Carnival Cruise Lines is all about being social these days. The line’s “Hey America, Didja Ever?”campaign/focus celebrates trying new things and getting fun done. Now, via its national marketing alliance with Live Nation Entertainment, Carnival has a Summer Mystery Tour Sweepstakes.
By visiting Carnival’s Facebook page, fans 18 and older who “like” Carnival can enter the first in a series of sweepstakes through June 22 for a VIP trip to a concert in Houston, Texas, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, where the company is the Official Concert Series Sponsor. Winners can bring along three friends. The prize includes round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, travel to and from the show in a limousine, some of the best seats in the house, and $500 spending money for food and fun.
Carnival will offer four additional opportunities to win VIP concert experiences at Live Nation venues in major U.S. cities where the line is presenting the Carnival Rock the Deck Concert Series, including Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Pretty darn cool.
That’s where this story would normally stop. Not here. There’s more.
This is a really good example of just how good Carnival is at this sort of thing. Call it “marketing”, “social engagement” or whatever popular buzz word you care to slap on it; Carnival has been doing this for decades and they are better at it than everyone else.
Start with the The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. More than just a beautiful outdoor amphitheater serving the Houston region, this non-profit organization recently awarded $66,000 in fine arts scholarships for the 2011-12 academic year.
“Twenty new scholarships are awarded to graduating high school seniors and 38 renewal scholarships were given to students who are committed to a fine arts major in college.” the organization notes on it’s web site. That’s part of over $400,000 in scholarships awarded since 1998.
It’s not something Carnival includes in a press release or even eludes to elsewhere. It’s a little thing probably not even worth mentioning when talking about this sort of promotion…unless you’re one of those high school seniors, one of demographic that probably goes to a lot of concerts.
Someone is going to stop by Carnival’s Facebook page and win this. It’s a complete package with air, hotel, a limo ride, great seats and even spending money. When it comes to cruise ships, Carnival is the most successful company the planet has ever seen because they have made a lot of smart business decisions and given passengers on their ships exactly what they wanted.
They continue that focus in everything they do. When it comes to a concert giveaway, Carnival doesn’t miss a beat.
