Yen-sight on marketing materials: Theme park maps

There's a place I know in Ontario where the sea lions kiss, so the story goes... you know what main attraction I'm referring to located in Niagara Falls. And now that the jingle is in your head for hours on end (apologies), my insights on an event I had this weekend at Canada's premier marine theme park, MarineLand.

Beluga whales at Arctic Cove

My team hosts an annual family summer event for our audience every year and just this past weekend we touched down at MarineLand. As the lead of the event, I oversaw the welcome/registration area - and I couldn't take my eyes off the park maps we were distributing to our guests provided by the park. I'm a frequent theme park enthusiast and with my marketing mojo running that day, I knew I spotted a park map that didn't sit well with me. Why? How?

Marketing materials need to suit the audience - and the times. There needs to be a creative design behind the organization of the map - the text needs to be a call to action, special features need to stand out, visuals to show what an experience at the park can offer, and not overloaded with information.

Park map - Front

My insights:

• Out of date look and feel - Marketing materials that are developed to appeal to families in this day and age should look the part with colour (and lots of it!), visuals, and a design that stands out. Compared to park maps at other amusement parks, there was simply too much content about the park on the front and back of the map - heavy with text and not enough visuals or white space. I would've liked to see images of their marine mammal family on the map (not animated images but actual pictures of the various animals scattered across the park), more colour, cool fonts and no standard bullets.
• Paragraphed organization - I give them credit for providing helpful information for guests on the back of the map - everything from their operating schedule to picnicking to ride policies. It's a one-stop shop for any information you may need to know while on premise. Since the information is organized in paragraphs, I find it isn't readable as there are over a dozen sections all written in complete sentences, paragraph form. Format is important when creating marketing materials and being able to find different approaches to communicate this information to guests requires research and various attempts. The multiple paragraphs heavy with complete sentences is not an effective way to relay information to guests - if they were not constrained to this space, it could've been organized in a more cohesive manner (i.e. text boxes).
• No "call to action" or verb usage - There is no real call to action under Marine Attractions - I would've liked to see more persuasive communications with their interactive features (using verbs to attract guests): "Witness a fun-filled marine performance starring dolphins, sea lions and walruses" or "Observe MarineLand's Killer whale and Beluga whale families..." The bulleted points of features in these attractions currently on the park map do not excite me - each ride has a height requirement that is listed as a bulleted point which overwhelms the format on the main page. It doesn't look original but a style from the early 2000's.



Park map - Back

• Paper - I've spent my fair share of time finding the right paper for marketing materials. The weight, finish and type of paper matters. This map was lightweight (great) but the holes on the side remind me of the fax paper offices used to use back in the day (called continuous stationery).

Overall, I find that marketing materials need to continuously be updated to reflect the theme of the park, the intended audience, and the times. Readability is key when organizing the content - it shouldn't be overloaded with text (and when text is included, it should include verbs, a call to action or promotional language to attract guests) and should include visuals.

I don't know if you ever pay attention to park maps - if you do, that is great! I hope you can share your thoughts on maps or brochures that have really stood out - either positively or negatively.

All in all it was a fantastic event from registration to nifty giveaways for the kids to our mascot appearances and group lunch. I left feeling quite satisfied with how everything unfolded for our guests and it's true that everyone looooooves MarineLand!