1. Business of Leisure Marketing and Promotion
Presented By The Trade and Corporate Sales Team

2. TASK
The slides below show Alton Towers marketing strategy. Your task is to identify how the quantitative and qualitative information is captured and used. You may do this task as a presentation or report.
What different methods are used to collect each type of information?
Why do they need to collect the information?
What is the information used for?
Identify ways they can improve the collection and use of the information.

3. Market Research This is known as “Intention to Visit”
Market Research is a process that helps us to
identify who our customers are and what their needs are.
This allows us to understand ways to target these audience types and allows us to identify ways in which we can provide new or improved products and services
It also allows us to identify patterns in the ‘type’ of guests that visit Alton Towers Resort and whether they are likely to visit again in the future
This is known as “Intention to Visit”

4. Marketing What is Marketing?
“The development of goods and services that meet customers’ ever changing needs.”
For discussion today:
Marketing Research
Target Marketing
The Marketing Mix

5. Marketing and Promotion
Ensuring a sufficient number of guests visit
and ideally stay over
Developing and communicating the product in line with our brand vision.
Ensuring that guests are aware of our total resort offering;
At the right time
Using the appropriate medium
Key messages

6. Alton Towers Resort

7. Market Research Types of Research
Database
PDA
CSQ
Touch Screens
We target every car in the car park with a feedback questionnaire.
This amounts to approximately 1 in 4 guests, or around 500k guests per year – the response rate is around 10%

8. Market Research Results from our 2010 research revealed:
28% of guests staying away from home overnight stayed at one of the two Alton Towers Resort Hotels
96% of guests were already aware of the Alton Towers Resort Hotels before their arrival at the Park
93% of guests would recommend Alton Towers Resort to friend

9. Target Marketing
Target Marketing is the development and promotion of products & services that appeal to a specific market segment.
We target people on both their demographic and their attitudes
Age
Gender
Social group
Ethnic origin
Lifestyle
Propensity to visit a theme park

10. Marketing Mix The simple Marketing mix is made up of the 4 P’s Product
Price
Promotion
Place

11. Marketing Mix The marketing mix at Alton Towers Resort: Product:
Britain’s number one short break destination
Price:
Competitively priced for the available product, offering
value for money options to suit all audience types
Promotion:
Communications mix including TV, radio, digital and
press to maximise awareness and entice people to visit
Place:
A unique, accessible environment

12. Marketing Mix: Product
The product covers both goods and services that we offer
Goods
– something that you can use or consume e.g. food and drink, photography, merchandise
Services
– something that someone does for you e.g. the ride experience
A brand name sets goods/services apart from other products
Alton Towers Resort
Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE
Oblivion
TH13TEEN

13. Alton Towers Resort Goods and Services

14. Marketing Mix: Price
Alton Towers Resort ensures that it is competitively priced and offers many value for money options to appeal across its target markets
On occasion, we are able to drive guests to visit the resort at quieter times of the year through price incentives and special offers.
Ticket types include:
Adult
Child
Under 4’s
Senior Citizens
Disabled
Family 4; Family 5
Groups of 10+
Annual Pass

15. Marketing: Place
Alton Towers Resort works with specialist agencies in order to develop a suitable campaign strategy
Promotional techniques are ways that an organisation communicates its product and services to drive awareness and promote trial
ADVERTISING METHODS
TV, Radio, Press, Cinema, Outdoor
Digital – E-shot & on-line
Direct marketing – Door drop, Schools, Parent & Toddlers & groups
Public relations (PR)

16. The Marketing Mix: Promotion TH13TEEN promotional campaign
Digital media
We identified five main social media channels for use in the campaign:
Flickr –
Alton Towers forums –
Twitter –
Facebook –
YouTube –
TV & Radio
New TV Campaign with 2 different messages
Blip verts
Long running TV advert
Radio slots on targeted stations for our market

17. TV Campaign Target 1: Thrill Seekers Target 2: Up for it families
Very different lifestyle to families
Reach them Mon-Thu while they are planning weekend activities
High viewers of satellite TV on channels such as E4
Drip adverts on their favourite channels and shows
Target 2:
Up for it families
Women
With children
Watch a broad variety of shows
Reach them in core shows which they watch together, such as Ant and Dec and soaps

18. The Marketing Mix: Promotion
Sponsorship
Although Alton Towers does not use sponsorship as a promotional tool, other companies approach us to sponsor our rides. Sponsorship can be used to:
Create a corporate identity
Improve a corporate image
Launch a new product
Enhance effectiveness of A&P
Create merchandising
opportunities

19. The Marketing Mix: Promotion
Sales Promotions
Promotion techniques can be defined as:
Immediate: where the reward is given to the customer at the time of purchase e.g. discount coupon
Delayed: where the reward requires further action on the consumer’s behalf e.g. collect vouchers
Alton Towers Resort uses two forms of promotion
Solus: builds brand awareness/association
Multi-brand: heavyweight overage to
drive volume through greater offering

20. The Marketing Mix: Promotion
AIDA helps ensure that promotional
material grabs the attention of the customer
A Attention (gets the attention of the customer)
I Interest (keeps the interest of the customer)
D Desire (creates a desire to want to do something)
A Action (drives the customer to action)

21. The Marketing Mix: Place
A unique, fantastical resort offering for people of all ages
Guests can reach Alton Towers Resort by a range of methods
Car
Coach
Bus
Train
Ferry

22. Conclusion Market Research can be conducted in a variety of ways
to identify who our guests are and what they want
when they are here.
Target Markets can be split by demographics and attitudes. This helps us to offer relevant goods and services to the appropriate audience through the correct communications mix.
The marketing mix comprises of Product, Price, Promotion and Place. By adapting our marketing mix, guests are more likely to visit and more likely to return in the future.
Promotion is the communication of a product or service to a customer. A range of promotional techniques are available and a mixture of these elements will make sales of product greater.