Winning over UK holidaymakers
The challenge
With fierce competition among Florida theme parks it’s crucial for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment to understand people planning their big trip to Florida.
The Insight
Quality & Variety
When deciding to visit a theme park the most important features for people are, unsurprisingly, a high-quality experience that offers a wide variety of activities and attractions. These are areas where SeaWorld hasn’t traditionally scored as highly as other parks.
Family Value
A family of four’s holiday to Florida is getting more expensive every year, with the current economic climate putting a further spotlight on cheaper destinations. As budgets become more stretched, good value for money becomes a bigger and bigger priority.
OTA Trust
After family/friend recommendations, online travel agents (OTAs) are the leading resource for many people considering their next trip.
The Solution
With confidence in OTAs high we partnered with the likes of Expedia and LastMinute.com, focusing on getting messaging in front of people that are in the process of researching, or have already booked, a holiday to Florida.
By doing this the brand were able to start consistently delivering highly relevant messages in contextually relevant placements with their messaging championing two specific areas we know audiences are making decisions on: variety and value.
On the production side, with the overarching creative concept involving a lot of movement, keeping the ads within placement provider file size restrictions was a challenge — one that we were more than happy to take on.
Friends & Family
Relationships with influential partners are playing an important role.
On this occasion we identified partnering with parenting and lifestyle blogger Missing Sleep as an opportunity to resonate and continue building awareness with UK families specifically, taking them on a trip to see the parks.
From meeting and greeting some of the animal residents to relaxing next to the wave pool to experiencing the thrill of the animal inspired rollercoasters, the family got to see first-hand all the facets of the parks, sharing their experiences through a series of blogs and social content.
IMPACT
Brand Positivity
We saw 100% positive sentiment from those engaging with the Missing Sleep content, with many commenting that they will consider SeaWorld Parks.
Web Boost
58% of people seeing the OTA ad placements visited the website — a key source of information about the parks — contributing to overall website traffic increasing 43%.
Social Engagement
Since making these changes we’ve seen high engagement across all social channels.