Theme Park – the Product: Fun, Smiles, Lifelong Experiences, and Memories.

A friend suggested I write an article from a “third-person perspective” about theme parks.   Perhaps the best way to approach this may be to recall the start of my career at Ocean Park Hong Kong.   Before Ocean Park, I had a successful 30+ year sales and marketing career in tourism and hospitality with 5-star hotels in America and Asia.  As such, jumping to a theme park from hotels was a new twist for my career.  Initially, I thought selling the park would not be so difficult, even though it was vastly different from air-conditioned lobbies, ballrooms, restaurants, and guest rooms of a 5-star hotel.

I was an outsider looking at a theme park from a third-person perspective, from the outside.    I had no prior knowledge nor experience with theme parks and knew nothing about them other than the fact that I had visited a few in the past.     What I remembered from those early visits was the spectacular themed attractions, costumed characters, thrill rides, fantasies, and of course the make-believe that came alive everywhere in the park.  There were also many smiles along the way with good, happy, exciting, and positive memories.

As I was accepting a sales and marketing leadership role at Ocean Park, I realized that I best learn and understand this “product” quickly.  After all, one can’t sell if one doesn’t know what the product is nor what it means to the customer.   Looking at Ocean Park as an outsider, I saw the expected: lots of themes, entertainment, shows, attractions, games, characters, thrill rides, fantasies, and make-believe.      They were all highly visible with vibrant colors, sounds, and promises of excitement, almost like suspended animation.   Ocean Park was also intriguing as it had a superb animal, education, and conservation element.   It was also a park with active wildlife, headlined by Giant Pandas from China.   Including the animals, these were the “features and advantages” of the theme park. 

So, what is the product?

 As I began, I conducted a thorough situation analysis which included standing under a tree for three days, meeting and listening to visitors.     The visitors would certainly tell me. 

What are we selling?  What does the guest want? What is the real benefit for someone to buy a ticket and visit Ocean Park?  From the surface, the product seemed to be all about the kinds of rides, types of shows, entertainment, games, and the different animals.     However, one thing you learn very quickly in theme parks is that rides, shows, and attractions are easily purchased from manufacturers and vendors, and they are readily available to any and all parks.  Any park can buy these.   As such, all parks (competitors) have similar offerings. 

So, what makes Ocean Park different from the others? 

Think about airlines.  They all fly either Boeing or Airbus aircraft with GE, CFM LEAP, or Rolls Royce engines.  What sets the airlines apart?

It didn’t take long to realize that there was much, much more.   What I initially saw was looking through naïve eyes at unfamiliar territory.    

As I stepped aside from being an outsider, and looked realistically and almost philosophically at the park, it was right there in front of me.   The park was much more than the wildlife, rides, shows, and attractions.  

The real product at Ocean Park was Fun,  Smiles, Life Long Experiences and Memories.  THIS IS WHAT WE ARE SELLING.  It was the meaning of Ocean Park and why someone would buy a ticket to visit.  The components were not the product but the means to create and produce the product.     

Remember that Features + Advantages equal BENEFITS (“FAB”), which is why people buy.   This is an example of a FAB statement that we developed and used over those 15 years.

Feature:  Ocean Park has a fabulous exhibit to showcase the Giant Panda.

Advantage:  Guests can be close to the animals and see their natural way of life.   Guests would not ever have this opportunity if these animals were not presented in this manner and under human care.

BENEFIT:  Guests can see these magnificent animals,  appreciate the great value and importance of conservation and preservation to ensure these wildlife ambassadors live on for many generations and do not become extinct.  These were experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.

We wrote many, many FAB statements like this highlighting the BENEFITS of all the features and advantages in the park.  People buy BENEFITS (not features and advantages).   Every one of the 80+ rides, shows and attractions is a feature and advantage that translate into Fun,  Smiles, Life Long Experiences and Memories, the real benefit to visit the park, the real product. 

With this in mind, every time we present the Park and its attractions,  it has to result in Fun,  Smiles, Life Long Experiences and Memories.    This is how we want our customers to see the product.   This is the meaning of visiting Ocean Park.

From a third person and outsider, I identified the product and became a salesperson for the park.   I was now ready to sell and lead the sales team.