Interesting comment from the Annual Report

[AKman2495]

Well, I voted my shares today. I also took a look at the Carnival corp. Annual Report. and found this little nugget from the Chairman of the Board:

 

In my first eight months in this new role, I have affirmed what I knew at a visceral level as a board member — the inherent

strengths of this organization clearly lie with our people, a passionate and dedicated team worldwide; our core product, which

is clearly the best vacation value there is; and, of course, our scale.

We have over 100 ships carrying more than 10 million guests each year — twice that of the next largest player in the industry.

With 78 million passenger cruise days, we have a tremendous opportunity to accelerate earnings growth by utilizing our scale.

Operating our brands independently has been successful and led to our industry-leading position. Our brands will remain

independent at the guest interface and become increasingly distinct in the psychographics of the guests they source. Going

forward, we plan to change the focus of our efforts to take advantage of our scale. We will capitalize on this inherent

opportunity through greater communication, collaboration and cooperation across our 10 brands.

 

So, it looks like they recognize the advantages of independent operations heard to specific market segments......based on our psychographics;)

[Colo Cruiser]

Psychographics, yes.

[yyjguy]

One of the differences that is noticed here in the west coast ports of Canada is where the passengers call home. Relevant to this discussion on the Princess board is that Holland America has a significantly greater number of passengers who reside in the eastern United States while Princess has the opposite with a much greater number of west coast Americans. Holland obviously targets that market more than Princess which must concentrates their marketing efforts out west and in the central states as well.

[notentirelynormal]

One of the differences that is noticed here in the west coast ports of Canada is where the passengers call home. Relevant to this discussion on the Princess board is that Holland America has a significantly greater number of passengers who reside in the eastern United States while Princess has the opposite with a much greater number of west coast Americans. Holland obviously targets that market more than Princess which must concentrates their marketing efforts out west and in the central states as well.

 

Can I ask.... where did you get this information?

[Jim Avery]

Psychographics, yes.

 

Wait till they see my psychographics.:eek::eek::D

[Coral]

One of the differences that is noticed here in the west coast ports of Canada is where the passengers call home. Relevant to this discussion on the Princess board is that Holland America has a significantly greater number of passengers who reside in the eastern United States while Princess has the opposite with a much greater number of west coast Americans. Holland obviously targets that market more than Princess which must concentrates their marketing efforts out west and in the central states as well.

 

Can I ask.... where did you get this information?

 

I question this also. Living in the Central States, we feel equally ignored by all the cruise lines.

 

I find people from both coasts on Princess ships. Each cruise is different but I don't see a specific area demographic on Princess ships and didn't see it on my HAL ship.

[Times Prince]

OK, I had to Google it. From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychographic :

 

Psychographics is the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles.[1] Because this area of research focuses on interests, attitudes, and opinions, psychographic factors are also called IAO variables. .... They can be contrasted with demographic variables (such as age and gender), behavioral variables (such as usage rate or loyalty), and organizational demographics variables (sometimes called firmographic variables), such as industry, number of employees, and functional area.

 

Some categories of psychographic factors used in market segmentation include:

• activity, interest, opinion (AIOs)
  
• attitudes
  
• values
  
• behavior
  

Psychographics can also be seen as an equivalent of the concept of "culture" when it is used for segmentation at a national level."

----------------

Well, why didn't they just say "culture" in the first place? :rolleyes:

I guess one has to be careful to not confuse IAOs with AIOs (or with EIEIO's per the "Old McDonald" rules.) And because it doesn't focus on "usage rate or loyalty" that doesn't sound too good for us Captain's Circle folks, does it?

 

Sounds like someone has been reading the Corporate Book of the Month Club selection again...

Edited March 14, 2014 by Times Prince

[AKman2495]

Psychographics was cute, but I though the comments about keeping the lines as individuals was more interesting. I have read several threads on this board by people concerned about Carnival turning all of its lines into, well....Carnival.

 

It appears that that is not Carnival's plan. If anything, they will work to make the lines even more distinct based on...psychographics for the particular demographic they want to associate with a particular line.

Edited March 14, 2014 by AKman2495

[Coral]

Psychographics was cute, but I though the comments about keeping the lines as individuals was more interesting. I have read several threads on this board by people concerned about Carnival turning all of its lines into, well....Carnival.

 

It appears that that is not Carnival's plan. If anything, they will work to make the lines even more distinct based on...psychographics for the particular demographic they want to associate with a particular line.

 

Though the next sentence in interesting: " Going

forward, we plan to change the focus of our efforts to take advantage of our scale"

 

I interpret this to mean that they are going to consolidate on purchasing, etc... For example, the new balcony furniture introduced 2 years ago on Princess looks identical to what Carnival has on their ships, etc...

[AKman2495]

Though the next sentence in interesting: " Going

forward, we plan to change the focus of our efforts to take advantage of our scale"

 

I interpret this to mean that they are going to consolidate on purchasing, etc... For example, the new balcony furniture introduced 2 years ago on Princess looks identical to what Carnival has on their ships, etc...

 

Yes, I did see that. Of course one could argue that balcony furniture is not really distinctive.Now, if the Wheelhouse bars were converted to something more in Red and Yellow plastic.......:eek:

Edited March 14, 2014 by AKman2495

[Coral]

Yes, I did see that. Of course one could argue that balcony furniture is not really distinctive.Now, if the Wheelhouse bars were converted to something more in Red and Yellow plastic.......:eek:

 

Can't wait! Red and Yellow plastic chairs. You are probably right and we are probably benefiting from the bulk buying method by lower prices for food, etc...

Edited March 15, 2014 by Coral

[beg3yrs]

It appears that that is not Carnival's plan. If anything, they will work to make the lines even more distinct based on...psychographics for the particular demographic they want to associate with a particular line.

 

I'd like to be a fly on the wall listening the the corporate discussions regarding the particular demographic each line will pursue.

 

Carnival Cruise Line CEO: "Gosh darn it, my demographic just keeps dying off from bad pool entries during the belly flop contest!"

 

Costa Cruise Line CEO: "Che cosa è un demografica?"

 

Seaborne CEO: "Gosh darn it, my demographic heads for Princess every time the stock market takes a dip."

 

Holland America CEO: "Gosh darn it, I can't even tell if my demographic is alive!"

 

Princess CEO: "Gosh darn it, I just can't stay ahead of all those folk on the Cruise Critic Princess forum!"

[greenie082756]

I'd like to be a fly on the wall listening the the corporate discussions regarding the particular demographic each line will pursue.

 

Carnival Cruise Line CEO: "Gosh darn it, my demographic just keeps dying off from bad pool entries during the belly flop contest!"

 

Costa Cruise Line CEO: "Che cosa è un demografica?"

 

Seaborne CEO: "Gosh darn it, my demographic heads for Princess every time the stock market takes a dip."

 

Holland America CEO: "Gosh darn it, I can't even tell if my demographic is alive!"

 

Princess CEO: "Gosh darn it, I just can't stay ahead of all those folk on the Cruise Critic Princess forum!"

 

Couldn't of said it better! Pushing the LIKE button! :D

[bdjam]

And because it doesn't focus on "usage rate or loyalty" that doesn't sound too good for us Captain's Circle folks, does it?

 

I don't think we have information to infer that at all. In fact if they focus on keeping the brands separate, it could mean good things for the Princess loyalty program.

[Ethel5]

Wait till they see my psychographics.:eek::eek::D

 

You wouldn't dare! :D:eek:

[AKman2495]

I don't think we have information to infer that at all. In fact if they focus on keeping the brands separate, it could mean good things for the Princess loyalty program.

 

I do know that on my last cruise they were very gracious towards us a being past cruisers. Also, when I called Princess when I was boing my upcoming cruise, when the rep discovered I was Platinum, she acted impressed and thanked me for coming back.

 

It looks like they want new cruisers, but are differentiating the lines so that the "Princess" cruiser will be less likely to jump ship, as is true for the HAL cruisers, the Costa cruisers, etc.

 

That looks like a "Let's keep what we have and get people from outside Carnival to come on board" plan. It is problem in Corporation that have many lines (or products) to keep its customers from jumping between lines, which does not help anyone. Ideally, they want little or no interline competition. They do that be sharply distinguishing one line from the other. From the report:

 

We will secure our future success though a willingness to invest for the long-term. We have eight innovative new ships

scheduled to enter service through 2016 and we continue to invest in existing ships to strengthen the leadership position of our

brands. We will invest in gaining an even deeper understanding of what drives consumer vacation decisions and onboard

enjoyment, which bodes well for attracting first-time cruisers and powerfully differentiating our brands relative to others. We

are ardently focused on delivering a customer experience that surpasses even the high levels we achieve today and, most

importantly, driving greater advocacy from our satisfied guests.

Carnival Corporation & plc enjoys an enviable position in today’s competitive landscape. Our leadership position is firmly

rooted in our portfolio of distinct iconic brands. It is fueled by the efforts of our dedicated employees around the world and

countless travel agent partners. Most importantly, it is anchored in a consistent strategy of exceeding guest expectations. I

have great confidence in our ability to execute and deliver on the expectations we have set for ourselves, and thereby realize

our company’s true earnings power, driving significant free cash flow and returning to double-digit returns on invested capital

over time.

Edited March 15, 2014 by AKman2495

[Host Jazzbeau]

This could be good news or bad news.

 

Keeping the brands distinctive is good. If you're old enough to remember the glory days of General Motors, they had 5 brands and they knew exactly what each brand stood for with a progression from Chevy at the cheap end, then Pontiac (sporty but affordable), Buick (sporty luxury), Oldsmobile (more formal luxury but less expensive than...), Cadillac. As long as the cars stayed distinct from one another, people in the targeted psychographic segments kept buying and GM market share went up.

 

The bad could be if they decide to aim my favorite brand at a different psychographic segment than me. For example, the CC news page says that Celebrity's focus is on "marketing primarily to young, affluent Americans in urban areas." I'm a boomer, so I don't fit their psychographics. What if Princess decides to go that road?--I'm too young for HAL (and I don't smoke)!

 

So I hope AKman is right that they want to "keep what we have and get people from outside Carnival to come on board."

[Ethel5]

This could be good news or bad news.

.............................SNIP.......................................................................

The bad could be if they decide to aim my favorite brand at a different psychographic segment than me. For example, the CC news page says that Celebrity's focus is on "marketing primarily to young, affluent Americans in urban areas." I'm a boomer, so I don't fit their psychographics. What if Princess decides to go that road?--I'm too young for HAL (and I don't smoke)!

 

So I hope AKman is right that they want to "keep what we have and get people from outside Carnival to come on board."

 

If you go by their current commercials, Princess is targeting the funeral home psychographic segment. Not trying to be funny, but it doesn't seem like they are aiming at a younger, urban crowd.

[caribill]

And the Annual Report shows that the Shareholder OBC has been extended for another year. Click on the link at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit

[RickEk]

Well, I voted my shares today. I also took a look at the Carnival corp. Annual Report. and found this little nugget from the Chairman of the Board:

 

In my first eight months in this new role, I have affirmed what I knew at a visceral level as a board member — the inherent

strengths of this organization clearly lie with our people, a passionate and dedicated team worldwide; our core product, which

is clearly the best vacation value there is; and, of course, our scale.

We have over 100 ships carrying more than 10 million guests each year — twice that of the next largest player in the industry.

With 78 million passenger cruise days, we have a tremendous opportunity to accelerate earnings growth by utilizing our scale.

Operating our brands independently has been successful and led to our industry-leading position. Our brands will remain

independent at the guest interface and become increasingly distinct in the psychographics of the guests they source. Going

forward, we plan to change the focus of our efforts to take advantage of our scale. We will capitalize on this inherent

opportunity through greater communication, collaboration and cooperation across our 10 brands.

 

So, it looks like they recognize the advantages of independent operations heard to specific market segments......based on our psychographics;)

 

Reading between the lines, it appears that the customer service departments of each line will be kept separate, but other departments may be consolidated.

 

If you go by their current commercials, Princess is targeting the funeral home psychographic segment. Not trying to be funny, but it doesn't seem like they are aiming at a younger, urban crowd.

 

Right... the commercial with the father holding his young daughter targets old people.. :rolleyes: :)

 

This is the commercial that they should be playing:

I think it says it all.

[caribill]

Reading between the lines, it appears that the customer service departments of each line will be kept separate, but other departments may be consolidated.

 

 

 

 

 

I do not think it is consolidating departments as much as coordinating what they do.

 

For example, purchasing.

 

In a stock analyst meeting earlier this year it was stated that the printing contracts for all of their cruiselines have been reduced from over 50 to about a dozen.

 

I suspect for, example, that if one cruise line finds a cheap balcony chair, that the same chair will then be purchased for multiple brands.

[Ethel5]

..........SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Right... the commercial with the father holding his young daughter targets old people.. :rolleyes: :)

 

It's the only one of the three that shows anyone under 40. The other two are the "ready to retire ilk." Hardly a young, hip demographic. The soft, droning voices lack life and hardly make me want to go right out and book a cruise, especially when they target the Caribbean market.

[thinfool]

Commercials aside, the 4 and 5 day Ruby itineraries in the Caribbean and the short, west coast cruises seem to have targeted a new and younger crowd. We were on one of the Ruby cruises in early January and it was full of younger, newer (often first time cruisers) or new-to-Princess people. The few I talked to seemed very impressed and ready to go again. While there were plenty of long time Princess people, we seemed to be awash in Blue ship cards.

 

My take on the commercials is not so much the semi-retired crowd as it is the couple where both work long hours, endlessly, and need to get away and truly relax. Not be hammered with loud, late and unruly situations onboard. Hence the campaign to 'come back new'.

 

Having said that, I still like 'escape completely'.

[AKman2495]

This could be good news or bad news.

 

Keeping the brands distinctive is good. If you're old enough to remember the glory days of General Motors, they had 5 brands and they knew exactly what each brand stood for with a progression from Chevy at the cheap end, then Pontiac (sporty but affordable), Buick (sporty luxury), Oldsmobile (more formal luxury but less expensive than...), Cadillac. As long as the cars stayed distinct from one another, people in the targeted psychographic segments kept buying and GM market share went up.

 

The bad could be if they decide to aim my favorite brand at a different psychographic segment than me. For example, the CC news page says that Celebrity's focus is on "marketing primarily to young, affluent Americans in urban areas." I'm a boomer, so I don't fit their psychographics. What if Princess decides to go that road?--I'm too young for HAL (and I don't smoke)!

 

So I hope AKman is right that they want to "keep what we have and get people from outside Carnival to come on board."

 

I agree with Ethel...you don't have anything to worry about. Princess is not trying to sell to a new demographic...it is trying to sell to our demographic..psychographically......

[Jim Avery]

I do know that on my last cruise they were very gracious towards us a being past cruisers. Also, when I called Princess when I was boing my upcoming cruise, when the rep discovered I was Platinum, she acted impressed and thanked me for coming back.

 

It looks like they want new cruisers, but are differentiating the lines so that the "Princess" cruiser will be less likely to jump ship, as is true for the HAL cruisers, the Costa cruisers, etc.

 

That looks like a "Let's keep what we have and get people from outside Carnival to come on board" plan. It is problem in Corporation that have many lines (or products) to keep its customers from jumping between lines, which does not help anyone. Ideally, they want little or no interline competition. They do that be sharply distinguishing one line from the other. From the report:

 

We will secure our future success though a willingness to invest for the long-term. We have eight innovative new ships

scheduled to enter service through 2016 and we continue to invest in existing ships to strengthen the leadership position of our

brands. We will invest in gaining an even deeper understanding of what drives consumer vacation decisions and onboard

enjoyment, which bodes well for attracting first-time cruisers and powerfully differentiating our brands relative to others. We

are ardently focused on delivering a customer experience that surpasses even the high levels we achieve today and, most

importantly, driving greater advocacy from our satisfied guests.

Carnival Corporation & plc enjoys an enviable position in today’s competitive landscape. Our leadership position is firmly

rooted in our portfolio of distinct iconic brands. It is fueled by the efforts of our dedicated employees around the world and

countless travel agent partners. Most importantly, it is anchored in a consistent strategy of exceeding guest expectations. I

have great confidence in our ability to execute and deliver on the expectations we have set for ourselves, and thereby realize

our company’s true earnings power, driving significant free cash flow and returning to double-digit returns on invested capital

over time.

 

When we were checking in last Fall on the Star (our first Princess voyage) the Princess personnel directing traffic all welcomed us back again.:eek: I guess we must just look Princessey.:eek::D:D