• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Enter Valhalla said:
The BBC poking fun at old Dr Who is very different to what Thorpe are doing in these videos though.

The old special effects on Dr Who were all that was available at the time, and therefore look silly by today’s standards, but the BBC aren’t saying that they were wrong to use those effects. It’s just all they had at the time.

Thorpe, on the other hand, are openly saying that they got it wrong. And what’s particularly frustrating is that multiple staff, guests and enthusiasts were constantly telling Thorpe management that the ‘Nation’s Thrill capital” branding, the big heads, the crude images all over the park map, the songs with swear words playing over the speakers, the ‘Blow s**t up’ event and posters, and the park actively trying to deter families, was the wrong way to do business, but every time we’d make these points to Thorpe management, we’d be hastily shut down.

It’s unusual for a company to openly admit that they got it wrong, and I really didn’t think Thorpe would be so blatantly in disdain of the way that Merlin presented the park in their early years.

I’m enjoying these videos, but their determination to distance themselves from a brand identity that they were so determined to drill into everyone from 2008 to 2012 is… surprising, to say the least. Especially as it’s still the same park owners.
Click to expand...
Ah, meet my favourite marketing cautionary tale New Coke. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke

We're 11 years on from 2012, it's a very different team now and actually three different companies. In that time Merlin has gone from being private, to being a PLC, to now being private again and owned by (mostly) different people. Surely it's a good thing that they can look back and go "Yeah, you know what? You were right, we were wrong.".

I'm not surprised that Thorpe's determined to distance themselves from previous marketing missteps. The world has also changed a heck of a lot since 2012. We probably all want a bit of fresh air and for things to be lighter. With the direction Hyperia is taking Thorpe, this makes even more sense.
 
I agree with the above comments regarding Merlin of 2008 not really being comparable to Merlin of 2023, especially Thorpe, who have probably been through about 54 divisional directors since then.

The other consideration for this approach is simply for the story narrative. The whole ‘things were good, then went a bit bad, but never fear they are about to get good again’ is pretty common.

Look at the Imagineering Story from Disney+, they openly admitted DCA 1.0, Hong Kong and Walt Disney Studios were pants but ended it with….don’t worry things are going to be amazing!
 
Yeah I guess so. Perhaps I’m still just bitter that none of us were being listened to at the time.

I guess that the really good year they had with Saw- The Ride got them on a bit of a high and when it quickly stopped being a success, their brand identity became lost and confused.

If they’re moving towards a clearer brand identity, then I hope it works out for them. Hyperia’s track colour is definitely a welcome move away from the typical Merlin grey coaster track that we’ve been used to.
 
I loved when jack went to reveal the new logo in the last video.. Also when they had the big heads and high pitched voices that will never leave my head🤣
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Unprofessional? The quality and production values in this video exceed the comparable drivel that vlogger channels put out. The sound is nice and clean and mixed well. The transitions are fluid, the footage is a nice balanced mixture and the script is snappy.

To err is human and it's good to acknowledge past controversial choices. No one is perfect, no company is perfect. It's quite common for companies and brands to look back at themselves and poke fun. Heck, look at what the BBC have been doing with Doctor Who marketing material recently.

"Look at how awful these special effects were back in the day!"
"The hair, the costumes, omg we look so silly!"

This behind the scenes content has gelled with a lot of theme park enthusiasts, and seemingly non-enthusiasts too. It's very well put together and entertaining. If there weren't value in it they wouldn't be bothering.

This IS a story. It's the story of Thorpe Park, what it was, where it's been, the suspect choices it's made over the years and where it's going now.

I'm struggling to work out why this series bothers you so much, especially as you're actively engaged in a community that loves this behind the scenes stuff. We all care about how the sausage is made, or we wouldn't be talking about the most minuscule of theme park changes.
Click to expand...

Unprofessional was perhaps the wrong choice of word. Agree the production etc is great, probably more the concept and subject matter at times seemed jarring.

Again, no problem if that’s what people are interested in, but i feel for the long term value of the brand it seems an odd choice. I fully appreciate others will disagree, and it can shown openness and honesty etc.

Would we see this tone from Disney? Efteling? Europa? But then again they aren’t Thorpe. Just not my cup of tea I suppose.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate this isn’t a mainstream marketing campaign, and the videos from Jack are great, but they aren’t pushed directly from the park or don’t appear directly related. Whereas contrast that with what Alton have done re: Nemesis and Curse and seems more considered and well put together.

But again I appreciate they are for different audiences and for a different purpose.

I wouldn’t expect to be understood by a goose it’s fine
 
I guess one thing that we can all agree on is that it’s nice to finally have a bit of a buzz around what Thorpe are doing.

I haven’t felt buzzed for anything going on at Thorpe for years. Since Swarm we’ve seen weird projects, confused identity and nothing much to talk about in comparison to goings on within the rest of the industry.

This is a welcome change.
 
Well... we got the logo reveal (spoiler, it's flat, stale, and shite!) They said before they introduced it they wanted to make their brand 'fun'. This doesn't exactly scream fun, looks like the logo of a clothing brand from the 1970s - the old logo looked more fun because it was vibrant, colourful, and had some texture to it. I hope this is just a big practical joke.
 
Tami Roman Wow GIF by Bounce


That’s, a choice.
 
I have to say, I actually quite like it! It’s simple, but quite classy!

The new slogan is also “the home of feel-good thrills”.

Here’s the final branding video, for a bit of additional context and information:


Hopefully this new brand ushers in a new dawn for Thorpe Park after a rough few years!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top