When the world famous Alton Towers Resort partnered with Smoking Gun to help deliver PR and social media, within integrated marketing communications, for its upcoming campaigns, Smoking Gun couldn’t wait to deliver on its ‘thrilliant’ brief.
The task focused on specific attractions – including the legendary Nemesis – which was set to temporarily close to undergo an exciting redevelopment. But with the Resort’s hardcore following and Nemesis’ unprecedented cult fandom, how we told the story and left the audience feeling was everything.
Seeking to drive talkability and excitement through thrill-inducing content, media headlines and on park experiences, we wanted to engage a range of stakeholder groups, from enthusiasts to families, thrillseekers to staycationers. Whether they were at the Resort or not.
The campaign achieved outstanding results, driving hundreds of headlines and unprecedented levels of UGC – leaving fans proclaiming “the marketing for Nemesis is better than anything from Disney!”
Execution
We teased out our announcement in various stages, taking every opportunity to build the drama and opportunities for fans to engage.
Nemesis’ mysterious closure was announced in posters around the Resort and through video content across digital channels, all building suspense and excitement. Teaser messages and news angles were shared with the media and exclusive filming opportunities were offered to broadcast.
As part of our fan-first strategy, we launched a competition giving super fans the exclusive ‘last chance to ride’ alongside Nemesis creator, John Wardley – no celebrities, no suits. This gained further press attention and mass social media engagement.
UGC exploded as fans speculated as to what was happening. The hero video was supported by other behind-the-scenes reels and countdowns to build the narrative layer by layer and leave fans wanting more.
Results
SOLD OUT final weekend
with all KPIs exceeded.
500,000 video views
More than 500,000 video views and 50,000 social engagements. Thousands of social comments within minutes of posts going live.
Unprecedented levels of UGC
and comments to the tune of – ‘This is why I love Alton Towers’ and ‘Hats off to whoever planned the Nemesis closure stuff, very clever’.
350 media hits
with features in The Sunday Times, Metro, The Sun, MailOnline, Heat and LADbible. News packages secured on BBC Breakfast and ITV News, plus a series of radio interviews capturing key messaging across nationals such as Radio2, 4 & 5Live – plus dozens of commercial stations.
Hundreds of backlinks
from high domain authority online media sites (present in 90% of coverage).
15,000
email addresses captured for remarketing.
