Objectives

Our client, Cedar Fair Entertainment, has 11 regional amusement parks across the country. In the 2018 season, Cedar Fair parks were struggling to hit their season pass goal due to negative weather patterns across the U.S. Not to mention, the end of summer was only three weeks away – that meant the end of our key season for peak attendance as schools reopened and summer vacations ended. So, as attendance started to hit its usual decline, Cedar Fair actually needed to drive a revenue boost. Cedar Fair came to C-K to come up with an integrated idea to drive last-minute foot traffic across all parks to meet the year's overall attendance goals.

The objective: Increase total attendance across parks by .X% from 2017 in 2018*

With no incremental investment and very little time, we needed a smart and savvy PR activation to cut through the clutter, generate buzz, sell 2019 season passes and, of course, drive attendance to the parks. To do this, C-K played into National Roller Coaster Day (yes, that is an actual holiday… it's August 16) utilizing digital, traditional and social platforms to communicate new thrills and an exclusive 2019 season pass offering.

*Exact attendance growth goal is confidential and included in the confidential section for judges only.

Strategy and Execution

We utilized real-time trend spotting to identify that competitors were leveraging National Roller Coaster Day to announce new rides for next season. We also saw that theme park enthusiasts were chatting about the upcoming day across social media.

Typically, Cedar Fair has shied away from this industry date due to the cluttered landscape. However, given the need for revenue boost, it became a perfect platform to launch both local events and a national promotion scalable across the parks. We strategically leveraged National Roller Coaster Day as a must-attend celebration that we made ownable across all our parks to meet our objective of increasing overall revenue.

The Celebration

• The parks would celebrate National Roller Coaster Day with in-park giveaways, prizes, entertainment and an exclusive season pass promotion for 2019.

A New Offering: 2019 Season Pass Discount

• What we did: Cedar Fair has never discounted its season pass – or offered it outside the traditional buying timeframe. For the first time, attendees could purchase a 2019 season pass at a discounted rate and receive a 2018 season pass complimentary for the rest of the season.
• Why: Season pass sales represent 50% of park revenue. To hit our marks, selling season passes were a must. And, the complimentary 2018 season pass would contribute to more park attendance throughout the end of the year – even with the end of summer.

To capitalize on the relevancy of the holiday and drive excitement, we launched our celebratory campaign just the weekend before the National Roller Coaster Day holiday:

• We repurposed content that we previously filmed to announce our promotion on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, supported with paid amplification to reach the right audience at the right time.
• We deployed our existing influencer network to spread the word, resulting in more than 50 pieces of content spread across all 11 parks.
• We re-deployed our existing paid media – radio and digital – to drive awareness in each of the parks' respective markets.
• We pitched national and regional news outlets, securing 13 placements including USA Today and CNN. All placements were then amplified with paid support.

Results

From concept to execution, this promotion was done within two weeks, and it exceeded expectations. We utilized an insight from our social listening to deploy it across all channels including social, traditional media and digital channels.

Objective: Increase total attendance across parks by .X% from 2017 in 2018*

Results: Attendance at the parks shattered records for the remaining three weeks the parks were open. Revenue within this time frame increased 292% compared to the same period in 2017.

• Across the Cedar Fair parks, we beat our 2018 overall attendance goal. These results could not have been achieved without the success of National Roller Coaster Day and special offerings during that campaign.
• Cedar Fair parks' share of voice rose by 1,400 social mentions on National Roller Coaster Day. That's three times more mentions during the same time in 2017.
• Media drove a 2X more efficient CPA at a $37 ROI.
• Our 13 earned media placements helped us gain national and regional attention to excite fans and encourage them to come to the parks.

*Exact attendance growth goal is confidential and included in the confidential section for judges only.

Media