Six Flags to increase spend to promote new offerings, improve attendance (Score 71)

Sales lead: Reach out now to offer ad space & agency assistance. 

• Six Flags (SF) disclosed some of its 2023 marketing plans in its first earnings report (Q1) since hiring a new CMO. 
• The company plans on increasing ad spend as there is a direct correlation between higher ad spending and better park attendance. 
• SF is also increasing spend to promote festivals/events, park improvements, and new food/beverage offerings. 
• It is launching a new mobile app in June with an improved map, a food ordering system, and a park schedule. 

Target demographic: Gen-X & millennial parents with a Hispanic skew

The company will likely:

• Continue investing in the guest experience
• Significantly increase ad spend
• Experiment with new ad channels 
• Seek additional agency assistance (recent CMO hire)

Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: SF spent about $18k on national TV ads YTD after not allocating any budget toward this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend equaled $1m in 2021 and $1.1m in 2022. 
• Ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as La Rosa de Guadalupe [Spanish], NBA Basketball, Mi famoso y yo, and NHL Hockey. 

Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: SF spent around $6.3m on digital display ads YTD, about double the $3.2m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2022. 
• YTD data: 796.7m impressions via Facebook (73%), Instagram (14%), YouTube (12%), desktop display (1%), and mobile display (1%). 
• 2021-2022 spend: Full-year spend fell 40% from $27.2m in 2021 to $16.2m in 2022. 
• Ad location: It placed 99% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, travelok.com, and mic.com. It placed 1% of these ads indirectly through Quantcast onto sites such as ebay.com, kohls.com, buzzfeed.com, diply.com, and weather.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• Vivvix: SF also utilizes OOH and local broadcast. 
• Top podcasts sponsored: Timesuck with Dan Cummins, The Rizzuto Show, Are You Garbage? Comedy Podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, and The Right Time with Bomani Jones. 

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: We have not seen any roster shifts since SF named Edithann Ramey CMO earlier this year, so keep reaching out. 
• Current roster:
  • Moroch Partners: media AOR