“Giving our client, a major amusement park group, such robust customer insights that they could cancel all in-park guest surveys not only saved them $1,000,000, but also strengthened our relationship with them. They now see us as a valued partner, not a service provider. You can’t put a price on that.”

~ Matt Powell, Chief Executive Officer at Moroch

The Challenge

COVID pandemic causes amusement park to seek alternative, less costly method for customer data

Prior to the pandemic, a major amusement park group relied on in-park guest surveys to gather the customer data they needed to inform their marketing. While this system required on-site staff walking through the parks to survey guests, it did bring some insights for print and digital marketing campaigns. With the onset of COVID, the amusement park sought ways to reduce costs while still understanding their target customers.

It approached Matt Powell, Chief Executive Officer at Moroch, the integrated marketing agency retained by the theme park to guide their marketing strategy, with a simple question: could they get the customer insights they needed without such labor-intensive and expensive methods?

‍The Solution

Placer data on demographics, visitor journey, and trade area helps optimize media spend dollars

Using Placer, the team at Moroch was able to quickly get an overview of foot traffic information and visitation trends. Specifically, they analyzed the trade area distribution pattern to see how far visitors were traveling to come to the park. With the Trade Area Coverage by Distance report, Moroch was able to show that a significant percentage of visitors came from 30-50 miles away, well beyond what a traditional ring radius approach would have estimated and targeted for marketing.

To ensure the amusement parks targeted the right audience with their media campaigns, the Moroch team used Placer for deeper demographic and psychographic insights pertaining to the park guests.

Learn more about Trade Area Coverage by Distance

Learn more about Visitor Journey

Learn more about Crime Profile

Learn more about Ethnicity

From demographic insights into dominant ethnicities of visitors (77.1% of visitors were either White or Hispanic) to visitation patterns like where visitors went immediately prior to and after visiting the park, or where they preferred to eat (fast food/QSR chains like McDonald’s were top destinations), the team was able to provide clear, accurate data to build out the amusement park’s target personas and their interests. Beyond demographic, psychographic, and general visitation data, Moroch also pulled the Events report as part of a broader analysis of the immediate area surrounding each amusement park, while the Crime Profile helped Moroch and the amusement park team to understand when crime occurs, using that to decrease marketing spend or understand any drops in visitation.

‍The Outcome

SUCCESS: Major amusement park replaces in-park surveys, saving $1M in labor costs

Placer insights around guest demographics, brand affinities, and True Trade Area helped the amusement park understand their target market, build their customer personas, and optimize media spend. The data that Moroch brought was so valuable that the amusement park group was able to eliminate all in-park surveys, saving over $1,000,000 in labor costs per year, with results that had greater detail and accuracy than in-person surveys. Importantly, the successful outcome for the amusement park group solidified their relationship with Moroch, positioning them as a trusted partner, not a vendor.

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