Advertising

Does Cedar Point advertise via television outside of Ohio? I'm guessing the probably target Michigan, Indiana and the western half of PA. I think the park is only well known among coaster lovers and a good percentage of people have never heard of it. Perhaps that would provide a surge in popularity providing even more intense competition with Six Flags and Disney parks.

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Richard

Johnny Rockets Crew 2003

"Hey Somebody"

The places you mentioned are the only places where they advertise. I thought CP was pretty popular all over the country and world, but talking to people from different areas, almost no one has even heard of it. I don't think country-wide advertising would help this either because CP simply doesn't have the appeal of Disney. If today you saw a commercial for some random park in South Dakota that you'd never even heard of before, would it make you want to go there? Maybe but probably not. As for Six Flags, the only reason they are well-known is because there are so many, all with the same "Six Flags" name. However I can guarantee you though that a lot of people who visit one Six Flags have no idea that there are other Six Flags parks all over the world.

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Brent Haley
Gemini Crew '02
Dragster Crew '03, ATL '04

Cedar Point advertises over a 250 mile radius, outside of that area, almost nobody knows about the park. Outside of that area is already a 5+ hour drive.

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Eddy the retard is awesome.

I can concur that no one outside knows of it. My husband teaches physics and will use it as examples in some of his lectures (roller coasters and all), but usually out of a class of 35 maybe only 1-2 students have heard of it, and they've usually lived in the north before, or had relatives they visit.

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'96 Merchandise Raptor Cart... '97 Zone 1 Sweep Crew / Disaster Transport Crew... '98 Iron Dragon Crew / Zone 1 Sweep Crew... '02 White Water Landing Crew... '03 White Water Landing TL...

SteelMonsters is correct.. Matter of fact besides the "local" commercial last season, they had ones that were "target city specific" , if I recall it was Baltimore and Chicago.

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

I think the main reason they dont advertise outside the local area is that they already have enough people that visit. If they advertised all over the country lines would be much longer and it would hurt the over all experience that is Cedar Point.

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Enjoy your day Cedar Point, Americas Rollercoast!!!

Many people outside of the areas that CP advertises in know about the park. I live in Albany, NY (7.5-8 hour drive to CP) and many people in my school have gone or are planning to go to CP. But many of them are going because of me, they have asked about the CP shirts that I have on then I tell them about the park and they are intested and want to go there. Even my cousin (who is even further east then me) is going to CP on her senior trip, the whole grade is going.

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I think the main reason they dont advertise outside the local area is that they already have enough people that visit. If they advertised all over the country lines would be much longer and it would hurt the over all experience that is Cedar Point.

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Ohh yeah.. we wouldn't want any more peoples money.. good point...

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

Their biggest repeat customer base is in the local area if they start overloading the park with people from all over the country the line lenghth would grow quite significantly. I know cant stand going to a park just to wait 4 hours for every ride. They would lose alot of their local business.

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Enjoy your day Cedar Point, Americas Rollercoast!!!

Actually.. you're wrong.. they make a majority of thier money on teh distance customers.

locals don't spend $.. want proof, look to the east for the past few years. The park became a local hangout, kids don't spend $. Families do..

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

I agree they do make most of there money on long distance customers, but I would assume that money is made though the use of the hotels and resorts. If they do make most of thier money on distance customers(and I'm not saying they dont) Why not advertise more across the country?

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Enjoy your day Cedar Point, Americas Rollercoast!!!

When it comes to longer traveling, there is more income per family especially when you add in a stay at the resorts. That is completely ignoring the fact that very long distance travelers make up a very small percentage of the total attendance. Guests coming from 5+ hour drives away make up a tiny fraction on the total attendance, the futher away, the lower the number gets. In contrast, the more area the company advertises over, the higher the cost. Marketing calculated that the most profit will will be made by the current advertisment campaign. They get paid to make the company more money, so yes they do know what their doing.

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Eddy the retard is awesome.

Well I was just thinking since Cedar Point has so many great roller coasters that are consistently rated as being some of the best.... then it would draw in people. About 95% of the people I mention CP too have never even heard of it. I think comparing it to other parks is severely underrating it. CP is not just a random park.. it's the Best! However, I did have some tables last year from California who stated they make it to CP at least once every other year. Perhaps Knott's Berry Farm contributed to the knowledge of it's existance via Cedar Fair. Anyhow, I just think for a park with such high praise it deserves to be known all over.

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Richard

Johnny Rockets Crew 2003

"Hey Somebody"

I live in northern WV just miles from the PA and Ohio border, and we occasionally see a Cedar Point commercial in the summer.

And come on people! Do you seriously think that CP doesn't advertise too much to keep crowds down??? Crowds mean money. Look at disney. You're lucky to get on 2 or 3 things in a day. That doesn't keep them from advertising. Cedar Point advertises in the areas it does because it makes money. Advertising to farther places does not.

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Rides 2001
Guest Services 2002
www.veronicaspreciousgifts.com

It's been just recently that the advertisements have gone outside of the 250 mile radius. Prior to this it could be argued from a business standpoint that they didn't have adaquate facilities to supply other city target marketing campaigns. Sure they would fill up their hotels, but they would most likely be losing even more over-night business to surrounding hotels

I mean, why advertise outside of what has worked for years when you're already maxing out on hotel capacity? Kinzel obviously recognized this and has since turned CP into more of a destination resort by building tons of awesome coasters, as well as expanding guest accommodations with Breakers East, Breakers Tower, Breakers Express, Lighthouse Point, and now an expansion to Lighthouse Point. Now that they have built even more resort hotels they are better equiped to handle a larger market of people. That market may be limited to cities immediately outside of the 250 mile radius market, but that's still several thousand potential guests who will need a place to stay.

With the acquisition of Geauga Lake this could make for one of the best things for the area as far as tourism goes. If they were to build hotels on the Geauga Lake property, that could shorten the drive by a couple of hours for people traveling from the East Coast and, in turn, give them another reason to come to Cedar Point since they could advertise some kind of combo package between both parks. The same goes for people coming from Chicago, except that they would stop at Cedar Point first and then go to Geauga Lake.

Didn't Kinzel mention that eventually he wanted to have Cedar Point known and advertised nationally as a destination resort much like Disney along with his plan to transform Cedar Point into a year-round resort?

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Everything that has a beginning has an end.

The Matrix Revolutions
*** This post was edited by CP_bound 3/28/2004 6:42:12 PM ***

Every Summer I always see at the most 1 CP commercial, and I live 1 hour south of Chicago.

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How many days till opening??

*** This post was edited by Raptor Man 3/28/2004 7:47:02 PM ***

I'd be interested in knowing the fraction of occupied hotel rooms that come from *within* the 250 mile radius. For example, I live only a two-hour drive away, and last season spent 6 nights on-property split across three trips.

That would be an interesting set of facts to look at. There is probably a lot of variation between people in that 250-mile area -- some people think a 5-hour drive after a day at the park isn't strenuous at all, and others wince at a 2-hour drive after the same amount of activity and would rather get a hotel room for the night.

Personally, if I lived about two hours away or closer, I would probably drive myself home after spending the day at the Point. Gas is cheaper than gas *and* a hotel room. Any farther than that, though, and I'd start poking around for an inexpensive hotel. However, I'm just one person, and a college student, at that. Start adding factors like having a decent amount of cash on hand to splurge, and one or two small children and a spouse along, and that room in Hotel Breakers starts looking awfully pleasurable.

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~Lee~

Group Sales ATL '01
Group Sales TL '02
Park Admissions Zone 5 Supervisor '03
Park Admissions Supervisor '04
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"The greatest leaders don't take credit for their actions; they don't have to."
*** This post was edited by Lee 3/28/2004 10:40:34 PM ***