PR & Media Relations Agency

Minecraft ‘Meet the Mobs’ x Alton Towers Resort

objectives

It’s a Mob! The royal arrival that powered Alton Towers Resort’s summer

When Alton Towers Resort set out to launch Minecraft Meet the Mobs, a UK-first summer holiday event, it turned to Smoking Gun – not just for its theme park media relations expertise, but for its knack for finding the cultural hook that gets the nation talking.

Forget a standard launch announcement. When Minecraft’s Baby Mobs arrived at the Towers, we treated it like a royal birth. A spoof birth announcement, a baby card media mailer and a wildlife birth style ‘first look’ gave the media a playful story to follow, while a packed line-up of press trips put journalists and their families inside the experience.

Running over the summer break, the campaign delivered outstanding results, securing 356 pieces of media coverage and an incredible reach of almost 389 million. It smashed media KPIs, punching well above its weight for an event operating at a fraction of the scale of a typical ride launch.

But the real proof was at the gates, delivering a 12.34% year-on-year rise in visitors.

Objectives

Build awareness and excitement for the UK-first Minecraft Meet the Mobs event ahead of the school summer holidays to drive visitation
Get travel and family media through the Resort gates to review the experience first-hand

Alton Towers Resort’s Senior Communications Manager, Bex Sugand, commented:

“The Smoking Gun team consistently goes above and beyond, bringing an incredible level of passion, commitment and care to everything they do.

“Not only are they a pleasure to work with, but they continually deliver outstanding results. They care deeply about our success, challenge us in the right ways and never stop looking for opportunities to deliver more.”

strategy

Minecraft is one of the best-selling video games of all time. But in a crowded summer market, with countless family day-out options available, we needed a hook.

So we did what we do best – bold, culture-driven storytelling with a distinctly British sense of humour. Baby Mobs arriving at the Towers? That’s a royal birth.

We built the launch as a series of ‘newborn’ moments, backed by a tactical press office and a heavyweight press trip programme to keep the event in the news for the whole summer.

See our campaign to reawaken Nemesis

execution

Here’s how the royal baby boom unfolded:

Fit for a king: A spoof birth announcement on a royal-style easel in front of the Towers, inspired by the notices placed outside Buckingham Palace, kicked off the campaign – landing in the Mirror, The Sun, Manchester Evening News, Birmingham World and across the Reach regional network

Special delivery: A bespoke media invite designed as a traditional baby announcement card built anticipation with journalists – and had them RSVPing for the whole family

Press trips that paid off: Journalists and their kids were invited to experience the event first-hand, generating 246 pieces of coverage alone – including reviews in Birmingham Live, Yorkshire Live, National World, Take a Break, The Scottish Sun and Newsquest titles, plus a Facebook video review for the Mirror

A first look in the wilderness: The official debut of the real-life Baby Mob puppets, captured in a playful nod to zoo newborn styled photography

Press office on the front foot: Targeted outreach to listings and summer holiday round-ups kept the Alton Towers Resort Meet the Mobs event in front of families throughout the key period, with inclusion in the Daily Mail, The Sun and Manchester Evening News

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results

12.34%

year-on-year increase in visitors to the Resort.

356

pieces of media coverage. And 19 pieces of national coverage – more than double the target.

246

pieces of coverage from press trips alone, with reviews overwhelmingly positive about the immersive experience.

749

links to the Alton Towers Resort homepage, from an average Domain Authority of 58.

388.9 million

total potential reach.

Minecraft ‘Meet the Mobs’ x Alton Towers Resort

Objectives

results

12.34%

356

246

749

388.9 million

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