Canada’s Wonderland gets personal

Having some of the largest and fastest roller coasters in North America, Canada’s Wonderland never falls short when it comes to touting its goods.

But the park is taking a different approach to promoting its offerings this season, says Dave Phillips, VP, marketing and sales, Canada’s Wonderland, adding that its new agency, Chicago-based Cramer-Krasselt, created and planned a campaign that shows a more personal and light-hearted side of the amusement park.

Phillips says that the campaign will be in full gear after Victoria Day weekend with radio ads that talk of how “connecting with your family can come at 120 kilometres per hour.” Billboards in the campaign feature creative of a mother and daughter riding a roller coaster together with the new tagline “Thrills Connect.”

“We were starting to go down a road where our radio and TV was calling out all of the rides and how big they are and how many we have,” he says. “This strategy is to maintain that, but also connect [with consumers] emotionally.”

Another change in strategy is that of targeting. In years past, the amusement park has honed in on families age 24 to 49 as well as teens age 12 to 17. While the former demographic will remain a key target for the park, Phillips says that it decided to steer away from heavy targeting of the latter as the audience is already very in tune with Canada’s Wonderland as seen from its significant Facebook presence.

Phillips says that the strong following of close to 600,000 users on its page points toward a high awareness level among youth. The brand is also reaching out to consumers age 18 to 34 with ads during shows such as The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory, Saturday Night Live, The Bachelorette and Two and a Half Men.

A comical TV spot was created by the agency to set the tone, and shows a woman clutching onto a strange man after riding a park roller coaster. The awkward moment leads to an uncomfortable exchange between her and her family sitting in the seats behind.

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