Let people know what makes you special, what new advancements you are adding to your fleet and what makes you stand out above the rest. After all, cruising has become one of the most common forms of traveling the world.  With so many cruise line competitors and ship varieties, Carnival should make every effort to remain in the top four cruise lines.  Isn’t that part of any PR plan?  If you are on the top rung, maintain your leadership.  What better way than to provide the materials to let others rave about you?

On Board, I'm the Captain, so Climb Aboard

There’s always one in every class and I hate to say it, but I have officially taken that title.  While I enjoyed my previous topic, I’ve decided instead to look into a different company.  So on that note, I invite you to come sail away with me as I explore Carnival Cruise Lines.

Let me begin by taking a moment summarizing the first few blog entries but this time let’s focus of Carnival…

Mission Statement:

"Carnival prides itself on delivering fun, memorable vacations to our guests by offering a wide array of quality cruises, which present outstanding value for the money."

Brief History:

When holiday Cruising began, it was considered something for either the rich and famous or elderly people with plenty of money and time to spare.  But all that changed in 1972 when Ted Arison founded Carnival Cruise Lines and made cruising available to the masses.  Today, with over 20 different sized vessels, Carnival Cruise Lines is the largest in the Carnival Corporation & plc fleet offering shorter and less expensive cruising options. 

Products/Services:

Now I know that this is going to come as a huge surprise, but Carnival Cruise Line’s product is… affordable cruising.  As I said earlier, these cruises are cheaper but they still provide the Las Vegas Style shows, unique destinations and fine dining that one would expect find on every other cruise line. 

Target Audience:

Former Carnival President Bob Dickinson “once Identified Carnival’s target market as ‘everyone but curmudgeons.’” As the industries “Fun Ships”, Carnival is a family friendly cruise line that makes cruising enjoyable not matter what your age and interests are. 

Branding:

One of Carnival’s fundamental beliefs is that “it is the inalienable birthright of every man, woman and child to have as much fun as they possibly can while they are all together on this earth.” And so, Carnival guarantees one thing to all of its passengers; whether you are on a quick trip to the Bahamas or a 15 day transatlantic journey, if you are 5 or 55,  you will have fun time.   

Life is too short to take it so seriously so Carnival keeps the idea of FUN on all elements of their ships.  You can see this even in their smoke stack.  Instead of using a traditional one, Carnival uses a red white and blue whales tail that has turned into their mascot, Fun Ship Freddy. 

Fun for all, all for fun.  

And with that we set sail to this weeks blog…

Do you remember a few years ago when you had to be a college student to be on Facebook?  The website wouldn’t allow you to signup unless you had an active college email.  Today, it doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are, you can set up an account.  Even though I think it’s sad, I have even seen some accounts set up for pets.  Come on, does your dog really need a profile?  But that is a blog for another day.

With today’s technology, it seems that everyone is connected to some social networking site if not several of them.  So while the exclusivity of Facebook used to be nice, this change was amazing for businesses.  Think about it; it’s cheap and easy advertising. 

Utilizing these social networking sites also helps create deeper relationships with their target audience because it allows for direct interaction between the company and their stakeholders.  One example of this is on the blog that  John Heald, Senior Cruise Director, writes (appropriately called John Heald's Blog).  He begins his blog with a funny story or rant of what he has seen on board, or something that he did that day.  In his latest entry,“Some of a Beach”, he discusses why he dislikes the beach and can’t understand why people travel to Venice and ask him where the local beach is.  “To come all the way and ignore the obvious historical stunning sites to lay on a beach surrounded by Italian men in Speedos?  Each to their own I guess.” He then takes time to answer a few questions and requests from Carnival guests.  This gives the guests opportunity to provide feedback on the quality of their cruise and give their opinions letting Carnival know how they could better serve them.  Sometimes, guests will also ask John to help them with something special for their cruise.  If he is able to assist them with their request, it let’s the guest know that there is someone there that cares about them and wants them to have a fun time.  He ends each blog with a section on shipboard happenings.  This is usually where Carnival gets to shine about all of the good things they have been doing.  I think that Carnival set up this blog perfectly because it provides the reader and could not have found someone better to write this blog.  John has a way of pulling in any reader and making them want to read more.  For me, it is because I find him hysterical and completely entertaining.

How much can you say in 140 characters?  How about this: “Post your amazing Carnival cruise video to YouTube and send us the link; we may feature it on Facebook!” or “@JaxDad610 We’re pretty excited too! Hope we see you all back on bard again soon!”  Just like they do in the question section of the blog, Carnival uses twitter to reach out to their guests.  It looks as though the company has someone who is responsible to responding to every comment that is made in connection with the cruise line on their @CarnivalCruise  account.  But Carnival also has another twitter account @CCLSupport where there is live customer support there Monday-Friday 9-5:30 to help with any issue or question a guest may have.

I think that Carnival has taken to the Social Networking sites with a vengeance.   Even when you are on a specific social site there are links that can connect you, not only with their main website, but with all of their other social sites.  This is beneficial for when there is a contest on Facebook and I mention it on twitter, the guest can be brought directly to the Facebook page with the click of a button. I’m not sure I could suggest away for them to make it better.  But by chance, the best thing that Carnival does with is invite their guests to take part and share their videos and pictures.  It is one thing for a company to tell you that they are amazing because of X, Y, and Z or to show you the pictures that they have had a professional take but it is another when you have first hand accounts from your customers.