Written for Influencer Intelligence
In December, Royal Caribbean’s most epic world cruise ever set sail. The Serenade Of The Seas is a 274-night adventure, visiting all seven continents. Stopping at over 150 destinations across 65 countries, the 9-month cruise promises 11 World Wonders, from the Taj Mahal to Christ The Redeemer. The ship itself offers panoramic views, restaurants, a theatre, bars and pubs, spa, gym and mini golfing green, amongst its varied amenities.
Since it departed Miami, the voyage quickly became a topic of fascination on TikTok, with over 4,000 posts linked to the #ultimateworldcruise and over 350 million total video views. 9 month cruise has 276.8m views on the Discover page today. It began to pick up column inches in the likes of The New York Times, TIME magazine and USA Today and on BBC News – being dubbed the internet’s daily ‘reality show’, as passengers diarise their day-to-day lives on board. All thanks to the TikTok algorithm and For You page, the cruise has become an obsession.
Many TikTokers have grown their followings overnight by documenting their experience aboard Serenade Of The Seas, the majority of which are organic guests, paying the steep ticket price which starts at a sea-sick $53,999. Guests include @amike_oosthuizen who has been posting pretty much daily, @iambrandeelake, @brooklynschwetje and @drjennytravels, whose videos can fetch up to 9.3m views.
Amongst the social media noise, was an ingenious influencer-brand partnership. When Atria Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, heard that content creator and model Marc Sebastian was looking for a brand to send him on the cruise, where he promised to “wreak havoc” and “record everything”, the publisher quickly reached out to offer sponsorship. After a strategy meeting, Atria purchased him an 18-day ticket for the ship’s tour of the Antarctic. Boarding on January 5, Sebastian became a breakout content star.
What was interesting about the partnership, was that Marc Sebastian made no bones about the fact that he was anything but an avid reader. Instead, he candidly publicised the novelty of his mission to read a book on his voyage, launching the dedicated hashtag #Marcreadsabook. He says in one of his videos: ‘No I may not be the normal kind of influencer you may see doing a campaign like this, but f**k that, why should I have to stay in my own lane because I don’t want to step on BookTok’s toes.’
Following a majority vote by his followers, Sebastian began to host a book club reading and TikTok Live of The Last One, by Will Dean – a novel which takes place on a cruise ship. The influencer’s open acknowledgement of not being a traditional reading enthusiast, allowed him to speak to a young audience who may not have been so accessible to the book company until now. A way for the marketers to reach new audiences and readers, the sponsorship offered an alternative take on book promotion.
Aside from some preparation videos before he set off, Sebastian posted 41 pieces of content whilst he was on the cruise, covering facilities, events, excursions, food and more. The majority of which were less than glowing reviews of the experience.
In terms of results, on his channel, Sebastian created 10 pieces of content mentioning Atria books or The Last One. Many posts were commented on by the Atria Books team, with reports that Sebastian’s campaign built hype not only for the book in question, but for the author’s upcoming Summer release. The post below is a typical example. Receiving 2.8m views, this content achieved 326.2K likes, 3,504 comments and over 11.3K saves alone.
In another stroke of genius, on departing the cruise, Sebastian films himself delivering the books to fellow cruiser and influencer @angielinderman, who announces she will continue to carry the torch with the launch of #Angiereadsabook, reading None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell.
Aside from a swathe of positive comments and engagement with the partnership, the Washington Post claimed Atria Books quadrupled its following on its own TikTok channel thanks to the collaboration. The Atria Books marketing and publicity team told Influencer Intelligence: ‘At Atria, we’re always looking for impactful and creative ways to reach new readers. When Marc Sebastian put out the call for a brand to partner with, we jumped at the chance to be a part of this viral moment. We publish books for people who read many books a year, and people who read one book a year. We hope seeing Marc, who is not normally a reader, pick up a book in real time will inspire others to start reading too. Marc brought so many interactive and engaging ideas about how to incorporate our books into his travels. And, of course, what better companion for a long journey than a good book.’
Representatives from Atria Books were also guests on the Ultimate World Cruise, creating key content for their owned channels. According to Publishers Weekly, the partnership was a masterclass in awareness, with the #atriabooks tag receiving 98K views between December and January, and #thelastone pulling in 4.8m views since Serenade Of The Seas left port – both of which are clearly quantifiable ROIs for the publisher from one simple execution.
This was an influencer activation that proves there is merit in thinking outside the box when it comes to influencer discovery, such as considering creators from a different vertical in order to tap new customers, or in exploring unique perspectives and storytelling.
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