Th13teen Case Study

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TH13TEEN Case Study

The UKs most famousleisure parkSituated in Staordshire, Alton Towers Resort isthe most visited theme park in the UK. With tons

o terric rides, entertaining live shows, weird and

wonderul costume characters and an abundanceo un packed activities, Alton Towers Resort oerssomething or people o all ages! In addition to thetheme park, Alton Towers Resort is also the onlyshort break destination in the UK with two themedworld class hotels, an award winning conerencecentre, a spa, Europes largest Waterpark andextraordinary gol!

The birth of the modern theme parkThe earliest evidence o Alton Towers Resort acting as aleisure site or public enjoyment dates back to the 1830s!

People would come to marvel at the magnicent house andgardens. The site continued to develop and rom the 1880sthere were grand tes and reworks, in the 1950s and 1960sthere were airgrounds and in the 70s there were beauty pageants.

It wasnt until the early 1980s that the decision was made tocreate a modern theme park on the historic grounds o Alton

Towers Resort. The ambition to develop the UKs avourite

theme park resulted in the launch o the Corkscrew - Britainsrst double loop rollercoaster! During this period therewas rapid expansion and the introduction o crowd-pullingattractions, such as the Log Flume, which was the largest inthe world at that time!

By the mid 1980s the inevitable comparisons were being

made to Disney. Despite economic recession, Alton TowersResort was prospering and in the late 1980s became the mostpopular payed or tourist attraction in Britain.

Alton Towers Resort Background

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Ongoing growth and development

Investments since 1990:

Despite historic success, Alton Towers Resort has continued to invest millions into developing the resort andrides in order to remain competitive and to meet the needs and wants o its customers.

1992Runaway Mine Train & Haunted

House (now Duel Live)

1993

Land of Make Believe(now Cloud Cuckoo Land)

1994Nemesis and Toyland Tours (now

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

1996Alton Towers Resort Hotel

1998Oblivion

2002Air

2003Splash Landings Hotel and

Cariba Creek Water Park

2004Spinball Whizzer

2006Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

and Peugeot Driving School

2007Extraordinary Golf

2008Mutiny Bay

2009Sharkbait Reef by SEALIFE

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Target market

2010 Target Audiences:

Alton Towers Resort aims to oer something or all ages! To target its rides and marketing communicationseectively, it segments audiences into distinct groups.

16-24 age range.

Within this age group, there are sub groups: 16yearoldatschool

19yearoldatuniversity

24yearoldstartingwork.

This market is looking or un and escapism romtheir work or studies.

Primary target market -Thrill seekers:

25-54 age range, with children 10-15 years.

The core o this audience is nanciallycomortable, living in good sized homes in city

suburbs.

Family time is extremely important to them andthey organise days out and amily holidays.

Secondary target market -Families:

Between 2006 - 2009 investments into rides andmarketing was ocussed on the amily audiencewhich is evident in the rides that were launched

during this period. In 2010, the objective is toattract new thrill seekers without alienatingamilies and retaining the number o amilies thatvisit the park.

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Products and services

Oblivion

Nemesis

Congo River Rapids

Runaway Mine Train

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Peugeot Driving School

Alton Towers Resorts main products are the rides. They aim to provide rides and adventures or kids and adultso all ages and sizes. Below are some examples o rides that are oered.

The worlds rst vertical drop rollercoaster! This ride starts with a slowclimb to the top where it stops, holdingriders at a 45 degree angle, beoreplummeting vertically to the ground,reaching speeds o 69mph!

Meet your Nemesis! This intense ridetwists and turns over rivers o blood androck, reaching G-orces greater thana space shuttle launch. The ride is 45seconds o sheer, intense thrill.

This ride splashes through the rapidtorrents o the River Congo. Passingthrough wateralls and swirling waves,riders are lucky to escape dry!

Riders climb aboard the Runaway MineTrain which twists and turns along itstracks and through tunnels, gettingaster and aster!

This ride goes on a journey through theantabulous chocolate actory, meetingcharacters and watching shows along theway. The big nale is a 3D tour o theactory in a glass elevator which judders asit fies around and smashes through theroo o the actory.

At the driving school, kids learn todrive by racing around a quirkycircuit, observing signs, going throughbubble wash, and passing the meltinglollipop lady.

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TH13TEEN is the ultimate rollercoaster every theme park ride youhave ever dreamt about all in one! Ater two years in development and

15million invested in groundbreaking technology, Alton TowersResort launched TH13TEEN in March 2010.

Thrilling experience...TH13TEEN takes riders on a gruelling journey through

The Dark Forest, where they battle the overwhelming

orce o the woods through a series o twists, turns andrapid reversing, beore ree alling into the unknown.

TH13TEEN was built on an unearthed ancientburial site in an area o the unexplored Dark ForestWoodland. Riders that brave the orest will ace anunknown horror that has been unleashed rom the

ancient crypt.

Thrilling design...World amous coaster and thrill consultants

collaborated to design and developTH13TEEN which combines more

theme park technology than ever beore.TH13TEENs ground-breaking technology

gives it world rst status. By combiningultimate elements o physical and psychological

ear, TH13TEEN is labelled as a psychoaster!Its also the worlds rst ree all drop coaster!

Thrilling nameAlton Towers Resort continuously raises the

bar in terms o devising ground-breakingnames or its attractions. The name

TH13TEEN captures the essence o the rideexperience and is also the rst rollercoaster

in the world to be named ater a number.

New for 2010 - TH13TEEN

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Market researchAlton Towers Resort invests heavily in market research to keep in touch with its audiences needs and to inormthe ongoing development o any new rides.

To research the ultimate roller coaster, Alton Towers Resort rstly conducted research to nd out what its

customers want and expect rom thrill rides. It then used the ndings o this research as criteria to test a range oride concepts. The techniques that Alton Towers Resort used were:

8 groups on park: Onegroupofparentswithatleastonechild

between 8 and 12 Twogroupsof11and12yearsoldchildren(one

boy and one girl group) Twogroupsof8and9yearsoldchildren(oneboy

and one girl group) Onegroupof14/15yearolds,onegroupof21/22

yearoldsandonegroupof23/25yearolds-all

mixed sex

4 groups off park: Currentvisitors-visitedonceormoreinthelast12

months,16/17yearolds,female Lapsedvisitors-notvisitedfor3years,21/22years

olds, male Currentvisitors-visitedonceormoreinthelast12

months,21/22yearolds,female

Lapsedvisitors-notvisitedfor3years,16/17year

olds, male

8 depth interviews: 4interviews,14/15yearolds(2female,2male)

4interviews,18/19yearolds(2female,2male)

Qualitative:

Online interviews (250)16 to 24 year olds

Quantitative:

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MarketingThe excitement created by marketing a new ride is as important as the thrill o the ride itsel! Alton TowersResort invests in new rides to attract new crowds and it is the role o marketing to make people want to visit theresort to try the ride.

Launching TH13TEENAlton Towers Resort launched TH13TEEN across our phases. By dripping the marketing across phases, it helpedto create a sense o mystery, talkability and tease, beore the grand reveal and experience o the ride.

Promotional activity Information resources

Press releases were sent to national media announcing the hire o security to protectSecretWeapon6(codename).

Press release 1

Fake names were announced and images o the ride arriving were unveiled to stimulaterumours and discussion.

PowerPoint slides

Alex Reid launched Bootcamp which invited people to apply to compete or the WorldsUltimate Job to be the rst people to ride the ultimate ride.

PowerPoint slides

Websites(ickr,youtube,facebookanddiscussionforums)wereusedtopromotebootcamp and to stimulate rumours about SW6 online.

PowerPoint slides

TH13TEEN microsite was launched. The site linked to acebook and fickr. PowerPoint slides

Phases 1 and 2

Marketing phases:

Phase 1 Tease

Objective: Startexcitement

How: Start rumoursabout a ride

Phase 2 Hype

Objective: Buildexcitement

How: Unveil clues pieceby piece

Phase 3 Reveal

Objective: Launch theride

How: Climax tease andull reveal

Phase 4 Engagement

Objective: Continuedengagement and drive

visits

How:Ongoingpromotion

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Promotional activity Information resources

Blipverts launched or two weeks beore the ull TV advert. They were short, high intensityadverts aired in short commercial breaks.

PowerPoint slides

Video 1

Full 30 sec TV advert was aired to a mass audience during programmes such as BritainsGot Talent and Ant and Decs Push The Button.

PowerPoint slides

Video 2

Media and celebrity launch: pressreleasesweresenttonationalmediatorevealandlaunchtheride celebritieswereinvitedtotrytheride GMTVrstrideandrevealofthefreefalldrop

Bootcamprstride.

Press release 2

TH13TEEN merchandise was produced to drive sales and to build awareness through the productbranding.

PowerPoint slides

TH13TEEN was also given prominence in Alton Towers Resort marketing to amilies, orexample, on their radio advert.

Audio 1

Question Results

What was their awareness o TH13TEEN beore visitingthe theme park?

93.4%pre-arrivalawareness-TVadverts(35%),altontowers.com(31%),TVcoverage(30%),Wordofmouth(17%),facebook(10%)

Was TH13TEEN their key driver or visiting Alton Towers

Resort?.

41% said TH13TEEN was key driver, 25% said it was part o the

reason

How would they rate their experience? 89%wereeitherverysatisedorsatised.Only5.4%weredisappointed

How would they rate the ollowing:

Theme

Specialeffects

Coastersection

Freefalldrop

Overallride

8/10

8/10

8/10

9/10

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Phases 3 and 4

Evaluating the thrill factorOncethecampaignislaunched,itisvitalthatAltonTowersResortevaluatesthemarketingtoensurethe

objectives are achieved and that the ride lives up to the hype.

OneevaluationmethodisexitinterviewsusingaPDA(PersonalDigitalAssistant)whichaskcustomers

short questions as they leave the ride. The advantage o using a PDA is that the inormation can be processedimmediately, giving an instant snapshot o perormance. This enables Alton Towers Resort to quickly respond toeedback, always aiming to increase the scores.

Below shows the questions they are asked and the results ater the rst weekend that the ride was launched.

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Th13teen Case Study

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