Like this:

Everyone knows that reporting and cruise ships go together like peanut butter and jelly, but the two have never been combined for that delicous combination until now!  Royal Caribbean recently announced that it has partnered with USA Today in creating a contest that will give citizen journalists a chance to win a trip on the inaugural launch (Nov. 19) of “Oasis of the Seas”, the cruise line’s largest ship to date.

Participants of the “Reporter at Sea” campaign can post a video on reporteratsea.usatoday.com that shows off their reporting prowess (though the entry period has since passed- sorry).   On Oct. 20, people can check out the 10 finalists and vote for their favorite, with the winner announced on Nov. 1, 2009.  The winner will receive an all-expense-paid trip for two on Royal Caribbean’s “Oasis of the Seas”.

But don’t think that the winner will be spending his or her time working on that November tan-  Royal Caribbean plans on putting those reporting skills to work!  The winner will go from petty “citizen journalist” to “Special Field Correspondent”.  Impressive!  The “correspondent” will contribute news to USA Today‘s “Cruise Log” and will have access to the ship’s files while interacting with USA Today cruise editor, Gene Sloan.  Director of brand communications for Royal Caribbean, Tracy Quan, said that the focus of the “Reporter at Sea” campaign is to create “buzz and excitement” with minimal advertising.

This actually seems like an intelligent and refreshing take on the old “give away” concept.  With citizen journalism quickly gaining popularity for a multitude of reasons, it is possible that more companies could follow Royal Caribbean’s lead for an advertiser-free and “buzz” generating campiagn.  It is also a bit ironic that Royal Caribbean’s solution to advertising is journalism, and that journalism continues to lack any solution for advertising.

Maybe they should try cruise ships?

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