Interview: Celebrity CEO on Avoiding the Sameness of Cruise Advertising

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo has been waiting for years to put a new spin on Celebrity Cruises, the upscale 10-ship line. After three decades in the cruise industry and an earlier tenure at the brand as senior vice president of hotel operations, Lutoff-Perlo became Celebrity's president and CEO a little more than a year ago. "I finally had the opportunity to do what I always thought that Celebrity needed, which was a strong creative campaign and strategy that truly elevated Celebrity and put it in the category and in a way that people understood the brand and what we deliver," she said. "I’ve felt like that was an opportunity since we transformed the brand with the introduction of the Solstice class, and that was in 2008." The line, part of Royal Caribbean Cruises, had just announced the order of two 2,900-passenger ships for delivery in 2018 and 2020 when Lutoff-Perlo was promoted. She knew she wanted to position the brand long before those ships started taking shape. Celebrity ch