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If they were to show more behind the scenes footage of it, they may as well go the whole hog and show all the content which didn't make it into the final product, like the alternative ending and the supposed 12 different experiences. I just cannot see this attraction being updated much more other than technical fixes from here onwards. Merlin have invested too much money in it already to a mixed reception, so doubt they will keep it feeling fresh any longer.

Kraft became Mondelezé International not long after buying Cadbury's. The recipe was changed in the name of profit and blaming changing tastes and political pressure to reduce sugar. Its a prime example of the owner not understanding the brand they have, which is a similar problem Varney has. He fundamentally has failed to grasp the importance of the Merlin brand and as a result focuses on selling the sub brands within the other sub brands. They should be selling the master brand, not the hundreds of other small ones. Another consequence of this lack of a master brand is that Varney and the board seem to micromanage. The sub brands get a lot of influence from higher ups and push them towards a goal that doesn't really benefit the product and benefits the ability to sell the product in the other sub brands.

Nick Varney at the end of the day is a brand creator. Its what he worked as for many years and its what he has focused on as a CEO. You have the overall Merlin brand, the sub brands (thorpe, alton ect.) and then you have the microbrands (nemesis, cheap and tacky IPs). Now Merlin is typically very good at the sub branding and the microbrands. There are exceptions with Thorpe being one of them. Thorpe lacks direction and as such its brand is poor. However its issues wouldn't be as significant if the overall brand was used more. Take Cadbury's, nearly every product is Cadbury's ... (Cadbury's cream egg, Cadbury's dairy milk). I feel to maximise revenue and reduce on advertising costs Merlin should be pushing the master brand more. It would drive up pass sales and would mean customer location is far less of an issue for advertising campaigns. The midways cant afford tv advertising by themselves but a combined campaign with the whole group can drive customers towards them which may never have considered it.

When it has been operating for awhile and they want to drum up some interest in it, I hope they do some behind the scenes videos on how it all works. As long as they make it clear which videos have spoilers so those who don’t want to know, don’t have to watch. I think we would have more of an understanding why it breaks down so much of we saw all the components. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Constructively criticising the parks for their flaws is a much better option then pretending everything is fine... It is a DISCUSSION forum after all no? At the end of the day we all want the parks to succeed, I want Thorpe to become a park I would actually plan a trip to again, same for Chessie really, as they've both regressed as parks over the last few years... It's not helped by looking longingly across the Channel and seeing the quality additions on the continent, and wondering why the second biggest theme park operator can't match even decent quality additions that some small family run parks are getting... Thorpe have a brand issue problem, not helped by their constant changing philosophies and target audience, which added onto that they actually have nothing to shout about addition wise means they haven't got a marketing campaign to speak of... Pushing for the birthday celebration would be sensible, but are the park able to get a budget for that? Do they have anything confirmed for this season events wise beyond Fright Nights? Wouldn't be surprised if they've had a review of the events last season and had a lot of question marks over their successes.. I honestly no idea of the whole year of Walking Dead or Love Island Lates were actually critical successes, especially the Lates stuff beyond goons being able to whore some night rides...

Plus a confusion over who the target market actually is... One year it's for families, next year it's the MOST TERRIFYING YEAR YET! As badly as the places are run at least Chessie and Towers have quite distinct and solid branding behind them...

I remember seeing Facebook and email adverts last year with this sort of thing, the Facebook page was called Merlin Backstage or something similar and it was advertising a range of different Merlin attractions and Merlin passes over two adverts. The Merlin pass is currently the main thing linking all the attractions together and the GP who own it are aware of the 'Merlin' brand/company.

Since Kraft changed the recipe I think peoples opinion of them are already changing for the worst. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thorpe needs to go back to 2014 marketing where an island like no other was used. You could easily use the same format for adverts except change the line at the end saying 'and now new for 2019 there are...'.

Yeah, I'm perhaps being a bit tedious with my cynicism and critique on the whole 'why aren't Thorpe marketing themselves' issue at the moment. That's particularly true when comparing them to other parks; every park is different, has their different situations, strategies and so forth. But time and time again, Thorpe have screwed it up. Since about 2014, they've kept changing their target market. It's never been coherent. It's a stupid way to market a big theme park. But if they're going to do it like that, at least set it up so that at the start of the year, everyone knows what you're doing. You've got 2 theme parks advertising, one shouting about how they've got a new family attraction, and one building on the success of a thrill attraction. Leave it too late, and regardless of what Thorpe do, they'll have missed the boat because people will already have in their minds their plans. By now, they should know what they're doing this year (and ideally have it set so it's coherent with any future plans), and how they are going to brand themselves. Push that - the opportunity is there, so just bloody do it. Also, I'm normally not that cynical about Thorpe. Even if I don't like everything they do, I can usually see why they've done it. But we're at a point where Thorpe has little identity and other big UK parks in and out of Merlin are improving, and Thorpe are literally sitting there putting memes on social media. It boggles the mind.

‘If we can hold off anything depicting a referendum, that would be great’. Thorpe of all the main Merlin attractions (by far) has the most significant issues concerning brand, marketing, identity and as an overall product. Chessington and Towers are not immune to noticeable issues, but are doing comparatively better as whole. The park was booming in the naughties, but is now slipping in a worrying state as a result of poor product offering, decisions and experience. The park for most guests is probably seen as an overpriced, run down place with unreliable horror themed rides with an abusive clientele and ‘over worked’ staff. They are likely one of the lowest performing major tourist attractions in the U.K. The possible soloution is to get back to basics. Look at what they are offering and who to? Create marketing to appeal to that offering and stick with it. Work on park appearances and experience. When these are sorted, start investing in some quality ‘long term’ reliable hardware and infrastructure. I think they are probably overdue a new entranve too considering their existing one has just been updated cheaply every few years.

The excruciatingly tedious cynicism of some people on here really begs the question why they're on this forum in the first place.

You don't need new things to advertise a theme park. A solid brand and a mention of the park's 40th birthday would work.

No theme, eh? I'll make it themed with a darker/medieval look, like Transylvania, like Flug Der Daemonen (Flight of the Demon) at Heide Park. Besides, I don't mind how many people will attend to the area. I would call Knightmare's area as "Dark Kingdom".

See any company that wants to be 'relevant' and joins in any meme... Which is weird because you see the likes of Toverland showing how much the park has evolved over 10 years... But I guess the only addition of any actual worth since 2009 at Thorpe has been Swarm, so not much can be said for the past decade...