12 Amazing Audience Engagement Ideas I Learned on a Cruise – Part 2

This follow-up is long overdue, but worth the wait! Here’s part 2.

Dover is a port that many cruisers skip, but it’s worth the effort to walk up to the castle.

Amazing tip #6: Encourage your audience to walk through your experience on occasion, instead of always streamlining everything.

Dover, England – With London only a short drive away, people often skip Dover as they are embarking or disembarking. But Dover Castle has a charm of its own and it’s worth the trip to the top of the hill to see the view. It was worth it to walk up rather than take trolleys or cabs – we climbed a beautiful staircase in the woods. While walking through the city toward the castle, we found a number of shops and a great place to eat when we came back down.

Once in a while, it may be worthwhile to buck the trend of hyper-streamlining an experience and encourage your audience to walk and take the stairs. It was strenuous and we had to catch our breath, but the experience was richer and more memorable than a taxi to the front door.

Amazing tip #7: Make it worthwhile to look past the surface.

St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands – Castle Cornet on the island of Guernsey is, for some travelers, just “ABC” – that is, “another bloomin’ castle.” But taking the time to explore yielded multiple intriguing stories ranging across centuries. There’s nearly always more to “ABC” than you might think, which means it can be rewarding to explore unknown brands.

At the same time, it’s incumbent upon the owner of the lesser-known brand to take whatever it is that they’ve got, frame it effectively, and communicate it to the audience in a way that makes them curious enough to dig one level deeper.

With Danny & Ann Hosley in Waterford, Ireland. That Mississippi State logo on his jacket is a brand that transcends context for its audience.

Amazing tip #8: Effective branding overcomes a change of context.

Waterford, Ireland – When you think of Waterford, Ireland, you probably think first of Waterford Crytal. In addition to their worldwide fame for making crystal dining ware, they are also well-known for their creation of art objects and trophies such as the crystal football BCS trophy. The city is also home to Reginald’s Tower, a relic from the town’s Viking history.

In the midst of all the things that Waterford is best known for, though, I have another unforgettable memory of Waterford, Ireland that has nothing to do with its history. As I crossed a busy street, I recognized the logo of my alma mater on the jacket of a gentleman crossing in the other direction. I greeted him with “Hail State!” and we have stayed in touch since then.

That recognizable brand did its job, allowing fellow fans to establish a connection even in an entirely unrelated context. There was no reason for me to be looking for that logo or thinking about my alma mater, but the sight of the school colors and the logo instantly transcended the context of the environment.

Not every brand has a goal of facilitating interpersonal relationships among alumni, but every brand can aspire to the powerful goal of being instantly recognizable even in an unrelated context.

You can read the other entries in this series via the following links:
12 Amazing Audience Engagement Ideas I Learned on a Cruise – Part 1
12 Amazing Audience Engagement Ideas I Learned on a Cruise – Part 3