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Tourism Legoland launches Technic Coaster



Park’s Largest Expansion Being Marketed to Moms, Kids Over 6

CARLSBAD , Legoland California’s new Technic Coaster ride, launched earlier this month, is an attempt to reach out to the older half of the theme park’s 2- to 12-year-old demographic.

Not surprisingly, the same was true of Legoland’s advertising and promotions campaigns for the new ride.

TV and radio spots focused on the Technic Coaster offer an adventurous view of the roller coaster.

“Every rocket scientist remembers their introduction to G-Force,” says one commercial, the words playing over a shaking image of a boy in a Technic Coaster car.

The ride, which began a soft launch April 2 and had an official grand opening April 7, is considered the park’s most exciting attraction so far. At its fastest point, a drop early on, the ride runs at 28 miles an hour.

The ride was based on the Lego Co.’s Technic toy line, which also targets children 6-12.

Legoland’s marketing executives would not reveal how much money is being spent on this year’s campaign.

The campaign, designed by New York City-based Lowe Lintas & Partners, is running through radio and television in Southern California, said Nadine Corrigan, Legoland California’s marketing director, and global marketing director for the Legoland parks.

The television commercials are airing on children’s cable and “mother”-oriented stations, Corrigan said.

The Technic coaster television spots began airing April 2 to jumpstart awareness, she said.

The commercials, one 30 seconds long and the other 15 seconds, are two in a series of six television spots Legoland expects to run in the next couple of months, Corrigan said.

Of the commercials, she said, “It’s meant to appeal to a child and a guest about how emotionally they’re going to feel from the ride experience.”

The other 15-second spots, featuring images of children enjoying the rest of the park, feature the theme park’s experience in general.

Two more commercials are being completed, and will air with the campaign’s second commercial push, in late May or early June, Corrigan said.

There was a slight challenge to producing one of the commercials focused on the Technic Coaster, she said. The commercials needed to be shot before the actual ride was completed, about a month ago.

“We couldn’t wait for it to be completed, because if we had waited, we wouldn’t be able to be on air until early May,” Corrigan said. “We wanted to make certain that we were capitalizing on spring break and we wanted to be able to promote it in advance of that.”

As a result, the commercial was shot in a simulated car, with a dark background, she noted.

Other than television, Legoland’s campaign will run through radio. Like the TV spots, the various stations have a mom or kid focus, Corrigan said.

In San Diego County, ads will run on FM stations KYXY, KJQY, KMSX, KFMB and KHTS. The latter, which is called Channel 933, is aimed at the 10- to 12-year-olds aspiring to be teen-agers, Corrigan said.

For now, the campaign won’t include print advertising, she said. “Eventually, we’ll decide that we’re going to use print as another vehicle, but we wanted to just focus right now on electronic because of the reach and the frequency we’d be able to get through it.”

“And actually, it’s such a visual experience it’s such a dynamic, energetic experience, and I think tapping into television is the best space for that,” she continued.

The park also had several promotional programs set up for the Technic Coaster launch. On-air promotions were set up with several Southern California radio stations. Local station KFMB-FM, also known as Star 100.7, held a sneak preview event attended by 4,000 people March 31.

The two main promotional partners outside of the media are Burger King and Toys R Us, said Vicky Berryman, Legoland’s sponsorship and promotions manager.

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