I got SUCKERED by the Circus!!!!!!

by phil.wheatley

Posted: 11 years ago 18 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hi Guys

A quick tale, but has a good marketing lesson behind it. Recently, the Circus came to town, and my daughter wanted to go. In the town there were clowns handing out vouchers for the parent. With these vouchers, the parents could get in for a pound, you only had to pay for the child.

Now normally, adult prices cost more right, so we're thinking "cool, the child ticket will probably only cost about 3-5 pounds". So, we get there, we pay a pound each for the adult tickets...and then we say "..and one child please"....to which the cashier replied "that will be 12 pounds please" LOL

Well, I guess I should have seen that coming, I had to laugh to myself as I could see what a great marketing ploy it was. Oh well, it was fun, apart from getting sprayed by a water cannon!

It's always good to keep your eyes and ears open when you see stuff like this in motion, and think about how you can apply it to your own campaigns.

Anybody got any marketing stories like that?

Cheers
Phil

#circus #suckered

sabluuk

11 years ago

Smart marketing indeed. Ethical.... no.... smart.... yeah!

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phil.wheatley

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sabluuk

Smart marketing indeed. Ethical.... no.... smart.... yeah!

Haha, birderline ethical? The thing is, imagine you're standing there with your kid all pumped up, very hard to turn around and say "sorry, we can't go". Yeah, actually, you're right, probably not ethical

Phil

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Cali16

11 years ago

Well, they didn't lie, and their ploy certainly worked. However, I'm sure a lot of parents weren't very happy about this - especially those with more than one child! Not a tactic I would encourage.

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phil.wheatley

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Cali16

Well, they didn't lie, and their ploy certainly worked. However, I'm sure a lot of parents weren't very happy about this - especially those with more than one child! Not a tactic I would encourage.

Yeah, I wasn't overly happy, but I didn't fancy arguing with a 6 foot clown lol

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Myles Sinclair

11 years ago

If you take a look at these ticket prices for a circus, it would seem that you got a bargain - SANTUS CIRCUS

If your assumptions had been correct and the normal ticket price for a child had been £5, the adult price would have been around £10, making the event cost about £25. You still saved more than half that by only paying £12. I think you did rather well.

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phil.wheatley

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Myles Sinclair

I think you're right, but if you saw this circus, it's not quite like the one from that website lol

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onSubie 11 years ago

Originally Posted by sabluuk

Smart marketing indeed. Ethical.... no.... smart.... yeah!

I think it is brilliant. It's the kids who really want to go, so they are saying "bring your kids and you don't really have to pay for yourself".

And not unethical- the ticket prices don't seem outrageous. Though I don't really know the going rate for a child's circus ticket. But what would be the cost of 2 adults + 2 kids under a "normal" price structure?

Mahlon
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sbucciarel

Banned 11 years ago

The circus in our area has always been expensive and the big people didn't get in cheap. I have 4 kids and when they were little, it cost me over $100 bucks for the whole family to get in and then buy popcorn and sodas on top of that. It was a great circus and glad we went.

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phil.wheatley

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

A hundred bucks!!!!! Wow. Glad it was good though!

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cashp0wer 11 years ago

For $100 bucks that better have been a great circus. I don't think that was ethical at all but smart, yes.
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- Horny Devil Banned 11 years ago
  
  For $100 bucks I'd want shares in the circus.
  
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  phil.wheatley 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Horny Devil
  
  For $100 bucks I'd want shares in the circus.
  
  ...or just join the circus lol
  
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  Steve B 11 years ago
  
  I see something related on eBay all the time. A $3 item that weighs next to nothing but shipping and handling is $9.95. Ouch!
  
  Steve
  
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  phil.wheatley 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Steve B
  
  I see something related on eBay all the time. A $3 item that weighs next to nothing but shipping and handling is $9.95. Ouch!
  
  Steve
  
  In fact, I think that's how a lot of people make money selling old novels at 1p, then adding the standard 3 pounds for packaging. Not bad, if you can be bothered to do it of course.
  
  Phil
  
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Yadira Barbosa 11 years ago

And what about the candy, the pictures with the elepant or clown and toys they sell inside? Circus make me spend more than 3 movies including popcorn lol
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- phil.wheatley 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Yadira Barbosa
  
  And what about the candy, the pictures with the elepant or clown and toys they sell inside? Circus make me spend more than 3 movies including popcorn lol
  
  I guess that is a form of back end sales...
  
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  Yadira Barbosa 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by phil.wheatley
  
  I guess that is a form of back end sales...
  
  Actually it is, the tickets are the less profitable for them, the real money is on a $3 coke :p
  
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bwh1 11 years ago

Hi Phil, great story.

I always like to start a "BAN Mc DONALDS" campaign if they start one of those...

-Free gift with a Mc Kids Lunch- advert in national TV.

Tell me please how to stop a 6 year old wanting silly plastic toys from ICE Age, Hulk or Shrek.

No way man, that's Marketing Power on steroids. Kids are the ultimate target group.

G.
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I got SUCKERED by the Circus!!!!!!

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