[The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation

[oliviamaeae]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Let's not forget that the fan art isn't necessarily going to be seen far beyond the enthusiast community, so it might not work as an aid to the hype. All it does really is keep the very dedicated fans entertained. I don't think they see it as a marketing boost

 

[7thHeaven]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Do any of you think AT marketing is too bothered about fan made versions of their emailed photo?

I wonder if they are thinking result, extra hype with no work?

To be honest i think most of the stuff geeks get up-to just baffles them, sometimes it amuses them and every now and then probably really annoys them.

It depends on the spirit it is done and stuff like that graphic is harmless.

I imagine some of the fake images baffle them, they seemed pretty happy by that video that was made. But I imagine things like the fake Dr Kelman twitter page would fall into the annoy category, as what was initially intriguing, has "in my opinion" gone on too long, and in the end, is just going to end up confusing the eventual story AT release for the ride, for the people following the fake account. I initially admired the dedication....... but now its just a bit sad.

 

[GAGrathea]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I think there's a fine line - people making a decent quality image and not really claiming to be Towers themselves is probably not that bad as it's just free advertising; badly done ones are detrimental to the park's image, and stupidly massive social networking projects like the fake Les Coogan account for the Swarm which ended up dividing people into 5 teams or whatever... that's way too far

 

[JAMMY_Jaunts]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Alton Towers' twitter have just changed their avatar to the new Swirly Spiral logo seen on the promo image. I can see marketing will start to pick up soon.

 

[Ben]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I suppose its difficult for the park, they have a very devoted following eager and excited to see what marketing is happening. Where as the park have a finite plan and budget and dont want to be doing updates 24/7 as it would saturate the market and remove any impact from what they are trying to do.

I think its just a case of being patient and waiting for official channels, as we have done already.

 

[Tim]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Has anyone else noticed the fans have been pretty much exclusively advertising this ride? Besides the It's Coming picture and all those smiling faces almost every update has been from a fan site or anonymous source.

And I'm totally fine with that. Besides announcing the name we don't really need any official marketing yet. Construction photos are good but as some of our members and TT's flyovers have those covered why should the park use their marketing budget on such things?

 

[Dave]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I think we need to remember we are basing our marketing expectations on an old marketing regime. Morwenna left in 2010, 2011 didn't have a marketing director and the new guy was appointed quite late in 2011.

I think SW7 will really show what the new marketing director see's as a successful campaign but all bets are off as to how this will pan-out as we just don't know what their style is. Certainly they don't seek the limelight as much as the Morwenna did. Geeks get your scorecards out i suppose.

 

[KingNemesis]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Geeks get your scorecards out i suppose.

We will have to see what comes of marketing in weeks / months to come and what will be of marketing on park in feb?

 

[CupCakeMonster]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Actually.. so far I'd give a

 

[GaryH]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I think Alton are being careful this time not to repeat the mistakes from Thirteen. They p'eed a lot of people off with Thirteen and all the hype - if anything I would expect marketing to be following all the fanboy (and girl) forums with great interest at the moment to see what people are making of the developments so far and dare I say, even still thinking about the final name of the ride.

Marketing on TV wont begin until Towers have a more definite date when the ride will open. If it is delayed as many believe, we may not see any advertising for some more weeks yet.

 

[Danny]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

But with Thirteen, they practically marketed a family coaster as a white knuckle thrill. They have the chance to scream and shout about it here and this time, they'd be a lot more truthful about it.

 

[Dave]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

But with Thirteen, they practically marketed a family coaster as a white knuckle thrill. They have the chance to scream and shout about it here and this time, they'd be a lot more truthful about it.

The trouble is screaming and shouting tells people you should feel a certain way about a ride, whereas a certain mystique and clever marketing can promote a ride well, yet allow guests to give it their own spin so they are not rating the ride based on a pre-set scheme.

Hopefully as you say Danny this marketing will be more truthful

 

[GaryH]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Also with any screaming and shouting they would need to put the opening date on the adverts - which by the looks of it, they are unsure about at the moment......

 

[Tim]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Why would Alton not want to repeat the mistakes of Thirteen when its marketing was a massive success? Like it or hate it the point of marketing is to get people talking and ultimately ensure more guests visit the park. With Thirteen they achieved this.

The publicity stunts (as annoying as they could be) did keep people interested to the point that sometimes I heard the latest news from my non-enthusiasts friends first. In stark contrast I mentioned to the same friends that SW7 might be called "The Smiler" and they didn't even realise Alton are building a new coaster.

As for the attendance figures they speak for themselves. 2010 was the most successfully year since the days of Nemesis. Sure the marketing alone probably wasn’t the only reason for this but it certainly helped.

The only real flaw in Thirteen's marketing was that they completely miss-sold the ride meaning that the attendance dropped again in 2011 as disappointed guests didn’t return. But as others have pointed out that wouldn't be a problem for SW7 as it is the white knuckle coaster that people thought Thirteen would be.

That’s not to say their marketing approach this time won’t be as successful but the new tactics are not likely to be in response to Thirteens mistakes as they weren’t mistakes.

 

[Dave]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

The marketing caused a lot of over-hype though and many guests where disappointed with the disparity between the marketing and the product.

I think when it starts SW7 marketing will be impressive and I don't think we will be waiting much longer to see it start up again.

 

[CupCakeMonster]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I mentioned to the same friends that SW7 might be called "The Smiler" and they didn't even realise Alton are building a new coaster.

As for the attendance figures they speak for themselves. 2010 was the most successfully year since the days of Nemesis. Sure the marketing alone probably wasn’t the only reason for this but it certainly helped.

Yeah, people who have posted on The Alton Towers facebook page, don't even know about SW7. I've seen people put "Is there anything new for 2013?" Then when someone (not Alton, they don't deem to reply to facebook posts) tells them about SW7, they're just like, oh, why didn't I know about that.

And I do think it was just the marketing, I mean I get some people reciting the advert when they've seen my Thi3teen hoodie, so yes, the marketing did work for Thi3teen, and I think it was by far, the main contributor to the raised number of guests.

 

[Maya]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Something the style of th13teens marketing would be good, because we know we do have a good, thrilling ride here- so you really can't go wrong. But we need marketing to suit the style of the ride, which I think is mysterious at first, building up so for the last week or so it will be everywhere.

 

[Alastair]

Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I mentioned to the same friends that SW7 might be called "The Smiler" and they didn't even realise Alton are building a new coaster.

As for the attendance figures they speak for themselves. 2010 was the most successfully year since the days of Nemesis. Sure the marketing alone probably wasn’t the only reason for this but it certainly helped.

Yeah, people who have posted on The Alton Towers facebook page, don't even know about SW7. I've seen people put "Is there anything new for 2013?" Then when someone (not Alton, they don't deem to reply to facebook posts) tells them about SW7, they're just like, oh, why didn't I know about that.

And I do think it was just the marketing, I mean I get some people reciting the advert when they've seen my Thi3teen hoodie, so yes, the marketing did work for Thi3teen, and I think it was by far, the main contributor to the raised number of guests.

It annoys me when people ask questions like that on FB. It's so easy to find out it's just embarrassing. Type in any of the phrasing used in the FB questions in Google and they'd have their answer.

 

[CoasterDan]

Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Hopefully the marketing will pick up soon, as you can see they have changed their twitter logo to the sw7 style alton logo, and their header picture to the track seen on the promotional image they sent on the email.

 

[EuroSatch]

Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Marketing shouldn't be about short-termism, which is what went wrong with Thirteen. It should promote the ride as a new addition to the portfolio of attractions, in a way that will ensure repeat custom following the first visit. The mis-selling of Thirteen as a thrill attraction took away a lot of guests confidence in the park providing fresh thrilling attractions. SW7 marketing will need to win these back