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If you could ask Don one question.


Sonofbeast2.0
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Because I remember, eidetically, the Van McCoy flash mob and retro-uniform crepe-paper rose sales of the 2008 Knievel Jump, I must ask:

Will someone be serving Porkchops and Applesauce during next Sunday's "Brady Bunch" visit?

There, I did it. [Runs for the door]

:ph34r:

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  • 11 years later...
19 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

@DonHelbig what were your thoughts on the Orion project from its conception to its announcement?

It missed the mark. It fell well short of garnering the same level of anticipation, interest, excitement that teaser campaigns and earned media placements did for Diamondback, Banshee, Orion, and the parking tolls leading up to those announcements. Slapping posters on a wall as teasers just didn’t net the same results. It would have created more buzz had the teasers been things like boulders being placed around the front gate area and around park with steam coming out. The posters were not aligned with what planning and design had in mind for the backstory. And then on the night of the announcement, a banner was unveiled with a rendering and it had The Racer with one side running backward. So, guests were wondering if that was returning instead of talking about Orion. Plus, half the conversation on social media was is it really a Giga? 

The parking tolls announcement had everyone buzzing because an aerial photo from behind The Racer that showed the parking lot and tolls was used on social media with the accompanying post copy saying two things that had been at Kings Island since 1972 was going away. Naturally, everyone assumed The Racer. “What’s Kings Island doing?” stories were everywhere. New York Times. Los Angeles Times. Boston Globe. I worked with KIC on that teaser and that really helped amplify the speculation. When it was announced new parking tolls and the original parking tolls would be torn down, there was a lot of conversation on social media with people breathing a sigh of relief The Racer wasn’t being torn down. Because of all of the chatter, news of the new tolls was nation wide. Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair’s CEO at the time, was impressed that I could take new parking tolls and get it in the New York Times, and other major papers. 

Orion could have had that same kind of media coverage leading up to and for its announcement. It didn’t make it much further than the park’s backyard. 

just a lot of misses from start to finish. 
 



 

 

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2 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

It missed the mark. It fell well short of garnering the same level of anticipation, interest, excitement that teaser campaigns and earned media placements did for Diamondback, Banshee, Orion, and the parking tolls leading up to those announcements. Slapping posters on a wall as teasers just didn’t net the same results. It would have created more buzz had the teasers been things like boulders being placed around the front gate area and around park with steam coming out. The posters were not aligned with what planning and design had in mind for the backstory. And then on the night of the announcement, a banner was unveiled with a rendering and it had The Racer with one side running backward. So, guests were wondering if that was returning instead of talking about Orion. Plus, half the conversation on social media was is it really a Giga? 

The parking tolls announcement had everyone buzzing because an aerial photo from behind The Racer that showed the parking lot and tolls was used on social media with the accompanying post copy saying two things that had been at Kings Island since 1972 was going away. Naturally, everyone assumed The Racer. “What’s Kings Island doing?” stories were everywhere. New York Times. Los Angeles Times. Boston Globe. I worked with KIC on that teaser and that really helped amplify the speculation. When it was announced new parking tolls and the original parking tolls would be torn down, there was a lot of conversation on social media with people breathing a sigh of relief The Racer wasn’t being torn down. Because of all of the chatter, news of the new tolls was nation wide. Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair’s CEO at the time, was impressed that I could take new parking tolls and get it in the New York Times, and other major papers. 

Orion could have had that same kind of media coverage leading up to and for its announcement. It didn’t make it much further than the park’s backyard. 

just a lot of misses from start to finish.

I would agree, when compared to earlier installations- the hype wasn’t there; especially when one remembers that it was the park’s largest ride investment.

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To be honest, while Orion is a great ride I've even had non enthusiast friends tell me they thought "isn't it just another Diamondback?" Even a member of the GP can tell when two rides are similar. 

I get that KI took over a project that CGA abandoned but at the same time I do feel like the park needs something more unique the next time around. Don't get me wrong Orion is a great coaster and I'm not knocking it or saying it's a bad ride. I'm very glad we have it. However the next time around we need something that will please the enthusiasts crowd but also something that will get the GP excited and thinking "wow I've never seen anything like that!" 

Unfortunately with current communication slump the park seems to be in, the next coaster project probably will have very uninteresting teasers and promotional material. I think it's bad when you see billboard ads for Dollywood in Cincinnati and not for Kings Island... 

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16 hours ago, johnjniehaus said:

To be honest, while Orion is a great ride I've even had non enthusiast friends tell me they thought "isn't it just another Diamondback?" Even a member of the GP can tell when two rides are similar. 

I get that KI took over a project that CGA abandoned but at the same time I do feel like the park needs something more unique the next time around. Don't get me wrong Orion is a great coaster and I'm not knocking it or saying it's a bad ride. I'm very glad we have it. However the next time around we need something that will please the enthusiasts crowd but also something that will get the GP excited and thinking "wow I've never seen anything like that!"

Despite how people felt about the ride itself, marketing wasn’t stellar compared to previous additions.

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