Carnival Cruise Lines Sails Into A Media Review

Carnival-Cruise-ship-ACarnival Cruise Lines has launched a media agency review, the company confirmed Thursday.

The company spent $32 million on ads in 2012, according to Kantar.

The incumbent is Havas Media, which won the assignment in 2008 in a joint pitch with sister creative agency Arnold Worldwide. The cruise ship company stressed that while the media assignment is in review, the creative account is not and remains with Arnold.

According to sources, Havas Media has not been invited to defend the account. “They want to go in a different direction,” said one source of the client.

The review comes in the wake of a series of cruise mishaps at Carnival and other lines over the past two years. In early 2012, the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground, leaving more than 24 people dead.

Earlier this year, Carnival’s ship Triumph lost power on a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico and had to be towed back to Mobile, Alabama. News reports focused on the rough conditions experienced by passengers, who lacked working toilets, air conditioning and lighting.

After the incident, Carnival announced a fleet-wide review and plans to spend $300 million to upgrade ships to avoid another Triumph-like at-sea mishap.

“Carnival Cruise Lines is currently conducting a review of its media buying and planning agency resources,” the firm stated. “The company has not conducted a review in several years and is currently seeking a media buying and planning agency capable of effectively building and managing integrated plans across both traditional and digital media.”

Carnival also confirmed that its media agency review is being managed by agency search consultant Select Resources International.

It’s been a challenging week for Havas Media on the account front. High-end fashion client Hugo Boss has reportedly put its global media assignment into review, according to Campaign. The company didn’t immediately respond to a query seeking confirmation of the report.  

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