Norwegian for Australian TV push

NORWEGIAN Cruise Line (NCL) is preparing for its first major television advertising campaign in Australia, aiming to strengthen its local profile ahead of an expanded Asia-Pacific presence.

Set to air nationally from Oct, the campaign will aim to challenge the line’s larger rivals and convey the “freedom and flexibility” of the NCL brand.

The initiative was announced yesterday by the line’s president and ceo Andy Stuart, who is visiting Australia ahead of tomorrow’s Cruise360 conference in Sydney where he will be a keynote speaker.

“We have to start selling the story of the brand, as the brand is relatively little known here,” Stuart told Cruise Weekly.

“We’ve started TV in markets where we get to a critical mass that we can scale and we can support television, and we very much feel that’s the case here.

“So we’re starting TV advertising in Australia which should drive a lot of business though travel agents, that’s the aim,” he said.

The line is celebrating three years since the opening of its regional base in Sydney, and has doubled sales from the Australian market since establishing a local office, Stuart said.

“It makes a huge difference when you have your own presence, you have people dedicated to the brand twentyfour hours a day, and it’s just worked really well for us, we feel that we’re in a strong position here now,” he said.

Stuart is pictured with NCL vice president of sales Australia & New Zealand, Nicole Costantin.