Getting It Right

[HostDave]

By Timothy Rubacky, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Development

American river cruises are so popular, we’ve had to reprint our latest brochure five times just to meet demand. There are many ways to market a company, and we try to cover all the bases with a website, direct mail, partnering with travel agencies and social media. But we find that the marketing that gets people excited the most are our brochures. Call me old-fashioned, but I admit there’s just something about sitting down and paging through a brochure, reading the copy and viewing the pictures, that makes a product like the American Queen come alive. A good brochure is like a good book. It should draw you into the story, evoke emotion and make you feel as if you are a part of the setting. And from our perspective, it should also make you book a voyage with us!

We’re now working on our preliminary 2013 brochure which will showcase our new itineraries and our new name as of July 1: American Queen Steamboat Company. As I mentioned in my last blog, in 2013, we’ll have 30 departures from Memphis and New Orleans, more accommodations for single travelers and a new pricing structure.

But we’re also redesigning and rewriting our brochures to reflect how all of you feel about the American Queen and her river journeys. I can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate your feedback here on this blog, on our Facebook Page, on our onboard comment forms and in the letters and emails you send us. The thing that you keep telling us, even if it was your first journey with us, is that boarding the American Queen is like coming home. It’s comforting and harks back to an earlier, simpler time. Many of you have shared your childhood memories with us and compared aspects of your voyage to those times.

That’s why you’ll see in our new brochures that we’re taking a slightly different approach than we have in the past.

For example, we used to describe our dining experience by focusing on the elegance, the refinement of the cuisine and the grandness of the experience. And while our cuisine is all those things, you were drawn to the home-style aspect of Chef Regina Charboneau’s recipes and the joy of sitting down with new friends for dinner. You’ll soon see copy that describes our onboard dining this way:

"Do you remember a time when meals were the focus of family life? We do. It was a time where revered recipes and warm conversation were the rule and not the exception. On the American Queen, mealtime is about making memories, one delicious bite at a time."

The Front Porch of America is a gathering spot that reminded many of you of visiting your grandparents. You love the ice cream machines and the hot popcorn 24 hours a day. We’ve heard you and adapted the way we describe it as well:

"Just like Grandma’s kitchen, the Front Porch of America is open round-the-clock. Incredible pastries and freshly-brewed coffee greet the sun. Plump hot dogs, over-stuffed sandwiches, rich ice cream and warm cookies help get you through the day. If the smell of fresh popcorn doesn’t draw you to the Front Porch of America, the laughter and convivial atmosphere most certainly will."

As I've said many times before, the experience of a river voyage is unique. But your comments and affection for the atmosphere that develops on board has helped us describe it more accurately:

"Someone once said that we enter this world as strangers but we leave it as friends. They might just have had a river voyage on the grand American Queen in mind as well. By the end of your voyage, you’ll have new friendships and a new outlook on life. The American Queen will have a different atmosphere than when she departed just a few days earlier. She is now a community filled with people who have laughed at the same jokes, danced to the same music and broken bread over the same dinner tables. After all, that’s what Steamboating is all about."

What has happened since we put out our first brochure months before the American Queen’s initial voyage is that she is now a living entity thanks to her staff and crew and, most importantly all of you, her guests. All we could do back then is write about what we hoped she would be. Now, we can write about all that she has become. She is warm, homey and comforting. And I want to thank all of you who have travelled aboard this wonderful lady for making her that way. Our brochures will sound a bit different because you have redefined what a journey on the American Queen is like. Thank you for giving her such an inviting, friendly personality.