Emporia Marketing brings ‘Pick ‘N’ Mix’ ticket launch to life

Merlin Blackpool, operator of the region’s biggest attractions including; The Blackpool Tower Eye, Madame Tussauds and SEA LIFE, had a vision to takeover the Blackpool Tower with a spoof pick ‘n’ mix tub, to launch the release of its brand new ‘Pick ‘N’ Mix’ pass.

To bring the vision to life, Merlin appointed Liverpool-based marketing agency, Emporia, who were able to do exactly that, using the very latest CGI technology to create a video giving the illusion of a physical pick ‘n’ mix tub encapsulating the iconic Blackpool Tower – something that quickly went viral.

To make it look as true to life as possible, Emporia had a team on site in Blackpool to complete the filming on the ground and then used CGI to manipulate the video to include the pick ‘n’ mix tub. The illusion was so good, that social media users weren’t sure if it was real or not; exactly the question Merlin wanted to get people talking about!

The CGI video was used by Merlin as part of its strategically planned marketing campaign, working with well-known Blackpool influencers, Myers Family Blackpool, to post the video with the caption ‘Did anyone else see this on the tower today?’ – with no suggestion of who was responsible.

In the days that followed other key stakeholders, including Visit Blackpool, shared the video sparking further curiosity and online conversation before Merlin Blackpool claimed responsibility and announced the launch of its ‘Pick ‘N’ Mix’ pass.

The new ticket will see consumers able to go to all eight of Merlin’s Blackpool attractions as many times as they like during a set time period, providing significant savings for its visitors.

Commenting on the video creation, Rachael Parry-Jones, managing director at Emporia said: “We were so excited when Merlin came to us with the brief of creating this optical illusion that would have the whole of Blackpool and the online community talking.

“Our in-house design and digital team worked incredibly hard to ensure every single element of the video was of the highest quality, and as realistic as possible, so that it would achieve Merlin’s goal of building a buzz around the ‘Pick ‘N’ Mix’ pass launch. We wanted people to wonder if there really was a tub built around the around the Tower and we’re very glad the video achieved exactly that.”

Kyle Murray, Head of Marketing at Merlin Entertainments Blackpool added: “‘The Pick ‘N’ Mix’ video was the first step on the journey to bring the pass to life. The campaign’s success relied upon this activation being believable, allowing the conversation to start and the message to be spread organically.

“It was fantastic to work collaboratively with Emporia, the brief was taken away and the end result was exactly what we had set out to achieve.

“The campaign and launch has been a huge success and in the days that followed us claiming responsibility for the video we saw a marked update in sales of our ‘Pick ‘N’ Mix’ passes.”

To find out more about Emporia Marketing visit www.emporiamarketing.co.uk, or to learn more about Merlin Blackpool visit www.merlinentertainments.biz