Success Story AIDA

AIDA is revolutionising customer communication with a 360° customer view. Find out how you too can efficiently implement customised campaigns with DYMATRIX Marketing Automation.


The Customer

AIDA Cruises is a brand of the British-American cruise company Carnival Corporation & plc for the German-speaking market and is owned by the southern European subsidiary Costa Crociere S.p.A. The entire AIDA fleet comprises 13 ships (including AIDAaura, AIDAprima, AIDAsol) and offers its guests cruises to North America, Northern and Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Caribbean, the Baltic, the Orient and India with a total capacity of 30,460 beds. As the market leader for cruises in Germany, AIDA Cruises employs 14,000 people from 50 countries, 12,500 of whom work on board and 1,500 on land.

Customer logo - AIDA

The Starting Position

With the aim of providing its customers with personalised communication tailored to their wishes, interests and needs before, during and after the trip, AIDA Cruises faced the challenge of seeing the customer holistically.

Too many independent data systems and only a 270° customer view meant that the communication flows with the customer could not be standardised across all channels. For example, although the existing email marketing tool Inxmail was used to send newsletters, no response data, such as click and open rates, was historicised and used for subsequent communication. AIDA lacked standardised, automated regular communication and event-triggered processes in order to fully exploit the entire potential of the online and offline channels in a consolidated manner.

Graphic for section - initial situation

The Project Performance

To enable a holistic 360° customer view, the first step was to set up a centralised multi-channel customer database on an infrastructure provided by AIDA. The operational CRM, data warehouse, email and newsletter data served as data sources for this. Using the tried-and-tested DYMATRIX ID matching, the data source was consolidated and a comprehensive 360° marketing customer view was generated.

The implementation of DYMATRIX Marketing Automation based on the multi-channel customer database now enables personalised customer communication via touchpoints such as the lettershop, call centre and email. The latter has now also been connected to the CRM data mart in such a way that data from the click behaviour of newsletter recipients can be fed back into the 360° customer view in a closed-loop approach and used for future communication.

Graphic for section - Project performance

The Benefits

Thanks to the standardised database and the 360° customer view, the key figures of customers and prospects can be derived and used efficiently in the marketing strategy. The closed-loop approach now enables customised and personalised multi-channel communication along the entire customer journey. Event-triggered campaigns, for example when a payment is received or a new AIDA club level is reached, can be started fully automatically and integrated into the customer dialogue in a personalised way. In addition, customer behaviour at the various touchpoints, such as in the travel agency or online, can now also be used for cross-selling and up-selling campaigns.

New data sources and touchpoints can be easily and flexibly integrated into the existing marketing automation solution in future and individual communication on board, e.g. via cabin TV, the AIDA app or the printed personalised daily programme, are the next steps.

Graphic for section - Benefits

Project Realisation & Key Facts

Graphic for section - Project implementation
Project Realisation
  • Merging and consolidation of different data silos
  • Development of a central CRM data mart with a 360° customer view
  • Introduction of the marketing automation system DYMATRIX Marketing Automation
  • Connection of the e-mail, call centre & lettershop touchpoints
  • Going-live support and joint set-up of the first campaigns
Graphic for section - Key facts
Key Facts
  • Development of a central data model
  • Connection of the data sources e-mail, CRM and DWH
  • Derivation of marketing-specific best practice key figures for target group selection
  • Creation of centralised contact history and provision in CRM
  • Implementation of DYMATRIX Marketing Automation for optimal cross-channel personalisation along the customer journey
  • Connection to Inxmail Professional
Success Story Header - AIDA

We want our customers to have a unique holiday experience and have positive memories of their time away with AIDA. This also includes communication before, during and after the trip.

Olaf Oberländer

Senior Manager MyAIDA