- Car parking – secure parking for customers who want to use their own vehicles to get to Alton towers. The car park is protected with cameras and raising barricades which is required for customers to feel their car is secure.
- Souvenirs – pictures and toys from novelty shops can be purchased as a memory pf a stay at Alton towers; which links in with the mission statement, ‘we create magic moments’
These products combined give Alton towers extra income by meeting the needs of most customers; E.g. Most customers would want a souvenir of their time at the park.
-Price-
Price is the cost of said product/service, which is set by the managing corporation or ‘higher uppers’
Alton towers use low prices to bring in customers;
- Low cost admission prices and special offers for entry to the park, e.g.: kids under 5 get in free
- Free refills with drinks provide consumers to save money for souvenirs.
-Place-
The place is an important aspect. Marketing is important for a place, as marketing in the wrong place would not sell the product (E.g. selling anoraks in a hot climate such as Spain) Alton towers uses many places to advertise, such as TV, billboards and magazines.
-Promotion-
Promotional advertising is another key aspect to developing and securing a business.
There are many available ways to promote/advertise a business, and Alton towers takes full advantage of this.
Advertising on…
- Billboards
- Newspapers & magazines
- T.V and radio
- On transport (trains, buses etc.)
- Email
- On the web
& more mean that many people quickly get to know about Alton towers’ new offers. Promotion on a large scale like this can quickly build up a business’s reputation.
Business objectives
Usually when a business is created, the creators have Aims and Objectives. These are called Business Objectives. An example of a solid business objective would be Alton Towers; they want the business to survive for as long as possible by giving them a reason to go to the park, in this instance giving them the best experience at the park and convincing them that this park is better than others. Aims are when the business is looking to expand, either nationally or internationally; but these need to be realistic (an impossible example is earning $400 billion turnover). Alton towers has a mission statement. This is a statement that is set for staff, customers, managers and anyone who looks to go to Alton towers; the reason for it is to evaluate the vision and values of different types of people. The most effective business-objective-settings follow SMART. This is…
Specifics; the objectives are specific to what the business wants to achieve as a whole; so for splash landings, the objective would be to create and promote the attractions a lot so that customers stay for the longest time possible. To achieve this, they may offer some form of discount or special offers for students, families, the disabled and groups. This allows people a fun social activity at a lesser price, which encourages them to stay in the hotel. Discounts also serve a second purpose: they encourage word-of-mouth advertising among customers.
Measurable – This is when an objective is valued; an example is Alton Towers would put a discounted price on tickets to get a £10,000 turnover within a certain time range. This is achievable, if steady streams of customers are coming in. They can also expand on the park, to make it more appealing to potential customers.
Agreed – This is when the people involved, such as the main staff at Alton towers, can agree and accept the business objectives; and they must also be open to ideas on change on the set objectives. The set objectives must meet the standards of all staff involved within the business, and must be set to an acceptable (if not agree) standard.
Realistic & Time-specific – The objectives need to be realistic, and there needs to be a time set in which these objectives are set. They cannot be set to be impossible, but can be set to be very challenging. For example, achieve a number of 5000 customers within the first 3 months of opening season. This allows the business to work hard toward the target, and to organise their time accordingly to get this target. Also before hand, they can make an action plan to help with achieving set targets.
The aims and objectives at Alton Towers
The Alton Towers mission statement is to “Create magic moments for people that appeal to them”
This statement is accurate, as a customer with family can have a memorable day out with free food, rides to enjoy, access to the hotel and a play in a splash landings’ water park on a short break to the park. The staff at Alton Towers work hard in order to meet these objectives. The 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) are also affected by the business objectives, so careful planning of these four marketing objectives is needed.
Using the images on the website when appropriate (Like the splash landings hotel) gives the customers a chance to look at the water park before buying a day there. Having an on-site hotel means that people staying longer than a day are very likely to repeat buying souvenirs and food. This will aid towards a set target, such as ‘we will try to achieve a certain amount of customers by a target time.’ they count repeat customers also, as they spend the same amount as a new customer.
The price of Alton Towers can vary depending on who their customers are, how many there are (e.g. groups or family) and if there are any group discounts on at the time. The prices allow the business to achieve many customers by altering discounts for groups, as they tend to buy more souvenirs while in the park. High prices put off large numbers, and this damages repeat business,, which is a huge negative point for Alton Towers.
Using promotional adverts and products in local and national papers usually attracts customers, as many people use newspapers on a daily basis; this attracts people to the park day-to-day, which increases Alton Towers’ popularity and profits. Other promotional adverts can come on the side of a bus, on a billboard, in a leaflet or adverts on TV are also big contributors that get around the message of Alton Towers.
Where Alton towers is, and where they sell their products to customers could be the difference on how much money is earned for the business. The park needs to be placed in an accessible place, a car park suitable for many vehicles and room to expand the park (as they have done before, with ride expansions in place). If these are all taken into account, then said place would be very successful in obtaining customers and interest. Also regarding gift shops and other souvenir shops, it needs to be noticeable in the park, accessible and interesting. A good example is ‘Air’. Air has an exit that leads through the souvenir shop, giving the customers a desire to buy gifts and photos from the ride.
