Marketing Mix Paper

Marketing Mix Paper

Universal Studios Florida is 1 half of the 2-park Universal Orlando Resort, which also includes Universal's Islands of Adventure. Based on pop-culture icons, Hollywood blockbuster films, and hit television shows, Universal Studios Florida allows its guests to transport from their everyday lives to the imaginative screen of some of their favorite stars. The grand opening of Universal Studios Florida was June 7, 1990 and was the first real competition against the Walt Disney World mega-destination in the travel and tourism and amusement park industries. In a way Disney fans can thank Universal Studios for the creation of everything Disney. Walt Disney lost his rights to his first creation, Oswald the Rabbit, to Universal Studios. That experience led Walt Disney to create Mickey Mouse and the entire Disney empire.

Universal's Four P's of Marketing

Product, place, promotion, and price all make up a marketing mix. In order to satisfy a target group a company should use the four P's in their marketing strategy. In terms of product, Universal Studios Florida created the theme park resort after success at the first Universal Studios in California. In addition to the thrilling rides at the park, Universal also included Citywalk: a boardwalk for nighttime entertainment, luxury hotels with easy access to the parks, and a golf course. The choice to open a second park in another state that is already booming with a mega-destination, Walt Disney World, was a hard but wise choice. The parks have undergone major renovations such as repainting, stripping floors, and expansions. In addition to the major renovations the parks have also upgraded rides, and replace some of their well-known attractions such as KONGfrontation, Jaws, and Back to the Future: The Ride. Since the park is centered on thrill rides and attractions based off blockbuster hits Universal must keep up with the trends of newer movies coming out. Many of the consumers had a hard time adjusting with the product of Universal Studios Florida because they took out those notable rides, KONGfrontation, Jaws, and Back to the Future: The Ride. The customers left the park vowing to never return because many of the rides they came to see were no longer available and because of the long lines. In effort to satisfy their target market, Universal has decided to expand and bring more attractive rides to the park such as Despicable Me (opened in 2012), and Transformers (opening summer 2013) to name a few.

Place, when it comes to the marketing mix determines how the target group is reached. A common saying when choosing a place to put a business is "Location, Location, and Location". In order to reach a target market, "A product reaches customers through a channel of distribution" (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011, p. 36). Universal reaches its target market through several channels of distribution. There are vendors inside the park such as: Icee & Churro stands, Name on a Piece of Rice stands, and Bicycle transport services to name a few. Not only does Universal supply a product, they supply services as well. Universal saw the success of its California location and choose to tap into the market of in Florida by challenging Disney head on. The park would bring more jobs and more visitors to the state of Florida, which is always a plus to any economy. Also tourism was booming in Florida along with migrations of people from out of state so Universal thought that adding another alternative to Disney would have been profitable.

Promotion, in terms of the marketing mix, is all about telling the target market through all channels of distribution about the product. In regards to Universal Studios Florida and their reputation, they have to retain current customers because of some of the problems discussed above such as: long lines, unattractive displays in the park, and many of their notable rides being taken out. Promotion has to be geared on both acquiring new customers, and retaining the ones who have already visited the park. Universal Studios Florida is involved with many different types of promotions. Personal selling, mass selling, customer service, and sales promotion are a few examples of the avenues that Universal takes to get there product exposure. Personal selling for park tickets is available at any of the ticket counters and main-office centers. At the locations the company is directly selling the consumer tickets to the theme park locations. They also try to upsell by offering special discounts on merchandise and services inside the park. Telemarketing for ticket sales used to be in effect but was not as popular as many of the other tools of promotion. Mass selling involves advertising and publicity. Universal advertisements can be seen in many major locations and airports and anywhere in the cities that actually feature the theme parks. There are advertisements and pop ups on the internet that once you click, will take you to a site that allows you to purchase all things Universal. Universal Studios Florida receives publicity from various newspapers and internet blogs to name a few. Sales promotion is anything in addition to the advertising,