Case Analysis

Cunard Line, Ltd.:- Managing Integrated Marketing Communication

Problem Statement:-
The brand image of a 150 year old luxury cruise company is at stake, due to the unfavorable conditions existing in the external market like, competitiveness, economic downturn, wars etc. and the proposed structural changes within the organization, which is so long an integrated model that built the brand as a whole, is now being worked upon to look after individual segments.

The problem in overcoming the external market conditions, by promoting the sales through various discounts and offers, is that, they being positioned as a luxury service and catering the needs of niche segment, pushing the product to people leads to an overall brand dilution.

The potential problem in promoting each segment individually is that, the consistent message that promoted the brand as a whole, through integrated communication channel, may be disrupted. Each team concentrating on their segment might tend to miss essence of Cunard brand as a whole, leading to brand dilution.

Unfortunately the problem statement is not evident from this write-up.
Case Facts:-
Cunad Line Ltd is one of the market leaders in luxury cruise (5-Star) industry with 50% of total market share. The 150 year old organization offers cruising on seven ships. Five of them are luxury (5-star) category (QE 2, Sagafjord, Vistafjord, Sea Godess I, and Sea Godess II) and two of them are in premium (4-star) category (Cunard Countess and Cunard Princess).

For 20 years the luxury segment of the cruise business which is generally considered to be supply driven had grown at a compounded rate of 10%. In last few years Cunard’s ships has attained 90% occupancy which is much better when compared with its competitors, but in recent times the industry capacity has exceeded the demand. This in turn has forced the