Ship to sure: P&O Cruises makes a splash with bold campaign

An iconic Fleetwood Mac song forms the foundation of a new brand platform for cruise line P&O Cruises, as the company positions itself for growth.

A still from P&O Cruises new campaign, with photography by Walkley Award-winning photographer David Maurice Smith.

A fully booked P&O cruise ship carrying 3000 passengers departed a port in Brisbane to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere on Saturday, as guests sang along to the iconic song en masse.

The song, however, offered not just a rousing soundtrack to what the cruise line hopes will set the tone of the seven-night voyage to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It was the creative centrepiece of an advertisement that has been circulating on screens since mid-January.

It also offers a window into the P&O Cruises business and how it is engaging with new and potential guests, having launched a new brand platform for the first time in a decade.

The idea behind the platform, titled “Brings us all together”, is based on the spirit of connection guests can expect to experience aboard its fleet. The song is also being used across other parts of the business, like the ”sail away” party that took place over the weekend, as well as internal communications and an employee engagement campaign.

P&O Cruises engaged Supermassive, an independent creative studio, to create the new platform. It is also the first campaign to come from the studio, which was founded by advertising industry mavens Laura Aldington, Jon Austin and Simone Gupta in 2023.

Mr Austin said the Everywhere song was foundational to the work: “We didn’t just want it to be the soundtrack to a film. We wanted it to be the idea.”

P&O’s new brand campaign comes amid increased competition in the cruising industry and growing demand among cost-conscious consumers for more affordable and ‘unique’ travel experiences.

This year, more than 81 cruise ships are expected to operate in Australian waters, according to the Australasian chapter of peak industry organisation Cruise Lines International Association. The figure represents a 14 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

P&O Cruises Australia president Peter Little told The Growth Agenda that the rising competition was beneficial to the industry more broadly.

“The reality is some of the international ships are getting larger. In Sydney, there are more brands in the market than ever, which is nothing but great for the consumer – you’ve never had such a broad depth of cruising options,” he said.

The business of cruising continues its buoyant recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a total shutdown of the industry. Cruising was also one of the last industries to be relieved of Covid-related restrictions.

New research from Tourism & Transport Forum Australia has also found that the cruise industry is on track to exceed pre-Covid passenger numbers this year – a trend that is being fuelled by younger generations booking cruises, including Australians aged under 35.

Mr Little added: “It speaks great volumes to the category and to the inclusivity of cruising and that it appeals to all ages. No matter where you come from – you’re welcome on a cruise.”

P&O said it has noticed this trend, including the rise of multi-generational groups and families. Overall, P&O Cruises accommodated approximately 500,000 guests on its fleet last year. It expects 520,000 this year and 570,000 in 2025, its largest capacity to date.

P&O’s chief commercial officer Kathryn Robertson said: “The timing felt right to invest in a new platform, which really is about our commitment to staying ahead in this dynamic market. And really, to reinforce that unique P&O experience.”

But with increased competition also comes the need to communicate a clear point of difference – and “different” formed part of the foundation of the brief from the cruise line to Supermassive.

The video and still photographs that form the campaign are highly emotive, and are distinct not only from the cruise category but travel industry advertising more broadly.

Supermassive asked Cameron Bruce, the musical supervisor on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film, to create a new choral arrangement of the Fleetwood Mac track. Bruce is also the keyboard and pianist of the Paul Kelly band.

Walkley Award-winning photographer David Maurice Smith, whose work has appeared on the covers of Time, Rolling Stone and National Geographic, was engaged to capture stills as part of the campaign.

One image captures a sweet moment of a grandfather dozing with his grandson (who was actually taking a nap at the time of the photograph).

Mr Austin explained: “We have a creative philosophy around entertaining, rather than interrupting. When you look at this project through that filter, we have a brand platform that has a meaningful connection at its heart, and we’re trying to engage such a huge, broad, diverse audience.”

For that reason, he said Supermassive turned to popular entertainment that would “cross cultures and entire generations and connect people like never before” to create the platform.

“Music was the natural starting point for that. Music is a universal connector, which just felt like the obvious place to start,” Mr Austin explained.

The new platform and accompanying materials were architected with longevity in mind, as P&O positions itself for future growth. The idea will inform a wide range of marketing activities for P&O moving forward.

Supermassive’s Laura Aldington added: “If you look at most iconic, enduring brands, their hallmark is that they have a consistency to their platform; a visual identity, tone of voice and the way that they show up in the world. And we wanted to put this brand in that canon.”