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Rewards programs are getting revamps all over the place. Earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase announced major changes to its Chase Sapphire Reserve rewards credit card. That announcement came shortly after competitor American Express teased an upcoming overhaul to its premium Platinum rewards card. And now, one of Americas most popular cruise lines, Carnival, has announced it will radically shake up its rewards program come 2026. Heres what you need to know about Carnival Cruise Lines upcoming overhauled rewards program. Bye-bye, Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) Carnival Cruise Lines current rewards and loyalty program is called the Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) program. The program has been in existence since 2012 and is beloved by many Carnival Cruise enthusiasts. One of the reasons frequent Carnival customers love the VIFP program is its simplicity. You earn points based on how many days you cruisethats it. Theres no complicated earning structure or confusing rules. The total number of these points based on the total number of days cruised slots you into one of five groups: blue, red, gold, platinum, or diamond. The higher the group (diamond is tops), the more perks you get, including everything from free bottles of water to priority reservations at Specialty restaurants. However, Carnival has now announced that the VIFP program is being discontinued. Its last day of operation will be May 31, 2026. Hello, Carnival Rewards Carnivals VIFP program is being replaced with a new rewards and loyalty program called Carnival Rewards. The program will officially launch on June 1, 2026, and it represents a radical departure from the current VIFP program. One of the biggest changes to the new Carnival Rewards program is that points are no longer earned based on how many days you cruise with the line. Instead, points will be earned based on what you spend with Carnival Cruise Line. This spend includes the cost of tickets, drinks you buy on board, and even what you spend in the ships casino. Points can also be earned through the use of a new Carnival Rewards Mastercard, which will be debuting. However, you wont just be collecting points to move up the group rankings anymore. The new Carnival Rewards program will use a dual-earning structure. The dollars you spend will earn you both stars and Carnival Rewards points. The stars will dictate which group you are slotted intothere are only four this time: red, gold, platinum, or diamond (blue is going away). The more prominent the group, the better perks you get, such as embarkation and debarkation priority, if you are a member of the diamond group. The Carnival Rewards points you earn can be redeemed for anything from cruise fares, transfers, onboard purchases, and more. Why is Carnival revamping its rewards program? The business answer to this question is that Carnival Cruise Line likely believes that the revamped rewards program will lead to a better bottom line. As points and group tiers are now dependent on what you spend, customers who are keen to collect Canrival Rewards points may be more willing to spend more onboard to keep earning those points. But Carnival would likely argue that the revamped program is now a little fairer than its current VIFP program. Under the VIFP, Carnival customers would receive the same amount of rewards regardless of whether they paid for the lowest or highest class of cabin on the ship. Thats because the rewards were simply linked to the number of days cruised. The new program will mean that customers who book higher-priced cabins will now earn a higher number of reward points. But there is some bad news for customers under the new Carnival Rewards program, no matter how much they spend: the new status tiers they earnred, gold, platinum, and diamonddont last forever. Under the VIFP program, when a customer earned a status, they could only move up, not down. That means someone who earned diamond status would keep it for life. But the new status program will see customers lose their status after two years. And the points earned to achieve a status must be earned within a two-year period; otherwise, they do not count towards a status upgrade. In a FAQ about the new rewards program, Carnival says that this move is consistent with loyalty programs across the travel industry. The company says it recognizes that change can be difficult, but the current program based on cruise frequency makes it difficult to properly recognize our loyal guests. Carnival stock price still well below pre-pandemic levels The owner of Carnival Cruise Lines, Carnival Corporation & plc, filed its most recent earnings report on March 21 for the first quarter of 2025. The company announced that its Q1 revenues increased by over $400 million from the same quarter a year earlier, reaching $5.8 billion. At the time, Carnival Corporation & plcs CEO, Josh Weinstein, boasted that the quarter was truly characterized by outperformance. That growth is something investors are undoubtedly happy to see, especially after Carnival, like all other cruise lines, took a major hit in 2020 following the outbreak of the pandemic. In January 2020, Carnival Corporation & plcs stock (NYSE: CCL) was trading at above $50 per share. But by April, it had fallen to below $8 per share. As recently as October of 2022, CCL stock was trading below $7 per share. However, the stocks fortunes have improved as the cruise industry has slowly recovered from the pandemic’s impact, receding from peoples memories. As of yesterdays close, CCL stock is trading at above $23 per share. However, that is still down more than 5% since the beginning of the year. We wont know whether Carnivals new rewards program will have a material impact on the companys business, and thus its stock price, until it launches next year.
Category:
E-Commerce
PepsiCo is the latest big-name marketer to rev up alongside Formula 1, joining a growing roster of brands eager to tap into the surging popularity of the global motorsport. The snack and beverage giant recently signed a multiyear partnership with F1 that includes TV-visible trackside ads, on-site activations at 21 races, and co-branded promotions for three of its marquee brands: Gatorade, Doritos, and Sting Energy. With this move, PepsiCo joins the ranks of luxury powerhouse LVMH, Qatar Airways, and tech heavyweights like Oracle, HP, and Amazon Web Serviceseach of which has struck sponsorship deals with either individual racing teams or the league itself. Young, rich, global While PepsiCo has long been a fixture in sports marketingteaming up with leagues like the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and the 2026 and 2027 FIFA World Cupscompany execs say Formula 1 brings something different to the table. The sports fan base skews younger, is more affluent, and appeals equally to men and women. And with 24 Grand Prix races spanning 21 countries, F1 offers marketers a unique chance to connect with both global and hyperlocal audiences on the same circuit. It’s a pretty unique global property right now with great momentum, Adam Warner, PepsiCos vice president of global sports and entertainment partnerships, tells Fast Company. We see a great fit with many of the iconic brands in our portfolio. It is also growing massively. Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, F1 commands a TV audience of 1.6 billion, 97 million social media followers, and in-person attendance that grew 9% to 6.5 million in 2024 versus the prior year, according to the leagues parent company Liberty Media. F1 generates the highest sponsorship deal spending across all major leagues, at $6 million on average, according to data analytics firm SponsorUnited. Liberty Media, the mass media owner of Sirius XM and Live Nation Entertainment, gets much of the credit for boosting the sports popularity after it acquired F1 in a $4.4 billion deal in 2016. Since then, F1 has launched a fantasy league to increase online engagement, launched a female-only racing series in 2023, and most importantly to the U.S. market, added races in Miami and Las Vegas. The U.S. markets F1 fan base grew by nearly 11% last year to total 52 million, according to analytics company Nielsen Sports. Marketers expect interest will increase after General Motors and Cadillac add an American team to the league for the 2026 season. Theres not many sports in the world that travel around in the way that they do, to the amount of locations that they do, and actually bring fans in from two different directions, says Clare Lawson, global president of Ogilvy One, the ad giants customer engagement and experience division. Lawson explains that this core base is now made up of petro heads that love the data and technology behind the cars and the fans that are more into the glitz and glamor of the party scene thats developed around each race. F1 is also benefiting from a more expansive position in pop culture. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and other drivers have become huge stars and tabloids are closely following their personal lives, as well as the women they date and marry. Netflixs popular TV documentary series based on the league, Drive to Survive, is widely credited for expanding the audience, particularly in the U.S. Later this month, Apple Original Films will release a sports drama film based on the league called F1. Big brands, big money What weve seen with Formula 1 is its become more part of almost the cultural fabric of people following the drivers themselves, says Alison Payne, chief marketing officer of Heinekens U.S. business. [Image: Heineken] The Dutch brewer has been an advertiser with the league since 2016 and this month debuted a new ad spot featuring the F1 film stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris to promote the nonalcoholic beer brand Heineken 0.0. Alcohol and driving never mixes, says Payne. It is a perfect platform to raise the awareness that you can still have fun and be part of the social scene, just without alcohol. Brands say F1 is an exciting vehicle to build creative local campaigns that can match the unique vibe for each Grand Prix race. For Patrón, that resulted in sponsoring a live concert at members-only Soho House in Austin, tapping into the DJ and nightclub culture in Las Vegas, and toasting the glamorous party scene in Miami with the spicy margarita, as that race tends to run close to Cinco de Mayo. [Photo: Patrón] The tequila producer found a natural affinity in the motorsports league in 2021 when it kicked off a partnership with the only F1 driver from Mexico, Sergio Pérez. But that initial deal only involved his own name and likeness and Patrón had to ink a subsequent partnership with Pérezs former team, Oracle Red Bull Racing, to show him in his F1 uniform. Those are the things you have to figure out as a brand, says D-J Hageman, VP of marketing at Patrón. What are the right IP [intellectual property] rights that I need and want to have to use in my marketing materials and assets. Adidas accelerated their partnership with F1 by signing a multiyear partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team in January, a collaboration that allows the German sportswear brand to create apparel and footwear to outfit both the pro team and fans. To coincide with the Miami race, Adidas debuted a Floridian inspired collection in burgundy and coral that featured a graphic of a mangrove tree leaf. [Photo: Adidas] We have to spice it up with local insights to make it more relevant for local consumers, says Michael Batz, general manager of Adidas Motorsport. Capital Ones digital concierge service Velocity Black has been a F1 partner since 2023, working closely with F1s Aston Martin Aramco team. CEO Sylvain Langrand says particularly strong demand for races in popular destinations, including Monaco and Singapore, can make it hard for travelers to book high-end hotels and tables at popular restaurants and bars. [Photo: Velocity Black] Langrand says his service offers their clientele a full end-to-end F1 experience that includes transportation, hotel reservations, hospitality experiences, and even an opportunity to meet the Aston Martin team in person. Velocity Black offers F1 packages across the globe, but says that the U.S. events sell out first. Even when you think about the entire F1 racing calendar throughout the year, these three events in the U.S. are very, very special, says Langrand.
Category:
E-Commerce
Scroll through a TikTok feed, and you’ll eventually come across someoneusually incredibly photogenic, with perfect teeth and flawless skinextolling the virtues of some product or another, or a restaurant, or a destination. And then another. And another. Influencer marketing is an unintended consequence of the social media revolution. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok allowed ordinary people to build followingsand, in a way, become celebrities. Brands and businesses soon latched onto these influencers, leveraging the trust they had with their audiences to advertise products. Mia Maples and Linus Sebastian are the Serena Williams and George Foreman of the digital age: celebrities who can raise a companys profile with a single post, lending credibility to products with a young, energetic audience. Crucially, they allow marketers to reach consumers increasingly cynical toward traditional advertising, and even taking steps to shield themselves from it, whether by paying for ad-free subscriptions on YouTube and Spotify or using ad-blocking browser extensions. That is, at least, the argument on paper. In practice, things are murkier. Reasonable questions remain about whether influencer marketing is as effective as once thought, or whether it still works at all. What Even Is an Advertisement? To understand the challenges facing influencer marketing, we first need to define what constitutes an advert. An advert is, in essence, any materialwritten, spoken, or audiovisualthat attempts to sell a product or service to a third party. For brands, influencer marketing offers a way to connect with an elusive demographic. Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha don’t read newspapersand neither do many millennialsor consume much broadcast television or radio. Theyre tech-savvy, know how to block ads, and often pay to remove them from their services. These consumers, skeptical of legacy media, likely feel differently about their favorite creators. When those creators tout a product, it can convey a level of credibility. These influencer-brand tie-ins may not feel like ads, but they are, and thats the intent behind them. That is, at least, the theory. In practice, things work a little differently. Waning Influence Let me be clear: Influencer marketing still holds power, and value for brands. But its influence is often overstated, and were now seeing diminishing returns. First, theres influencer fatigue. Brand deals are so common that almost everyone knows when their favorite creator posts a new video, a good portion will promote a VPN provider, budget headphones, or some other product. These in-content ads are so ubiquitous (and often grating) that browser plug-ins now skip past them. SponsorBlock, for example, is the largest, with over two million Chrome users. Just as people might leave the room during TV commercials, theyre now doing the same for online content. Similarly, on apps like TikTok and Instagram, the #ad hashtag (the telltale sign of an influencer deal) often prompts users to immediately scroll. This almost reflexive, negative response is called influencer fatigue, fueled by the overwhelming wave of promotional content on social mediaand a growing annoyance with influencers themselves. Thats the thing: Influencers were once seen as a way to deliver advertising without it feeling like advertising. But over timethanks to saturationthats no longer true. A Matter of Trust Theres also a growing trust gap between consumers and brands that lean heavily on influencers. Take PayPal-owned Honey, once promoted by some of YouTubes biggest creators. It was pitched as a free browser plug-in that scoured the web for discount codes. In reality, Honeylater described as a scamsiphoned affiliate revenue from those it was otherwise owed toincluding, ironically, the very creators who promoted it. It also manipulated which codes were shown, hiding the most valuable ones. Honey isnt alone. Other companies, like BetterHelp, also leaned on influencers, only to later land in controversy. These scandals chip away at the credibility of influencer marketing. They make consumers wary of creators promoting new productsespecially when those creators, often small one-person teams, lack the resources to vet what theyre endorsing. The result: a decline in trust for both influencers and brands. Evidence suggests this decline is real. A 2023 study from EnTribe found that just 12% of people are likely to buy products promoted by influencersand 42% of those who did regretted it. Then theres the issue of attribution. If a million people watch a video, how many truly saw the promotionand didnt skip it, either manually or via a plug-in? How do you measure impact, beyond simple conversions tied to affiliate codeswhich fail to capture brand awareness or perception? Is Influencer Marketing Still the Future? Thats the $33 billion question, isnt it? I still believe the influencer economy holds value. Without it, wed still face the same challenge: reaching an audience increasingly elusive to traditional advertising. But as an industry, we need to recalibrate expectations and find more creative ways to reach younger consumers. Though younger audiences live much of their lives online, they dont exist entirely behind screens. They leave the houseand outdoor advertising should be part of the strategy. Podcasts. Streaming video. In-game advertising. And yes, even legacy mediawhen supported by the dataall have a role to play. There’s room for influencer marketing, too. But it alone isn’t enough. And likely never was.
Category:
E-Commerce
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