Marketing Plan for a Children’s Amusement Park
Executive Summary

The marketing objectives for this paper are to create a strategic marketing plan that considers the situational analysis, target segmentation, marketing mix, financials and controls needed to get the Park to the kids and get parents to buy an annual membership.

The vision for the Park is to be a safe place where all ethnicities and children are welcome and stimulated; where they can play games and have a snack zone with healthy but good-tasting treats. It is to be a place where parents are comfortable spending time as well while they allow their children to play on their own.

The mission is to reach this vision by adhering to the company’s main principles: 1) differentiate, 2) advocate, and 3) create. The first step is to make sure the Park is always offering something unique that sets it apart from other amusement parks for children in the area. The second step is to make sure that the Park is always advocating for families, health and education so that the foods, snacks and beverages are wholesome but consumer-friendly cost-wise and so that there is always a fun, educational experience to be had in the learning zone of the Park. The third step is to create great and long-lasting relationships with families so that they want to come back again and again to patronize the Park, buy annual passes, and get their friends to join.

The core competencies needed for this plan to succeed are excellent customer service and people skills so that customers always feel valued and that they are getting good value for their money. Marketers must also understand the target segment and be able to tailor the marketing strategy to the needs and behaviors of the target by using models like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The value chain will be used to ensure competitive advantage by keeping inventory costs down, converting basic entertainment concepts and materials into blockbuster sales, and enhancing the customer experience by incorporating feedback into the delivery plan.

The overview of this plan is as follows. First, the situation analysis will be provided with an examination of the Park’s SWOT and external environmental factors. Second is the target segmentation of the paper, which provides a breakdown of the demographic, geographic and behavioral traits of the target customer. Third is the positioning strategy that the firm will adopt based on its approach to differentiation and low-cost services and products. Fourth will be the marketing mix that the company will use to reach consumers. Fifth will be the financial and budgetary concerns. And last will be a discussion of how to improve, control and monitor progress.

Situation Analysis

SWOT

Strengths of the amusement park are that it appeals to the community in which it is situated: there is a large population of families with children, the area is growing and there is not a lot of competition in neighborhood in terms of providing this kind of entertainment for kids. The park is known for fun games, trampolines, snacks, a café for adults and one for kids, a Playstation center, and more and thus has a strong all-in-one vibe to it so that it appeals to both adults and kids, which prevents adults from being bored while kids have fun.

Weaknesses include there is no room for expansion. Growth would require tearing down and building back up. There has been demand for more games including miniature golf and a go-cart race track; however, the site is limited at the time, and the company would have to conduct a capital raise for investment. The company does not have a strong community connection at this time and should seek to engage in more promotional and sponsoring activities.

Opportunities are many: the community is growing via development for miles around. Two new schools have opened in the past year alone and there are plenty of new jobs attracting families to the area. The Houston, TX, area is near the coast and so there is an opportunity to expand the brand and develop a seaside resort stay that focuses on children’s amusement features. There is an opportunity too for the company to increase its brand image and brand loyalty by using social media marketing to increase visibility and connectedness with consumers.

Threats are that because many of the jobs in the region are oil-related, a downturn in the oil markets could lead to a serious depression in the local economy. Furthermore, competition may increase as there is no substantial barrier to entry. There is nothing preventing a rival park from opening, barring investment, and with the community growing it is possible that a new park with different features could enter the market and steal the company’s market share.

Five External Environmental Factors

Economic. Economic factors are currently supportive of the business. Houston is growing but not at a rate that would draw attention from speculators or momentum chasers (Douglas, 2019). Growth has been steady and ticking upwards for years, which indicates a strong foundation overall for a good and diversified economy.

Competition. The Houston Funplex, the Sky Sports Trampoline Park, and Boomers! can all be considered competition in the area. Boomers offers swimming pools, which is something different and the Funplex is more of an activity zone with mazes and ball pits. The trampoline park focuses on trampoline games—so each specializes in a unique take on kid fun, while our company offers a wide variety of diverse activities and a café with free wi-fi for adults.

Technology/Innovation. The amusement park has more of an old-school feel to which allows the company to keep things simple; however, parents are catered to by giving them the opportunity both for self-serve café options and full service seating. Wi-fi is available and strong, and the café has a luxurious and comfortable appeal that allows parents to also monitor their kids from above the action below. Essentially, parents have a bird’s eye view....…visit pay will also be available for guests passing through. Membership fees and the sale of low cost food and beverage products will be the main revenue streams for the business and all budgeting for staff, maintenance crew, cleaning crew, and management will come from these streams.

The following will be prices for admission/membership:

Annual Family Membership: $450

Annual Single Person Membership: $95

Single Day Admission: $55 per person—all ages

The cost for raw materials will be:

Rent: $15 sq/ft

Game Zones (Trampolines, PlayStations, Learning Stations, etc.): $450,000 for the initial outlay, including installation.

The overall initial investment start-up cost will be $1.5 million and will be raised from private investors who will own shares in the company.

Promotional costs will include:

Sponsorships: Annual budget of $150,000

Social media marketing: $60,000 for salaried social media marketer employee

Improvements, Monitor, Control

Improvements will be made as needed and will be determined by implementing a strategy to obtain customer feedback through email surveys in which the customer will be incentivized to complete the survey with a free beverage or food item from the café. The surveys will be a useful way learn what customers like, what they dislike and what can stand to be changed with quantitative data being analyzed to produce statistical evidence of customer needs. As Yang (2003) notes, the best way to get a sense of customer satisfaction is to utilize the customer service satisfaction survey, and that is what the Park will do to continually reassess, reflect on and reevaluate the kinds of entertainment offerings and services it provides to kids and adults.

Monitoring improvements will consist of a quality check strategy in which management identifies and defines the goals of improvement and uses measurable outcomes to verify whether the improvement has succeeded in bettering the experience of the consumer. This will necessarily entail more surveying but it will also be demonstrable through observational analysis and interaction with consumers while there by the customer service staff. The more engaged workers are with the consumers, the more likely consumers are to have a memorable and enjoyable experience and to want to keep coming back.

Once goals have been achieved, the way to control will be to use Kotter’s 8-step change management model to cement the changes and to make them permanent (Applebaum, Habashy, Malo & Shafiq, 2012). Control is something that can allow for the culture of the place to be set so that staff know what is expected of them in order to please consumers and consumers can come and go with assurance that every visit will be met with the same environment and friendly attitudes from staff.

Conclusion

A successful marketing plan depends upon knowing the target consumer, appealing to the consumer by appealing to his needs, and developing a quality product and service at an attractive price that is not offered elsewhere. That is what this plan has aimed to do. The Park will differentiate itself, advocate for good of families, and develop positive relationships…