Captain’s Log

Overview:
To generate excitement ahead of a luxury ship’s first arrival into London, I proposed turning the pre-cruise journey into part of the campaign, building anticipation by allowing customers to follow the ship’s progress as it approached the city.

The concept combined a live ship tracker, developed by the web team from my initial idea, supported by a narrative-led ‘Captain’s Log’ email series designed to drive engagement and encourage customers to follow along as the ship approached London.

Result:
The campaign received positive stakeholder feedback and continues to be referenced internally as an example of a successful creative approach. The visual style and content were also repurposed into a website article following the ship’s arrival.

Skills:
Concept development
Email design
Motion graphics
Art direction
Creative collaboration

Developing the Story
Working with the CRM team and copywriter, I helped shape the series around key stages of the ship’s journey, establishing the number and timing of emails. I proposed telling the story from the Captain’s perspective, creating a more personal, credible voice for the campaign, and briefed the copywriter on a softer, narrative-led tone that would build anticipation as the ship approached London.

Creating the Look & Feel
I developed a distinctive visual identity for the series, designed to stand apart from our regular promotional emails while remaining recognisably part of the wider brand. Inspired by traditional captain’s logs and maritime journals, I created a more editorial look and feel with a contemporary approach that reflected the significance of the occasion.

Following the Journey
The final series consisted of three emails, timed around key stages of the pre-cruise journey. I developed the design for each email before building them directly within the CRM platform, giving me greater control over how the creative translated into the final communications. I also created animated map headers plotting the ship’s progress, using motion to reinforce the sense of following the journey as it unfolded. Each instalment linked back to the live tracker, connecting the storytelling in the emails with the ship’s real-time progress.

Following the ship’s arrival, I helped repurpose the content and visual style into a website blog, extending the life of the campaign beyond the original journey.

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