P&O Cruises looks to adopt social media

Southampton-based P&O Cruises is set to give access to its co-operative marketing budgets to agents able to prove that social media campaigns are profitable.

The plans were announced at the first social media webinar held by Complete Cruise Solution, the trade arm of P&O Cruises, where 60 agents were talked through the potential opportunities offered by social media.

While the operator admits that the value of the channel has yet to be properly assessed, it has recently created a full time social media post for its leading brand.

Currently the operator’s co-operative marketing budgets are spent on traditional newspaper display and direct marketing campaigns, but head of brand marketing Philip Price hinted that this reliance on traditional media could be set to change, adding that he could see a time when the line would co-operate with agents in social media marketing activity as well.

“We are not yet there in terms of co-op spend for social media. With us it’s still early days, we were not the earliest of adopters. But I can easily see that co-op social media campaigns will happen,” said Price.