Princess Yachts are in the business of experience.  A seamless, flowing journey of pleasure and craft, which starts long before you step on board.

Luxury purchases, even by the super-rich, are not made lightly. Assiduous hours of research preface most big buys, much of which is done online. 

To us, with decades of digital experience, this was our opportunity to make Princess’ digital touchpoints look and sound as exemplary as their yachts. For the past seven years (and counting), that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Reimagining the brand

Despite being synonymous with incredible traditional craftsmanship, Princess are a forward-thinking, disruptive organisation that's made the yacht space more inclusive and more exciting.

Their brand hadn't showcased this before, and they wanted an agency to truly inhabit this ethos — to craft a story as authentic as it was disruptive within their field.

We began by identifying the Princess brand archetype — the core tenets that would permeate their messaging. We gave them an Innocent archetype, moving beyond the obvious talk of horsepower and unlimited luxury into a sense of childlike wonder and a quest for paradise.

Our long-term relationship has allowed us to push Princess into uncharted waters, while ensuring they remain unmistakably, exquisitely Princess Yachts.

A softer sell

The pandemic presented luxury brands with a problem: how to stay visible and relevant without pushing the hard sell at a sensitive time.

We solved this by helping create ‘Experience Togetherness’, an online editorial concept that shows the Princess lifestyle more than it sells their products. 

The pandemic meant we had to move fast, but despite the short timeframe, the page is rich in elegant design, imagery, video and features.

Articles follow the extra-marinal passions of the Princess team and reveal how the boats are crafted by their team of dedicated craftspeople. 

Princess’ children’s book, ‘Enid & Her Magic Yacht’, appears as an animated story. And it’s all soundtracked to an Audiowaves Spotify playlist, bringing the calming, beckoning sounds of the sea into users’ homes. 

At a time when Princess had to be sensitive with its offering, we delivered a beautifully on-brand way to sell without selling.

If you can't come to the boat show, we'll bring the boat show to you

When the pandemic hit, we knew Princess wouldn’t be able to deliver their trademark boat show experience — a lifeblood of their brand awareness activity. We made up for this shortfall with an experience that would connect the brand to their people at a time when face-to-face connection was impossible.

We created Boat Show in a Box. A tactile, unique experience that delivers cocktail recipes, board games, and some much-needed enjoyment — both as a physical box and as a digital experience.

Scanning a QR code, users are transported to our digital marina: a beautiful gateway to a hub of entertainment and an innovative way to imprint on our audience. 

While recipients enjoyed the physical box's cocktails and backgammon, we soundtracked the occasion with playlists through a bespoke Princess media player. And, once engaged, our exclusive content gave an insider's view into the Princess product range that made users feel closer to the water.

Boat Show in a Box is an effective, elegant UX project - and a potent demonstration of our leftfield creative thinking. View the full online experience here - 

https://showbox.princessyachts.com/

The centrepiece of the digital estate is the Princess website

We’ve created an award-winning website that caters for everyone from yachting novices to seasoned mariners. From that first spark of inspiration up until the deal is done, the site takes you on a digital journey - before you start your seafaring one.

Since 2015, we’ve boosted site sessions by 64.89%, increased average on-page time by 36.97%, and cut load times (a key factor in user experience and SEO). 

We’ve also changed the site to better reflect its audience. Our user research tells us women are bigger influencers on yacht purchases than Princess originally thought. So we’ve tailored their website to fit that demographic, which has seen the Princess audience shift from 90% male to a 70/30 male/female split.

Rocking the social media boat

New channels, new modes within existing channels, and shifting audience demographics mean that social media never stands still. 

To stay ahead of the curve, as Princess’ social consultants, we host six-monthly strategy sessions with their senior team. We look at new platforms, explain the new features within existing platforms, and show how Princess can best make use of them. 

And because social is less about the number of likes you get and more about fostering proper engagement with the right people, this is all done with Princess’ audience firmly in mind.

After each strategy session, we create a social media content plan, which Princess enact according to the design and tone of voice guidelines we’ve set in place for them.