Cayamo - A case study of a music themed cruise

Purpose - This paper aims to provide a look at an unusual emerging market though its main aim is to provide a rich and colourful exercise for teaching marketing. Rich in that the teacher has a variety of options, colourful in that the student will be engaged by the language and content. Design/methodology/approach - The case study focuses on an unusual and relatively new leisure product that combines two growing areas: cruise tourism and music festivals. The case is written in a narrative style to allow student interpretation of the material and application to a range of marketing concepts. The information within the case is derived from a number of published sources including market data, internet chatrooms, blogs and an interview with a customer. Findings - The case builds to provide a picture of an innovative niche product in an emerging growth market. In the introduction, it demonstrates that popular music is no longer limited to low-income youth. The sections that follow the introduction set the scene for a (variable) market definition. Next, the experiences revealed in the Sixthman Blog show their lack of understanding of this "new product". Whilst, the personal experience that follows highlights typical customer demographics and needs. The research from Mintel pulls much of this together before leaving some thoughts for the future in the final section. Originality/value - The case can be used for teaching in a number of ways, for example, relating to market development, segmentation, targeting and marketing communications. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.