Internet Marketing

            Theme Parks taking online surveys/suggestion is not a new concept; however, it is a valuable one. I do not know if you buy consumer goods from Macy’s or Coach. If you do, you may notice that you get a survey after every purchase you make from these stores. Coach actually sends you an email with the picture of the item(s) you bought and suggests other accessories that would “go well” with it. Other retailers, like JcPenny have redesigned their company to be more costumer-friendly to try and compete with stores like Macy’s and Dillard’s.

            Universal Studios, compared to other theme parks are extremely costumer friendly in that they send an email survey after every night your attend Halloween Horror Nights or attend a Mardi Gras concert to the ticket or annual pass holder to “see how they did?” in your opinion. This article I found discusses how survey, especially for theme parks, can give the owners a bird eye view of how people are experiencing their parks. Though this article is from 2004, and Internet marketing has changed since then, the same principles still apply:

            "Our guests offer an extremely important perspective that managers can use to inform their own thinking," said Mark Kupferman, Charlotte, NC-based vice president of research and interactive marketing at Paramount Parks. "It allows us to test assumptions before acting on them and it gives us the opportunity to be able to better understand the implications of the decisions that we make."

                  Universal Studios Orlando does not only do surveys by email, they also ask for costumer feedback in the park, especially at separately priced special events, and on their website. Their website actually has a plus sign graphic that spins and asks you for feedback while you are navigating through the site. 

            As someone who is interested in working for a theme park one day, I find it interesting that surveys or feedback is asked for at Walt Disney World owned theme parks, hotels, restaurants, entertainment, etc. I visit Disney owned property and I have never been asked to fill out an on-line survey. Asked about my stay in one of their hotels, absolutely; but not asked to fill out a survey or give feedback while in the parks. Why is that?

Related Links:

Theme Park Takes Online Suggestions to Heart - Direct Marketing News. (n.d.). Direct Marketing News. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://www.dmnews.com/theme-park-takes-online-suggestions-to-heart/article/85440/

Online Marketing and the Importance of User Experience | davewirsching.com. (n.d.). Marketing Coaching and Speaking at davewirsching.com. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://davewirsching.com/user-experience-matters-in-online-marketing/

Mardi Gras: Kelly Clarkson

Being a fan of the Mardi Gras concert series at Universal Studios Orlando, Kelly Clarkson’s performance last night left the audience something to be desired. Being present at her performance three years earlier, I was not as impressed by this year. Kelly Clarkson is one of Mardi Gras most well known artists playing in their concert series this spring.  From a marketing standpoint, it was important for her concert to be larger than life and draw in a large crowd. Though the park was crowded with females eager to see Kelly Clarkson play, I have seen other artists like Pitbull bring in a larger crowd.  I believe the first time I saw Clarkson live; she had something to prove to the audience. Back in the spring of 2009, Clarkson had stepped out of the limelight and the Mardi Gras concert was one of her first appearances in a while. Twenty pounds heavier, her performance was unexpected. I actually bought one of her albums the next day. This year I did not get the same feeling.

            Clarkson, who currently has two hit singles, sang her most popular songs from her five albums and four cover songs including Skyscraper by Demi Lovato. Personally, I feel that if Clarkson was going to sing covers she should have considered singing a Whitney Houston song since Houston’s funeral was earlier that day. There was no mention of Whitney Houston during the 1.5 hours Clarkson played. Perhaps the band made the conscious decision to not recognize the events that took place earlier that day out of reverence for Houston’s family; however, there was an expectation amongst the crowd for Clarkson to sing a Whitney Houston song. I thought Clarkson has the talent to be able to do justice to one of Houston’s song like Jennifer Hudson had last Sunday at the Grammy’s.  Jennifer Hudson being another artist, like Clarkson, who has done extremely well with her music career after leaving American Idol.

            Clarkson was much more personably compared to when I saw her concert at Mardi Gras in 2009.  Though she did not tell jokes or childhood stories like other artists I have seen, instead she spoke about her music, her family, and her band members. She encouraged audience participation in almost all of her previous hits. She even gave one of her fans credit for suggestions to songs that have been successful. One fan, she stated suggested turning Never Again into a piano variation and now she plays on a regular basis. She pushed for more suggestions for her music to encourage growth. Mardi Gras Orlando was a stop on her new Stronger US Tour.

Links:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/2011/12/universal-studios-kelly-clarkson-in-mardi-gras-2012-lineup.html 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/music/os-kelly-clarkson-orlando,0,7715407.story

A Little A&A

            I am a pass-holder to all of the theme parks in the Orlando area, except for LegoLand. Nothing personal, I just have not had the opportunity to make it out there to get the new lego experience. And as a student, I have always kept an eye on when is the best times to buy passes. What annual pass is the most reasonable to get to what park? Which park offers more special events like the Summer Concert Series or Shamu Rocks? Blackout dates, separate priced events, Florida resident discounts, etc.

            I have held the highest priced annual pass, Premier Pass, at Universal Studios Orlando until now. When I went to renew my annual pass this year to attend the Mardi Gras celebration at Universal Studios, I was shocked to find out it was $308 to renew my pass. To buy a Premier Pass without being an existing annual pass-holder is $349.99. Does that seem right? I thought there was a mistake on the renewal website so I called to find out. No mistake AND the discounted price of $308 included the “Florida resident discount.”

             I continued to research my options and discovered it was actually cheaper to buy the Preferred Pass as a new pass-holder than it was for me to renew my old pass that I have had for over 4 years. A Preferred Pass for annual pass-holders is $224.99. This annual pass includes no blackout dates, free parking, and discounts on merchandise and food. So I decided to downgrade to the Preferred Pass and give up “red carpet” premier benefits.

            When I downgraded I found out, that as a previous annual pass-holder, I could downgrade from a Premier to a Preferred for $170. SO here’s the math, it would cost me $138 dollars more to keep my benefits. Wouldn’t you downgrade?

            From a marketing standpoint, I think it is absurd for your “premier” annual pass-holders to have to renew for a price that is more expensive than the price of the lower preferred pass, which any person can buy without a previous relationship with Universal Studios Orlando.  Why would a premier annual pass-holder keep this pass? Is Universal trying to get rid of this premier pass? Or are they trying to make it so exclusive that no one wants to buy it? I would like to know.

What is coming to Orlando this spring?

January and February are usually slow months for the Orlando theme parks. According to Steve Kirn, even though many consumers splurged this past Holiday Season many are going to watch what they spend for the next couple of months. I assume many consumers have some catching up to do on their expenses.

Because of this, many theme parks start their Florida Resident passes right after their Holiday season in hopes of getting locals to visit the parks. These passes include Walt Disney World’s 3-day Wild Pass, Sea-world Orlando’s Fun Card, or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Fun Card. Disney has given Florida Residents an option this season with their 4 month pass: Residents can pay $99 for 3-days or pay $125 for 4-days into any Walt Disney World’s theme parks.

Many parks will not see an increase in attendance until the Spring Break season. Since our summer weather starts around this time, our spring break season starts in March and can go until Easter sometimes even until Memorial Day weekend. So for Florida Residents, now is a good time to go. However, many may want to wait to see the new attractions coming to the parks this spring.

Since tourism in the Central Florida area has become such a large part of our economy, many theme parks are upgrading or replacing rides and attractions in hopes of bring more people into their park this spring/summer season. These expansions include:

Universal Studies recently closed their Jaws attraction over the Holiday Season. A Universal employee told me that the ride would be replaced with a King-Kong themed water attraction. I find this puzzling because the King-Kong ride was replaced by the Mummy roller coaster over 5 years ago. Why would they bring it back?

Other updates include an all-new 3D attraction based on the Universal Studios film Despicable Me. You can find Minions running around Universal’s Main Street trying to start mayhem. Also, Island of Adventure’s The Amazing Adventure’s of Spiderman 3D is being updated for a new high-definition experience.

The 20^th Anniversary of Universal Studios Orlando Mardi Gras parade and concert series commenced with the B-52’s starting off the celebration. Other performers include: Kelly Clarkson, B.o.B., and KC & the Sunshine Band. The celebration continues through April. 

Walt Disney World is ready to release Phase 1 of their newly expanded Fantasyland section of Magic Kingdom in May of 2012. This will include new attractions like Storybook Circus, Goofini Coaster, and dueling-Dumbo attractions. Phase 2 will be released later in 2012 and will include an Under the Sea attraction with Ariel and friends and the Be Our Guest Restaurant.

Sea-world Orlando will be releasing their state-of –the-art 3D/360 dome theater showcasing Turtle Trek. Discovery Cove will also open a new interactive Freshwater Oasis where you can come face-to-face with otters.

Links:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/blog/tourism-central/os-orlando2012-developments-heres-whats-coming-in-2012-for-orlando-20120201,0,5276814.story

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-01-08/business/os-cfb-retail-0109-20120108_1_retail-vacancies-david-f-miller-center-dollar-stores