Alton towers key customer market segments Essay

Alton towers target a wide range of customers as they have a lot to offer for different people, gender doesn’t come into this I don’t think as boys and girls both enjoy rides. They target families as they cant just target children as children cant get all the way to Alton towers and pay for it as well, they try and draw the parents in as they will be paying for the children. Also Alton towers have a big target market on ‘thrill seekers’ that’s ages 16-60+ I would say and this is the people that really want to have a amazing time who love the biggest fastest and the most scary rides and Alton towers target them because they also come in groups just like families. Alton towers marketing team have to make new rides appeal to all ages this includes thrill seekers and families, men and women. Or if the new rides are just designed for little ones then families would be aimed at. The reason they target certain people is because they know who would rather go on big headliner rides all day to the people who would rather go on more chilled rides like log flume and rapids. How they do this is making rides for everyone for example ‘oblivion’ that is a ride that thrill seekers will love as is big, fast and gives you that great buzz afterwards. Groups and groups of customers come to Alton towers day in day out, some stay over night in the hotel, which is another service they offer. Alton towers are aiming to give all customers and experience and a day to remember by offering what someone would want on a good day out, spa treatments for all those people who want to chill and relax, a water park for anyone wanting a exciting day on big slides and the main factor the theme park. And even a conference center for anyone who needs to have a discussion about business. Alton towers try to provide as much as they can and always want to know what they can do to make themselves better, every car in the car park is targeted with a questionnaire to see if they had a good visit and what can they do to make it better. Alton towers do things very good especially when advertising, for example in  2010 Alton towers created a new ride called ‘THIRTEEN’ this is a ride many people all over the UK and the world would want to ride, the way they let people know about this ride is let the customers advertise it for them, they put a little ad in a relatively small newspaper, this is so who ever read the newspaper would see the ad and would know that Alton towers are making a new ride. But what’s the first thing you do when you see something like that, you tell your friends or you post on social media, it wasn’t long until it was on the news and everyone found out about the new ride. Every thrill seeker around the UK or anywhere else wanted to go on this new ride and try it out. The ride cost Alton towers  £15,000,000 but because of all the people that want to go on this ride they were not worried about how much it cost them as they new the this first free fall roller-coaster was going to be a big hit and bring the money it cost back to the business. The reason that Alton towers have marketing segments is that they need to know who there aiming their rides at and what they need to do to make them have a good experience on the ride, so when aiming at youths they will make fast rides with loops or spirals and try to give them a buzz but for younger children they have to have something a little slower and age friendly as young kids will be too young to be going on the big rides so the rides like log flume and sonic spinball will feel to them like something major and that’s what Alton towers have created. Alton towers know that new rides means new customers as different people appeal to different rides by creating new rides and attractions this will invite more potential customers to the resort. Customer wouldn’t be coming back as regular if there wasn’t as many new rides or facilities on offer, but on the other hand if you look at what they have you realize that the rides are amazing and the things they have to do there are great and that’s why so many families and tourists visit the resort. Task two Now I’m going to talk about what Alton towers can do to get more customers by making new a new futuristic ride for all those thrill seekers looking for something new. So I’m going to devise and new marketing mix for a new ride  but I will also be taking into consideration the key market segments. I have made a decision that I’m going to base my new marketing mix on a futuristic ride for thrill seekers and the reason I’m doing this as Alton towers have all these big rides but I think they need that one ride that isn’t the same old spirals and loops, I’m going to create a ride that has speed loops spirals to create a G-force feeling like nemesis but improved and with a slight difference. The reason I’m targeting thrill seekers is because I think this is what going to blow their minds when it comes to a good ride. So the marketing mix, the marketing mix is a combination of the four P’s product price promotion and place, these are the things you need to consider when creating a new ride or facilities. This method is how you show your customers what the product or service is, also you need to be able to draw them in by advertising it well and letting them know what they would be missing out on. Product: The product that is going to be offered to the customers is going to be called ‘EROS’ this is a new hi-tech futuristic ride which will push you to the edge of intenseness. This is the king of rides for thrill seekers compacting everything you would want in a ride into one. This product will attract any thrill seeker form around the world as if you want an experience like Alton towers want to give you then you will want to be on the ride as soon as you can. The appearance of the ride will be massive, Alton towers agreed to the council nearby that they would go above tree height so the ride stay no higher than them, but don’t let this make you think its small because it takes up a lot of room. The ride will look like a futuristic shuttle that is covered in LED lights and things that you wouldn’t usually see but you know they are high-tech. When the safety barrier comes down over your head a futuristic mask comes down over your head as well seeing all the futuristic out of space things you wouldn’t usually expect in 3D. You will feel like you cant move off your seat the g-force is that strong and you  wont even see the spirals coming because of the intense speed. The one thing that people will say when they get off that ride is ‘wow’ the ride has different settings so that its not the same experience each time so by this I mean when you have the mask over your head you will see different things each time and the ride will feel like a new experience to you each time. Price: The ride won’t cost anything more than what Alton towers would usually charge so the customer is getting a new experience for the same price as you would pay to go on the other rides at the theme park. Obviously Alton towers will do special offers and family deals to try and invite more customers, for example if your bring a family of 4 you could get a 1 fast track ticket to the front of ‘EROS’. The ride will bring people from all round to try it out. To attract a larger amount of customers Alton towers could provide deals. If the ride is advertised correctly and becomes a big hit and the overall daily amount of customers increases then this could lead to the entry price being raised and greater marketing opportunities for Alton towers to add the name of the ride to their advertising which in turn could bring more visitors to Alton towers overall and increase revenue. Promotion: The way that the customers are going to be informed about the ride is in a minor way to start off as you don’t want to spill the beans to fast, you need to tease the target audience before so the word gets around. So around the resort their will be little hints, for example a picture of a futuristic background on a poster to leave small clues. Communications mix of TV, radio, digital and press will be used to make sure that customers will know about the ride, Alton towers like to tease the audience, this is so they get excited about going on the ride and cant wait to have the experience. When the ride is advertised on TV it will be on after programs that young adults will watch as a lot of young adults use social media this will also provide another way of the word getting around about the ride. Place: Place, the ride will be located on the resort in a new area with lots of space so that when it is opened it is made to look like the biggest ride and look like a headliner. How you do this is not put rides right next to it and make sure the logo is well seeable. This is because when you see it Alton towers want you to get that shiver down your spine that makes buzz. Also space will be needed so that when the ride is opened there is space for cues because if the advertising is done correctly then when the ride is opened their will be a big cue this is good as the more people you get on the ride the more customers have a great experience. The target audience for this ride is thrill seekers, I want all those people who buzz of going on big rides that are intense and make all those little roller coasters look like toys. The way it is advertised will determine how you thrill seekers react so if you make it look like its fast extreme and on a different level of fun then the target market will love it. Age doesn’t matter when it comes to thrill seekers because its who ever loves big rides and loves a new experience of fun and exciting rides. Gender also doesn’t matter as boys and girls and boys like rides so you can single one of them out. The ride will be aimed at any ages that are tall enough to ride it and who ever dare’s to experience this intense ride. I will aim all advertisement directly at thrill seekers those people who buzz of the rides and I will have a logo of the ride that will make the thrill seekers think that the new ride is going to taunt them and push them to there limits of thrill. It will totally directed to people who want to get that thrill so it wont be a family friendly ride it will be more directed at tens and those people who come to the park for every new ride and make sure they go on every main ride there and try to have the most thrilling day they can.