Posted on 04 August 2009. Tags: bogus reviews, Cruise Critic, cruise ombudsman, ExpertCruiser, MSNBC, Royal Caribbean, Royal Caribbean International, Royal Champions, Trip Advisor, Tripso, viral marketing
Royal Caribbean announces the end of its controversial “Royal Champions” viral web marketing program. In March, I broke the story regarding the program where fans of the cruise line only posted positive reviews on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. I want to thank my readers for helping me break this story. (read for more..)
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Tweet us! Did you know that ExpertCruiser is now on Twitter? Follow us at twitter.com/ExpertCruiser.
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Posted in Blog
Posted on 01 April 2009. Tags: banned from cruise critic, Cruise Critic, RCCL, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Royal Champions, viral marketing
Talk about April fools!! The drama at Cruise Critic continues. Three weeks after my articles outing Royal Caribbean’s Royal Champion program on their forums they have wielded a big ax and have banned several of the readers I talked to for my articles. Read for more…
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Tweet us! Did you know that ExpertCruiser is now on Twitter? Follow us at twitter.com/ExpertCruiser.
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Posted in Blog
Posted on 17 March 2009. Tags: bad marketing moves, Cruise Critic, fallout over board seeding, Gene Sloan, Royal Caribbean, Royal Champions, USA TODAY, viral marketing
My colleague Gene Sloan of USA TODAY has an interesting article on the fallout from the Royal Champion story. Gene interviewed Carnival, Holland America, Celebrity, NCL, and Princess executives about viral marketing campaigns. Read for more…
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Tweet us! Did you know that ExpertCruiser is now on Twitter? Follow us at twitter.com/ExpertCruiser.
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Posted in Blog
Posted on 13 March 2009. Tags: 6S Marketing, Allison and Partners, banned from Royal Caribbean, Bill Hayden, Brenda Moran, cruise bulletin boards, Cruise Critic, cruise forums, Doth Brands, Expedia, Forrester Research, Inc., Independent Traveler, Mixercast Inc, Nielsen Buzz Metrics, RCCL, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Royal Champions, social media, Terralever, tripadvisor, Twitter, Usenet, viral marketing, Visible Technologies, WOMMA, Word of mouth marketing
Are the Royal Champions about to be dethroned? Based on the fallout from last week’s column about Royal Caribbean’s secretive group of cybercheerleaders, you might be forgiven for thinking so.
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Hey cruisers, here’s the real scoop with passports
Find out if you need a passport on June 1, 2009.
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Posted in Advice, Ombudsman, Tripblog, What's New?
Posted on 06 March 2009. Tags: banned from Royal Caribbean, Brenda Moran, cruise bulletin boards, Cruise Critic, cruise forums, RCCL, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Royal Champions, viral marketing
In early 2007, Royal Caribbean developed a marketing strategy that used online bulletin boards to spread the cruise line’s gospel, so to speak. The company created a program, dubbed “Royal Champions,” that enlisted rabid Royal Caribbean fans who happened to be frequent posters on Internet cruise bulletin boards like Cruise Critic. Did its program cross the line?
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Posted in Advice, Tripblog, What's New?