Taking a cruise is a non-starter with a lot of younger adults. The thing is, when they’re on the ships, they actually have a good time. So Royal Caribbean needed to find ways to demonstrate that, yeah, people like them do enjoy these adventures. We didn’t have any media money, and we needed to be bold.
So we went where no brand had ever dared. Reddit. Lair of the troll.
PRESS
SF GATE | Bill Gates, Lindsey Vonn, Royal Caribbean and eBay staffs revealed as Reddit Secret Santa gifters
REDDIT GIFTS' FACEBOOK | Reddit Gifts Secret Santa
Each year, Reddit holds the world’s largest Secret Santa gift exchange. Even Bill Gates and Snoop get involved.
But to join in without getting burned, we had to do something that didn’t feel fake or exploitative. And to get any buzz, our gift had to be better than anything Reddit had seen before.
How could we get Redditors – notorious for their low tolerance of marketing BS to pay attention without eviscerating our brand?
We sent them something none of them were expecting.
We decided to send our Secret Santa matches three completely personalized Royal Caribbean adventures. We signed up anonymously, then learned all we could about our matches. Pairing their personalities and interests to actual Royal Caribbean experiences to create custom itineraries for each of them. And filling a suitcase with everything they’d need to make the most of the adventure.
Including two tickets to the cruise that would take them there.
We even hand wrote notes personalized to each recipient - with suggestions of where to go and what to do based on each of their gifts.
All were wrapped in paper and ribbons that all were in our color palette.
Our matches loved their gifts. So did Reddit. (Phew. Dodged that one.)
In turn, each of our 3 recipients posted across Reddit and their social networks – from Facebook, Instagram, to Twitter.
One of our matches even posted to YouTube.
With no media money, our stunt relied solely on Reddit community engagement and organic coverage – garnering more than
23 million impressions.
We managed to win over one of the toughest audiences on the web – by proving that what they’re into, and what we’re into, isn’t all that different.
CAMPAIGN CREDITS:
SVP Group Creative Director / Art: Rob Kottkamp
SVP Group Creative Director / Copy: John Kearse
Senior Art Director: Lisa Della Piana
Senior Copywriter: Sarah Litwin-Schmid
SVP Creative Director / Digital Producer: Christian Madden
Junior Creative Technologist: Cody Lewis
VP Head of Print Production: AJ Hodgson
SVP Group Account Director: Kay Pancheri
Account Director: Courtney Calvert
Senior Account Executive: Hayley Richards
Senior Project Manager: Jessica McLeod