Email Design / Email Development / Flow Strategy
Marea
An onboarding experience as considered as the charter itself.
+28%
Repeat reservations
within 90 days of launch
2.6×
ROI
on the onboarding sequence in Q1
+14%
Party size
lift from upsell emails
The challenge
Marea Yachting charters luxury yachts across the Mediterranean and Caribbean. A client might be spending tens of thousands on a single voyage. But when they joined as a member, the first email they received didn't reflect any of that. No personalisation. No sense of occasion. No reflection of the white-glove experience they were signing up for. The product was exceptional. The inbox experience was not.
The solution
We built a member onboarding and fleet engagement sequence. The welcome email leads with the brand's positioning and aerial yacht photography, invites new members to complete their profile, and closes with a warm note from the team. The follow-up email is personalised by name and member number, and introduces a curated New to Fleet section with full vessel specs: guests, length, cabins, crew count, and operating area. Everything, from the typography to the spacing, is calibrated to the price point.
The approach
01
Discovery
Interviewing the charter team
Sat with the team that talks to members daily. What questions do new members ask? What makes them book again? What goes silent between charters? The answers shaped every email.
02
Architecture
Onboarding plus ongoing engagement
Designed two systems: a member onboarding flow (welcome + profile) and an ongoing fleet engagement sequence (new vessels as content). Combined, they keep the brand present between bookings.
03
Creative direction
Calibrated to the price point
Every spacing, weight, and margin decision made against the price of a charter. The emails had to feel as considered as the product. Aerial photography, magazine typography, disciplined restraint.
04
Build
Photography-first HTML
Built with attention to how aerial yacht photography renders in Outlook, which compresses and distorts imagery by default. Image handling accounted for, not hoped for.
05
Verification
Imagery render testing
Tested across leading email clients with specific attention to large imagery in Outlook 2007-2024 and on mobile devices. Every vessel photograph verified on-device.
Design principles
Calibrated to the price point
A charter costs tens of thousands. The email has to feel as considered as the product, or the whole relationship gets cheapened.
Aerial photography over lifestyle
Shows the asset as it is. Avoids the stock-photo lifestyle trap that makes luxury brands look like everyone else.
Fleet as ongoing content
New vessels entering the fleet are inherently newsworthy. Treat them that way instead of as cold commercial upsells.
Design decisions
Welcome personalised with member number
Signals ownership, not subscription. The member is part of something, not on a list.
Full vessel specs in the fleet section
Treats members like qualified buyers who care about length, cabins, guests, and operating area. Not browsers being marketed to.
Warm sign-off from the team
Preserves the white-glove feel at email scale. A real human name, a real signature, a real close.
The result
Members now receive a first email that matches what they paid for. The fleet newsletter keeps Marea visible between charters, surfaces new inventory as it comes in, and gives high-value clients a reason to come back without the brand having to chase them.