Cecilia Sanguinetti, Associate Vice President of One to One Marketing for Royal Caribbean International, is excited about tapping into the company’s focused customer-centric approach because she wants all customer touchpoints to be treated as potential loyalty opportunities.
Sanguinetti, who previously worked at Carnival Cruise Lines and American Express, told Loyalty 360 that the customer-centric approach was officially initiated into the company culture about two years ago.
“We’re very lucky because our president and senior management initiated this,” Sanguinetti said. “It’s an opportunity to grow the business. Loyalty is a frame of mind and has to be part of our culture. We must be customer-centric. The customer must be at the center of everything we do.”
Sanguinetti – who joined Royal Caribbean International five months ago – said some people always thought loyalty was a function of the loyalty department. That mindset has changed dramatically at Royal Caribbean International.
“Something I’m creating across my team is a notion that all customer touchpoints are loyalty opportunities,” she said. “The opportunity to delight someone, to wow someone beyond their expectations so they’d be more inclined to become repeat customers, is very close to our hearts.”
Technological upgrades enable Royal Caribbean to have a 360-degree view of their customers.
“We push that to our employees,” Sanguinetti explained. “They now have access to historical customer information. It’s frustrating when companies spend millions in marketing, but when a customer asks how many points I have a customer service rep doesn’t know. Cruises are very experiential.”
Sanguinetti takes pride in the fact that Royal Caribbean consistently receives impressive Net Promoter Scores.
“Especially in our industry, customer experience will determine whether they come back or not,” she explained. “We could spend millions in marketing communications, but if we don’t communicate effectively, it won’t matter. We are at the forefront regarding customer experience and customer satisfaction scores. I’m really excited to be able to lead this program to do great things.”
Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program – The Crown and Anchor Society – has evolved in its sixth year, Sanguinetti said. Program membership currently stands at 7.2 million.
“Our guest rewards are based on the number of cruise nights they’ve taken,” she said. “Our program is different from airlines where you accumulate points that become a currency to exchange for benefits. In our program, members accumulate points that elevate them to different tiers, and the higher tiers of the program gives members more benefits. It’s a way to recognize customers by giving them more perks.”
Another way the loyalty program has evolved is through a focus on hospitality.
“We’re looking at the program through a hospitality lens,” Sanguinetti said. “At the end of the day, we have to have win-win relationships with guests. It’s something we’re focusing on with our high value customers. We define high value customers not always about how much they spend, but also the frequency they travel.”
Sanguinetti said the single biggest loyalty challenge she faces internally at Royal Caribbean is how to best instill a culture of customer-centricity.
“We developed technology to show how we’re actually driving more incremental value by being customer-centric, but how do we create a culture with proper measurements and create proper behavior,” she said. “What does it mean to every individual? Maybe some behaviors need to change or at least be modified.”
Other challenges Sanguinetti referenced include staying abreast of all new technology, along with advancements in consumer access to mobile, smartphones, and tablets.
“Consumers are so fragmented in how they consume their information,” she said. “Sometimes enterprises move slower than consumers. We have to make all emails mobile friendly. This is a significant mindset and an evolution of how people are consuming media.”
Real-time marketing tops the list of industry trends for Sanguinetti.
“I’m a big fan of real-time marketing and behavior-based marketing,” she said. “When you try and reach a company and you can’t, that’s a problem. Then when you don’t want them, they’re bombarding you with emails. Let’s have a relationship and a conversation when they’re open and ready.”
Customers need to be engaged by relevant content, Sanguinetti said.
“They expect personalized messaging,” she said. “I use that title because our company wants us to do 1-to-1 marketing. Each customer is different based on needs and what they’re looking for. We created a technology to create dynamic messaging that involves being robust ad nimble.”
By targeting its best existing customers, Royal Caribbean hopes they become brand ambassadors and spread the word to their families and friends.
“How can we use the power of our most engaged customers that they become brand ambassadors and extend our reach and message to friends and families?” she said.
Sanguinetti acknowledged the fact that worldwide cruise line accidents that received an inordinate amount of publicity have hurt the industry.
“Things that have happened in the cruise industry have hurt us because people are hesitant,” she explained. “It requires a lot of effort to convince people.”
Sanguinetti is confident that the unique and key differentiator for Royal Caribbean is the product. Complimentary amenities available on all ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet include in-stateroom televisions and telephones, a main theater featuring Broadway-style and headliner shows, a rock climbing wall, a basketball court, an indoor fitness center, a multi-story main dining room, the Windjammer buffet, 24-hour room service, the Adventure Ocean children’s program, a multi-deck atrium with glass elevators, and multiple lounges.
“We have the best ships, highest NPS scores, and the experience is unparalleled,” she said. “At the end of the day, so many of our customers recommend us to friends and families. That’s our biggest differentiator against our competition.”
Loyalty is a behavior, Sanguinetti said, and one of her main goals is to drive the right kind of behavior.
“We want people to travel with us frequently, tell friends and families about us, and make us the No. 1 choice for vacations, reunions, and celebrations,” she said. “We do that through smart marketing, making the right offers at the right time. It’s all about the behaviors.”