The Best Scare EVER!

By Rich Strelak - R&J Productions

Now that I have your attention, please read on and I promise I will reveal the Best Scare Ever! When we talk about the Haunt Industry and its needs, scares are the first thing we mention. Everyone claims we need more how-to and scare related seminars and articles. Why? Perception! We are a very visual business. We scare people for a living! So of course we should be interested in scares and other physical aspects of our business.

It has been my observation that if you put more than three Haunt owners in a room, within five minutes the discussion will turn to one topic every time.... marketing! Scares and great looking scenes are wonderful and the exciting part of the business. But without a good marketing plan, no one will ever see these great sets and props. Unfortunately too many people spend so much time on their show that the marketing and self promotion ends up taking the "back seat".

In a normal business situation you promote your product or service through the use of marketing campaign. One or more strategies are utilized dependant upon the needs of campaign. Are you introducing a new product, promoting an improved service or merely establishing a product's name recognition? Each of these has one common denominator, time. The marketing of the product or service is established over time. Your emphasis is on the strengths and qualities of your product or service. It is called a positive marketing approach.

Years ago, even all political campaigns followed such marketing techniques. Then someone decide that they did not have enough time to establish good name recognition for their candidate. So instead of focusing on what was right with their candidate, they focused on what was wrong with their opponent. So the negative campaign was born and from it, name calling and mud slinging emerged. Now it seems all political campaigns are negative and the result is no one trusts any politician.

In many cases, the Haunted Attraction business is falling into the same trap. Our business has a very narrow niche. We are limited by time. Attractions are usually only open for a one month period and during that time frame most only operate 18 to 20 days! Those that have spent all their time on the show do not have the time necessary to implement a good strong positive marketing campaign. Instead of promoting the virtues of their own attractions, some panic and sink to the level of a politician with slamming and mud slinging. Some even attempt to sabotage their competition's shows! The problem is that these actions bring negative attention to the industry as a whole. Many times, these actions have the possibility of back firing and causing problems for ALL attractions in your market. We may very well be our own worse enemy.

I posted in several forums asking people about things their competition did. The results were astonishing! There were simple antics such as stealing all the competitor's coupons, papering the parking lots with their own flyers, even buying a billboard next to the competitor's haunt. Some pushed the limit, bordering on an episode of "The Sopranos"! Haunts have sent their people to a competitor to trash the attraction, act as disgruntled patrons screaming that..." XYZ's Haunt is better!" and even make up fictitious complaints to city and fire officials!

There were several examples of where fire officials were called "anonymously" and complaints filed. I am sure that some of the attractions may have actually warranted a call, but NOT by a fellow Haunter. We had a fictitious complain against us this past season. Yes it was an inconvenience since the fire department realized we were up to code, but the damage extended beyond our attraction. The fire department decided to make a surprise visit to ALL haunted attractions in the county! The result was a black eye for the entire industry in our market.

Some of you read the above paragraphs with disgust thinking "I would never stoop to such behavior" and yet you may have done even more damage! How? By simply granting a TV or newspaper interview to promote your attraction.

Many Haunt owners are more behind-the-scene type people. Questioned, you might tend to over-hype your own show. Your attraction becomes "the biggest", "the scariest", "the best", or "the most popular". But I ask, by whose standards? If you claim to be the "biggest", by what criteria do you make that claim? Is it square footage? Linear feet? Time in the attraction? Number of scares? Number of actors? Number of sponsors? Amount of money spent? How many of you had a new attraction that was marketed as their city's "biggest or best"? I ask, how can a new untried and untested attraction claim to be the best?

We are out to promote our business, our passion. We talk about our haunt and maybe we do slam the competition a bit. The reporters seldom have as much background information as we do. It becomes quite easy to be misquoted or misinterpreted. When statements we make are printed or aired they become "facts". You may rightly feel that your attraction is the scariest, now it is in print and it is a fact. How can that hurt?

Every time we misrepresent our attractions we hurt the industry AND ourselves. Word of mouth is a very potent force. Here is a scenario, you over-hype your event. The effect works and "Bob Patron" comes to your attraction instead of your competition. But now "BOB" comes out disappointed, so he spreads the word and it travels fast! The competition loses but you also lose. You can prove my point to yourself. Think of a movie you went to that you really enjoyed. Now how many people did you tell about it? The average is 3 or 4 people. Now think of a movie you went to that was really bad, I mean it stunk! How many people did you tell? Probably almost everyone you talked to! You most likely started conversations with "... hey don't go see...". On an average, you will tell 12 to 16 people, or 4 times as many, about a bad experience! Had you not over-hyped your event "Bob's" attitude might have been more of "it's OK" or maybe even enjoyed himself. By not misrepresenting yourself you may have added 10 or more potential customers.

So do we drop all superlatives? No. We must hype our business; remember we only have a month. Change your wording. Instead of "THE scariest..." you become "one the scariest...." It is still hype. It still promotes your attraction but it does not hurt the industry. Use a third party to tout your virtues. Get a local celebrity to go through and quote them. Take a lesson from the movie industry. Read the quotes hyping a new release, "Breathtaking!" "Cinematic Magic!" "Non-stop Action!" Then read who they quote, "Bob Jones from the Kumquat Review"! As long as you quote someone else it's justified.

Don't just talk to a reporter; have them actually go through the attraction first. If they like it, they will do all the hype for you! What sounds better, you saying "I have a great attraction" or a reporter saying "it's the scariest thing I've ever been through!"? Letting others promote your attraction does have one drawback or maybe one advantage, you do have to provide a decent product or it backfires!

Some attractions still feel they have to slam the competition. They must tell everyone why they shouldn't go there. In one market a haunt owner was interviewed on TV. He spent the entire time telling the reporter why you should not go to "Competition X". The end result was his attraction was mentioned twice, "Competition X" was mentioned 12 times! If you slam the competition too much, people just might decide to go see for themselves. Remember you have a more critical eye. The attraction might not live "down" to your description and the patron may end up liking it more than they normally would have. In one market two major haunts spent most of their time slamming each other in interviews. Their childishness hurt the industry in that the following year NO haunts were interviewed. Instead one station covered a home haunt, the other a merchant's "Safe Street".

We become our own worst enemy because maybe we spend too much time worried about a single scare and less time worried about a single promotion. Don't get me wrong. We need good scares, great facades, good actors and creepy looking room décor. We need to present the best attraction we possibly can. But we need to spend more effort on the positive marketing of our attraction.

Start early; don't let the marketing become an after thought. Coupons are probably your best tool. Everyone waits until the last moment waiting for that one "good sponsor". So instead of coupons hitting the streets at the end of September, your order is in line waiting to be printed with the hundreds of other procrastinators! Studio Tek Printing gave me a great marketing tip, print your coupons early and get them out. If a really good sponsor comes on board get a second printing with their logo added. You will keep the new sponsor, service the continuing sponsors and more importantly get the word out early!

Focus on the positive aspects of your attraction. Find out what works best, promote that and work to make every other aspect of your show live up to that standard. When you attend a seminar or read through the magazines and on-line forums don't just look for a new prop idea or a new scare. Look for marketing ideas. Ask about promotions that have worked for people. Become a "student" of the business.

The days of "if you build it, they will come" is over. Your audience has too many choices. Slamming your competition not only hurts the industry but will hurt you in the long run. Work with your competition. Ask to exchange coupons, and actually pass them out! Having a patron see your show and then a competitor might be your best endorsement. Eventually the good attractions will remain in business and the "get-rich-quick" guys will fall by the wayside.

So what is the Best Scare Ever? You already have it in your haunt! But the question is how many people know it and more importantly, how many people will see it? You can spend $5,000 on one prop and have no one see it, or you can have one well placed actor in a drop door spend $5,000 promoting it and have hundreds of people see it. Which one is more effective? If you can't answer that one then I only have one other suggestion... how do you feel about the fast food industry?

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