Windstar Cruises

Mapping was a very helpful exercise in understanding how our guests interacted with us. As a luxury brand we needed to keep our messaging and value proposition sophisticated and timely without resorting to high pressure tactics. We also needed to fill our ships cost-effectively while achieving ROI through on-ship upsell and add-ons such as shore excursions. SuiteCX helped us see opportunities to maximize both profit and engagement.

Joe Ducket, CMO/VP Sales

Challenge

Windstar Cruises needed to keep budget flat while increasing sales and marketing communications. The company needed to understand how luxury travelers wanted to interact with them pre- and post-travel, knowing that booking windows were quite long (~6 months), and global conditions often created gaps for certain geographic itineraries. Given the high repeat rate of the older customer segment they also wanted to understand other younger trending segments from the parent company, Xanterra, to see how they could cross sell among different Xanterra properties and travel companies.

Approach

The team began by collecting current campaign programs, collateral and metrics. Using the SuiteCX Diagnostic and Journey Mapping solutions, they then mapped the customer journey through mystery shopping, interviews and voice of customer research. In addition they surveyed employees and management for improvement opportunities, and they created a prioritized set of initiatives to improve overall communications strategy, brand strategy and direct sales messaging.

Results

Insights derived from the experience mapping effort have heavily influenced Windstar’s messaging, value proposition, pre- and post-travel communications, as well as informing their programmatic acquisition and yacht club loyalty messaging. They have enjoyed a 1-2% lift directly from this effort. Many added campaigns and programs are still in development and will also likely drive upsell/cross sell efforts.