CRYSTAL CRUISES
The 30,000 foot view
Crystal Cruises, a globally recognized name in high-end luxury cruising, came to us with a twofold mission: boost bookings through its new eCommerce site and elevate brand awareness among luxury travelers. The challenge? Create a digital experience that resonates with discerning consumers, drives online conversion, and supports the traditional booking paths, phone and travel advisors, that still play a major role in the luxury space.
We designed a phased, full-funnel strategy tailored to Crystal’s audience and buying behavior. From Paid Search and Social to Display, Video, and Email, every channel was calibrated to engage, nurture, and convert. By leaning into travel passion points and leveraging remarketing to stay top of mind, we successfully scaled reach, attracted the right audience, and drove measurable business results.
The challenge
With a brand-new online booking engine and low awareness among untapped segments, Crystal needed to make waves in a highly competitive category. Our goal: drive bookings among affluent travelers who typically don’t discover or purchase luxury cruises digitally. This required a carefully balanced approach—one that championed the new eCommerce platform without losing sight of traditional sales touchpoints. WMX needed to find a way to reach, inspire, and convert an audience that values white-glove service, curated experiences, and seamless convenience—all without compromising the prestige and trust that define the Crystal brand.
The solution
WMX built a year-long media strategy broken into phases; each designed to progressively expand reach and deepen engagement. By aligning with premium travel publishers and content environments that resonated with our target demographic, we met travelers where they were already exploring their next dream escape. Retargeting played a pivotal role—our campaigns re-engaged high-interest users with dynamic creative that moved them from consideration to action. The media mix spanned:
PAID SEARCH
To capture high-intent travelers actively researching luxury cruise experiences.
DISPLAY & PAID SOCIAL
To inspire and educate with rich visual storytelling across key lifestyle and travel channels.
VIDEO & EMAIL
To immerse audiences in the Crystal experience and drive urgency during key promotional windows.
Our early focus was on building quality traffic. As the campaign matured, we leaned into conversion—using personalized messaging and well-timed promotions to move travelers from dream to departure.
The results
WMX’s full-funnel approach delivered across the board:
increase in reach during the first half of the campaign, bringing more potential guests into the funnel
improvement in cost per booking, making acquisition more efficient and scalable
lift in ROI, demonstrating the power of precision media, elevated creative, and audience-first strategy
By aligning luxury positioning with modern digital execution, WMX helped Crystal Cruises not only expand its reach but also unlock new pathways to growth in an evolving marketplace.
