Cruise Lines International Association
The Cruise Lines International Association often found itself reacting to media inquiries and criticisms from activists over perceived deficiencies in safety, security, health and environmental practices. While CLIA effectively countered inaccuracies within traditional media outlets, it failed to adequately engage the source of much of the criticism – social media and blogs. .
To counteract online criticisms of the industry’s safety, security, health and environmental practices, CLS first conducted a thorough audit – or Share of Voice (SOV) analysis – of the conversations taking place around these issues. The analysis looked at where discussions were taking place online, who was influencing the debate and the sentiment of the conversations. Through this research, not only did we identify that CLIA had a weak Share of Voice (SOV) across the social web, but that there were voluminous conversations – generally negative in tone – taking place across a variety of online platforms including blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. CLS encouraged CLIA to engage social media and bloggers with the same level of attention paid to traditional print and broadcast journalists. To counteract the negative news, meanwhile, CLS helped CLIA bolster its online presence and create new digital channels, including Twitter and YouTube, through which the organization could deploy positive news and create a more balanced impression of the industry online.
By tweeting favorable articles, op-eds, letters to the editors and industry factoids, CLIA gained more than 1,000 followers, including prominent journalists, bloggers and cruise industry third parties. In the process, CLS also developed relationships with travel writers by sparking discussions with followers, corresponding with individuals through Direct Messages, and even issuing a survey on the cruise industry’s environmental practices. Throughout the campaign, CLS continued to assess the conversations surrounding the cruise line industry using social media monitoring and analysis. Over time, the overarching tone of discussions around various CLIA issues began shifting from critical to neutral and, in some cases, even leaning positive.
