Graphic Design That Works

ABOVE: The centerpiece

of the campaign, this

sixty-page brochure

sells small ship cruising

and the up-front, casual

atmosphere of Cruise

West trips through its

easygoing writing style

and imagery that shows

guests and crew gather-

ing together for photos

on its cover.

(up-close and casual graphics)

The Client

Cruise West ships are unlike the mega

cruise ships popularized on television

shows and by celebrities in glitzy adver-

tising campaigns. Cruise West doesn’t

offer the traditional luxury amenities

one so often associates with cruise ships.

There are no spas, pools, Broadway the-

aters, midnight chocolate buffets, pizza

bars, or gambling casinos, yet the cost per

passenger is much higher than a cruise

on a mega ship. Sound like a marketing

dilemma? Perhaps. But Cruise West does

offer advantages that the mega ships

don’t—an intimate traveling experience

only possible on a small ship. So, when

Cruise West challenged Belyea with sell-

ing as many berths as possible on its

Cruise West ships for the Alaska 2000

season, the Seattle-based design firm took

the job and got up-close and personal.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

SELLS BERTHS ON CRUISE WEST ALASKA

CLIENT:

Cruise West

DESIGN F IRM:

Belyea

CREATIVE D IRECTOR:

Patricia Belyea

DESIGNERS:

Ron Lars Hansen, Naomi Murphy,

Anne Dougherty, Kelli Lewis

COPYWRITERS:

Floyd Fickle, Liz Holland

CAMPAIGN R UN:

August 1999 through July 2000

TARGET MARKET:

Travel agents and sophisticated,

affluent consumers over 55

years old

The Brief

In startling contrast to mega cruise ships that routinely

carry anywhere from 1500 to 2500 passengers in a float-

ing city, Cruise West is part of a niche category within

the small-ship cruising industry, carrying ninety to 100

passengers with minimal luxury amenities. The appeal

of the small ship comes from the intimate and low-key

nature of the experience that promotes interaction

with nature and wildlife along with education on

the cultural surroundings. Instead of gambling in the

evening, passengers listen to experts talk about the

region; instead of being fourteen stories up when a

whale breaches beside the ship, prompting passengers

to run for their binoculars, they can view the whale

up-close from a 4' x 5' (1.2 m x 1.5 m) picture window

in their stateroom while writing a postcard home.

“You get more and more involved with your surround-

ings,” says Patricia Belyea, creative director, of the

time passengers spend onboard. As a result, passen-

gers “gain so much on this cruise because they learn

so much.” If wildlife comes near the ship, the captain

will stop the engine so everyone can enjoy the scene.

If the ship went by too fast to catch a wildlife show,

the captain will turn the vessel around and go back

for another look. If something happens outside during

dinner, everyone goes on deck—including the staff.

“The whole world stops for a wildlife experience.

People get such a kick out of it. It is what makes their

trip...these events just burn into their memories. It is

really very, very different from the big cruise ships.”

Given these strengths, it is little wonder that Belyea

promotes the Cruise West experience with two simple

messages—up-close and casual. These messages are

evident throughout the Alaska 2000 campaign’s collat-

eral material, which while very simply produced, is

totally unlike any other travel brochures.

Text (DS)

Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works

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