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[The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation

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Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Yeah Th13teens marketing got people through the door, but then left them feeling slightly underwhelmed by the ride. When Nemesis: Sub-terra was marketed, I heard many people slate the "worst nightmare underground" marketing after they left unimpressed with the original ride setup. As a result, when the park market something as "extreme", "thrilling" or "ultimate", a lot of people will think its nothing but marketing and the ride wont live up to it. Some people will fall for the marketing only to find the ride isn't that good and then won't come back again.

Hopefully SW7 will have a decent marketing scheme that will advertise it as a thrill ride, but won't solely rely on wording and gimmicks to sell it. Oblivion is still classed as one of the best marketing campaigns the park has done. There was no over the top wording, just a lot of ride imagery. If a ride is truly as good as your making it out to be, then you don't need to big it up in your marketing.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I would say that marketing is a short-term process. The main intention of advertising is to get people through the doors either by enticing first time guests or reminding repeat visitors to return. Only the greatest of adverts still have pulling power after they've been shown.

Were Alton went wrong was to miss advertising the previous two attractions. For Thirteen it was because they made out the ride to be something it isn’t and Sub-Terra was simply a mess when it opened. I will agree with Dave though that a more interesting campaign that doesn’t rely on calling SW7 “the Ultimate something” would be appreciated. I said Thirteens advertising was effective, not necessarily good.

;)

Edit: Thought I should add that when I say Marketing I refer to it just in the sense of a new attraction. Obviously their are types of marketing like brand image that have a long term effect but for a new ride what matters in a marketing campaign is getting people to ride it so they can spread the word.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Tim said:
I would say that marketing is a short-term process. The main intention of advertising is to get people through the doors either by enticing first time guests or reminding repeat visitors to return. Only the greatest of adverts still have pulling power after they've been shown.
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And then, the rest can be done by word-of-mouth (providing the rides good that is :) ).
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Most companies try to establish a good brand image in their adverts. They don't rely on flashy words or anything, just build up an idea that the product is good and worth buying. The same is true for any themepark. Make your park look amazing and people will come. You don't need to slap impressive words in the mix.

The funny thing is as well, the most complained about ride for bad marketing is Th13teen and yet the official adverts they released actually contained no flashy wording and loads of ride shots, by which time they had already gotten it into everyone's heads this was the "Ultimate" roller coaster.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

In terms of marketing I can see there being hype. It's just how most businesses work these days to sell products. Although any hype I believe will be fully justified.

The key thing to remember here is that unlike Th13teen, SW7 will have that scary, intimidating, fast, thrilling look about it. The ride will sell itself. Luckily the product in this case will do most of the talking. Alton Towers just need to use this to their advantage. I can certainly see marketing working in more of a way it did with Air, Oblivion and Nemesis.

To be fair too, Th13teen's adverts were brilliant and had a hint of magic to them. It's only the press releases and the claims of 'the ultimate roller coaster' and 'every roller coaster you've dreamed of in one' that let things down slightly.

SW7 will have a massive advantage over Th13teen, and as long as Alton Towers have a few good plans to market the ride from January onwards, they will be on to a winner. I think it's only a matter of time now before the park starts rolling out marketing. Certainly a lot of viral stuff is bound to come out over the coming weeks.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

James said:
SW7 will have that scary, intimidating, fast, thrilling look about it. The ride will sell itself. Luckily the product in this case will do most of the talking. Alton Towers just need to use this to their advantage.
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I don't think we'll get many shots of the ride itself though. Much like Thi3teen, it was just a quick shot of it, probably so people knew that it was a roller coaster, rather than just a random flat or something.

James said:
To be fair too, Th13teen's adverts were brilliant and had a hint of magic to them. It's only the press releases and the claims of 'the ultimate roller coaster' and 'every roller coaster you've dreamed of in one' that let things down slightly.
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Thank you. Someone who agrees. Yes, the Thi3teen adverts were good, they were mysterious enough to get people wanting to know more.. but also not too mysterious so people knew what it was about. And to be fair... I do actually now think that the 'every roller coaster you've dreamed of in one' line is quite a good one. My friend who knew nothing about it, was talking in the queue to it about what she thought new roller coasters should do to be different, and she said that 'a drop of the track' and 'going backwards' would be good ideas, at separate points. So, maybe it was every roller coaster she'd ever dreamt of in one.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

The Th13teen adverts where fantastic, really well made and interesting. its the print marketing that let the ride down.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

The problem with the 13 is more credibility. One of friends who believed the hype for 13 and saw the boards for SW7 and said "it will be as ***** as 13, you can tell that as they have said world beating" I said, "No this one is actually supposed to be good", he responded with "Don't believe the hype"

The public have already been burned. People don't forget that quickly. Whilst 13's marketing was a short term success, long term it was a total failure. It damaged the faith in 'The Product' therefore knocking all future announcements. Sub Terra's opening and marketing was similarly miss-sold. The negative feedback told them that. The park have fixed some of the issues and deserve major respect for that, but the problem is deeper. All these news stories of cut backs and rides not being open also damage the credibility of Alton Towers. It is a shame really as it is the park staff and the rides that have to regain that faith in the visitors, a faith that should already be there when the guest arrives.

So it will be interesting to see if Alton and Merlin have learned from their recent issues or not.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Hi all!
I've been following for a long time, so thought it was about time to join in... First post, so please be gentle!

None of my non-coaster mad friends are aware of SW7, so I think the marketing cannot start quickly enough. Hopefully it won't be overhyped like 13, (even though the ads grew on me). I'm hoping for a similar campaign to The Swarm (minus a Les Coogan style character).

The real doctor Kelman would be a great focal point for promotional stuff, as I found him creepy yet still intriguing during The Sanctuary!

Can't wait for the opening, lets just hope its not delayed!
*fingers crossed*
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

See, I was thinking that I would like Dr. Kelman on the adverts, but now I'm not so sure. It depends how they use him in the advert. This was my idea of how they could do the advert.

Dr Kelman is walking through X-Sector, and says something like "Do you miss your smile?, I can help you. [Ride name] is my Experiment, [Ride name] is the future, This is The Ministry of Joy, We can help you get that.... Smile (victims snigger and Dr Kelman does an evil smile thing), Get Corrected" Then the victims (I don't know what to call them?) Snigger and jump in front of the camera saying Alton Towers and the Rides name in their freaky voices. The Camera then spins around to catch the train going past, cut to SW7 themed Alton Towers logo with #getcorrected and altontowers.com/2013 on the screen.

But they could just do him sat behind a desk like in the videos before the sanctuary. if it's like that then I don't think the GP will keep interest for long enough.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I agree that I think the GP wouldn't really understand Kelman being sat behind his desk etc. Your idea sounds interesting though, and pretty simple and straightforward for AT to pull off well!
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Oooooh.. This is interesting... Look who's disappeared.... Seems that posting some fake images was the last we would see of him.
smallerdrkelm_zps27f32f38.jpg
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I don't think there's any denying that Alton and Merlin produce first rate advertising materials. They're always done to a very high standard, and get their messages across. The Th13teen adverts were brilliant, and Swarm's are probably my favourite TV adverts out of any ride! They're amazing, and really did the ride justice if you ask me.

The problem lies in what they apply the adverts to. Two products which have both received very mixed reviews, and have been slated for their marketing. On the one hand, I can see why Alton may wish to change the direction in which they market a ride, to try and shake off this image. On the other, will this come at the cost of the production quality of the marketing?

In theory, all this advert needs is plenty of track shots of the ride going upside down and it'll engage some people either way. They see inversions and instantly see thrill. With Th13teen, it was the dark, sinister appearance, and the drop shots which hyped it up. But really we saw very little of the coaster which looked thrilling. People then drew their own conclusions as to how it would be. The product in this case is enough to sell the ride alone, just like Oblivion did with the shots of a huge vertical drop. Assuming they show it enough in the adverts is guess most will be sold. If they only show a couple of naff shots of the shuttles going around some corners though the doubters will probably be less convinced, thanks to Th13teen and Sub-Terra.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

CupCakeMonster said:
I'd like a bit of the story in there too though personally :)
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I kinda disagree with that. X-Sector/Oblivion is very much top-secret so I think it's more important to sustain an air of mystery around the marketing. There is a story (or at least an explanation) for Oblivion but they didn't need to delve into that to advertise the ride and it worked perfectly. Even when you've ridden you have to piece together fragments you've gathered from the queue line to come up with any kind of explanation, which I love because there's still secrecy and it's not handed to you on a plate.

If they're clever they'll be able to get a good balance in marketing - excitement and hype for the coaster itself, subtle hints about the mood/character of the ride and strong bold branding i.e. logos the GP will instantly recognise and remember.
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

I think short 5 second adverts showing inversions, and lots of screams, followed by the name and 'Coming soon... Alton towers' in a sort of robotic voice. Shown in Prime time, with one advert per break in the program, followed by a longer advert explaining more about the ride, showing track, and characters or a story line, eg
-Track going up lift hill- "I am dr kelman. I need advocates for my new experiment"
-car drops- "By joining _______ you must be over 1.4m and eligible to be put through many tests that will challenge your physical and emotional strengths"
-car goes through inversions- "Now, just visit us at the Alton Towers Resort, and head straight to x sector"
-Car goes into building- "Let the experiment being!"
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Good news everyone, I am able to confirm that station steelwork erection has begun, and a fair amount of it is up! (source, my own eyes! ;) )

As for track, there doesn't appear to be much more up at all since the last official Towers update. I think they are focussing on getting the station shell up now, as finishing off the cobra roll and batwing may prevent the station from being erected. That is just a guess though. There certainly didn't appear to be any track going up today anyway.

Also there have been deliveries of concrete "wall slabs", not sure what to actually call them. The same things used to line the walls of the pit though. There were some being delivered today and there are a lot of them in the car parks with the track.

Fellow member Russell should be posting some photos in the next few days (providing he can remember his login details :p ), I didn't take too many photos this time as he was able to get much better ones on his SLR!

:)
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

It makes sense the only track they have put up just now is station and underground track (the cobra roll goes partially in the pit) once the pit has been covered and the top end of the site has been landscaped then hopefully the rest of the track will fly up :)

Also thanks for the update on the station going up Rob, nice to finally have some good news :)
 
Re: Secret Weapon 7 Discussion Continued

Thanks for the update, Rob! Very much appreciated.

Great to hear the station is beginning to take shape. It makes sense if the batwing and cobra roll have been put up first due to clashing with the station construction. I'd assume a section of the pit will have track by now too. If there are a lot of concrete slabs on site then this sounds like they will form the station walls, which should be a pretty quick process. Lets hope it all gets going quickly now. They have not got much time left!
 
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