Alton Towers....Falling into a trap?

[BlackHole2006]

I am a bit worried for alton towers because I Think alton is slowly but surely falling into a marketing trap. They already have imperial leather and CATCF Is tottaly a markiting ad for the film.And whats the other one. Oh yeah, cadburys sponser air. I am not complaining about alton because I also agree that it is the most magical place on earth. Its a bit like what BPB Have turned out. I mean come on, the big dipper was fine untila a jam company sposored it and the big one would have been okay without the sponser for pepsi max.

What is your view on this?

[Liam]

My view is that you're worrying over nothing.

Firstly CATCF is not a marketing ploy for the film; it is based on the book. Besides Tim Burton's film has already been out and the DVD has also come out already - thus no need for further marketing.

Cadburys sponsoring air is minimal! The only real reference to it is within the shop - and normal shops have all sorts of company products in them anyway, this one is just dedicated to Air and Cadburys. I'm certainly not bothered by it.

And the flume, well, that sponsoring isn't to in your face either, since the sponsor matches the theme of the ride.

Also, with new funding coming in from Dubai, I don't think we'll be seeing many more sponsored rides in the future. After all everyone does agree with you on one point - rides are best without sponsorship.

As you AT turning into BPB, you can relax. It's not going to happen.
*hopes CATFC won't be sponsored by Haribo* :P

[Adam]

CCF is not even based on the film, its based around the book, so i don't see it as a marketing scheme for the film atall. . .

And like anything else, Alton Towers is a company, and if someone is going to offer them money just to add their name to a ride, i don't think AT would turn it down and i don't really see a problem with it anyway.

[Vik]

Wouldnt worry to much about it, At have had rides sponsered in the past. Years ago the Skyride was sponsered by Kodak, you can still see the signs telling you this.

Old Mcdonalds farm was known as Safeway farm once. Have been others but cant recall them.

[Beaver Dude]

Pretty much every ride at Islands of Adventure is sponsored in a similar way to Air so are a lot of the rides at Disney these parks are some of the worlds best parks and maybe the sponsoring helped them to become this.

[Anonymous]

You do know these companies employ and pay Alton Towers to market them? They aren't falling into anything. Sponsers are very beneficial for the park and alot of parks have them - they only start to get abtrusive when we see OTT rethemes like the Flume, but even then Alton Towers are getting rethemes for nothing and see it as very beneficial, and the rest of the times we merely see the slight bit of advertising like on Air (which if is the case, sponsers can be great!).

As far as CCF is concerned, it probably won't have a sponser (dunno if anything is confirmed on the matter) and contrary to what you said, the film will help the popularity of the ride out for sure, not vise versa.

[Wes]

Do you think instead of themed rides from now on we will just see themed events? If you think about it, we have has the Playstation Freedomer weekend, Obviously benificial to the park with events also Playstation must well have payed a certain amount of money to use the park for the time they were there.

Also this year with the Cadbury event, going to bring money in becuase of the ride and the time of year and also no dobt AT will get money from Cadbury its self with use of the park.

If more events are sponserd like this surely it will be more benifical to the Park than a Sponserd ride.


Mugz

[BlackHole2006]

Sponsored Events are much better, as sponsored rides just look tacky. Alton will be getting lots of money, The other company will be getting lots of money. No one will really care that it is sponsored and they will just treat it like your average live 8 concert. There you go, everybody is happy

Well done muggins, you resolved the problem

[Anonymous]

Meh, how can you generalise sponsered rides to look tacky?

Air isn't tacky. Take a look at Disneyland, one of the least tacky parks in the world. Sponsers there are in abundance!

[Shockwave]

Yeah, although when the UK has some of the most garish sponsored rides around I can see why some people have reservations.

Alton Towers don't go as far as putting the Sponsor's name in the ride title, which is where I draw the line. And they're making a lot of money from the advertising revenue without the advertising being too overt, and that's no bad thing.

[Robert]

I would say that a ride is pretty much the same with or without the themeing, although the theming adds to the effect and makes the ride more enjoyable. I personally like the idea of getting sponsored rides, as we still have the rides but with the money Alton make from the sponsors we can get new things for the park. People sponsor everything these days and it doesn't tend to make much difference and as long as the theming doesn't adversely affect the ride I'm all for it.

[BlackHole2006]

I tottaly agree with that statement robert. Air is pretty much the same ride but exept at the entrance it says sponsered by cadburys.

Ive never ridden Air yet but i would love to ride it. I just think that its just another way that altonmake their money

[Crofty]

[quote=""BlackHole2005""]I am a bit worried for alton towers because I Think alton is slowly but surely falling into a marketing trap. They already have imperial leather and CATCF Is tottaly a markiting ad for the film.And whats the other one. Oh yeah, cadburys sponser air. I am not complaining about alton because I also agree that it is the most magical place on earth. Its a bit like what BPB Have turned out. I mean come on, the big dipper was fine untila a jam company sposored it and the big one would have been okay without the sponser for pepsi max.

What is your view on this?[/quote]


[quote=""BlackHole2005""]I tottaly agree with that statement robert. Air is pretty much the same ride but exept at the entrance it says sponsered by cadburys.

Ive never ridden Air yet but i would love to ride it. I just think that its just another way that altonmake their money[/quote]

So are you for sponsors or not? :P :P

I think small sponsorship is fine, although alton could make mor of whole park sponsorship like toilet roll brought to you by B&Q sandpaper for example.
In one of the parks in disney there was instructions on how to wash your hands sponsored by a company, it wasn't overpowering but a nice little erner I expect

:W :W

[haydn!]

I dont feel sponsorship in a theme park is a bad thing, well not at Alton Towers anyway. It doesnt affect any of the rides, and none of the sponsored rides have adverse themes, with the exception of the flume. But even still, you have to agree the Bathtubs, music and general theme is alot better than it was before, and even when that sponsorship deal ends, the ride will still be great as the Cusson's Imperial Leather name is very minimalist across the ride.

Air is another great example, the only real obvious signs of sponsorship here is the tiny cadburys logo at the entrance and the stash of Cadburys chocolate in the shop, but then there is Cadburys chocolate all over the park retail outlets. If this is over the top, would you acuse Tesco for being over the top for having a major display of Heinz Bake Beans by the door?

Somethings you have to remember, Alton are getting alot out of this and in turn so are we. Rides cost a hell of alot these days, and many parks can't afford to keep up. Do you think Disney would spend £100million on a ride without the aid of Sponsorship, or that Alton Towers could have developed at the rate it as in the fast 5 years without sponsorship?

Alton is associated with some of the biggest and best brands in the UK. Cussons, Cadburys, Silent Night, Coco Cola etc and in turn we get given the best products in the best park. It's first rule of marketing, right product, right place, right price. okay the last one they need to work on, but you get the jist. Sponsorship allows Alton to provide a better quality service, at a lower cost. Everyone is a winner.

Although, all this said. I can see where some people may be put off by sponsored rides. Thorpes Ribena Rapids is surely the worst in the UK.