XXI Commonwealth Games: Gold Coast 2018

[rac2703]

The Looney Tunes did appear briefly on Sunrises program one day during the week, I can’t find footage of the segment though. 

I was also watching the coverage of the squash, which is being held in the Village Roadshow Studios, the commentators did talk about the surrounding theme parks briefly during the coverage. 

For the parks to make the most of games they would have had to fork out huge dollars to be official sponsors of the games or sponsors of the channel 7 coverage. 

[Tim Dasco]

I would have thought VRTP would have made a deal with the sound stages to get their names used. But seems like either to much money or not worth it.

[rac2703]

Here are some basic costings for sponsorship according to http://www.paykelsydney.com.au/blog/youre-thinking-commonwealth-games-2018-involvement/  - “Packages for top level sponsorships being quoted at anywhere up to $3.6M, around $2.4M for Tier 2 or $500,000 for spot packages”

[Brad2912]

2 hours ago, Tim Dasco said:

I would have thought VRTP would have made a deal with the sound stages to get their names used. But seems like either to much money or not worth it.

There is a reason only the Swimming Stadium had a naming right sponsorship... bucket loads of cash for what is basically limited exposure as only the swimming program and the athletics finals rate particularly highly on tv. 99% of people attending the events are aware of the theme parks, so really there is no benefit to being the “village theme parks squash Centre” 

[Jamberoo Fan]

3 hours ago, rac2703 said:

The Looney Tunes did appear briefly on Sunrises program one day during the week

I didn't know that & whilst that's generally good, Sunrise isn't considered part of the official Commonwealth Games TV broadcast. Sunrise might be broadcasting from the Gold Coast for the Games but how often do breakfast TV programs visit the Gold Coast (even just for weather segments)? Very often - so the tourism boost resulting from it would be nearly the same as usual.

Nightly coverage of the sport is getting about 2 million viewers nationally (pre-Games prime-time programming would get no more than half of that) whilst Sunrise is currently getting about 500,000 national viewers (pre-Games would get 400,000 national viewers).

Nationally, the Commonwealth Games is doubling prime-time viewers whilst only increasing Sunrise viewers by 25%.

Even if the theme parks were getting promotion from Network 7 (not through commercials, that is), it might have backfired - with locals out of town, we could have been getting footage of empty theme parks particularly if any of it wasn't filmed prior to the Games starting - it wouldn't be exactly encouraging footage. Maybe that could be why Network 7 haven't being showing the theme parks?

Are the theme parks bustling or are they resembling Dodge City in Wild West Falls ?

In the end, Ardent Leisure & Village Roadshow (or any other tourism operator on the Gold Coast for that matter) could've at least made an 11-day TV commercial marketing campaign on Network 7 just for the Commonwealth Games targeting interstate visitors. Unless all of the Gold Coast's tourism operators couldn't afford purchasing the advertising space?

[Original]

That’s an average for Sunrise across the whole 3 hours of whose watching. The number of people who actually tune in (the culminative audience) is much, much higher. 

So crosses like that still work as exposure to the audience, although Australians (I hope) already know who LT are and where to find them on the coast. 

[rac2703]

Just because the parks aren’t getting much exposure on our screens it doesn’t mean they are being shown by the international networks.

The parks are better off focusing on exposure with the international networks, most people watching the 7 coverage will know about the parks. 

I know that some Singapore and Malaysian networks were at Sea World filming with the dolphins, the hosts were swimming with the dolphins. 

[Slick]

Why aren't there giant billboards on the side of busses that say "Verse your commonwealth rivals on the country's best coaster? As @joz mentioned, why aren't there different countries having a race down the aqua racers for a bit of good fun and commonwealth spirit? How many other commonwealth countries have baby tigers or the beautiful native wildlife we have?

Every day there should be something incredible going on with the athletes and our parks. There's an opportunity to tap in to dozens of countries and gain new influence and advertise what's on offer that's totally been wasted in my opinion.

For Dreamworld, there could've been:

- "Freestyle divers take on the freefall of Dreamworld's Giant Drop"

- "Dreamworld helps gymnasts cool down next door with a splash with baby tigers"

- "Kenny Koala and a dozen of his koala friends get cuddly with athletes at Dreamworld"

- "Local and neighbouring indigenous athletes get one on one weapons training with 16 year-old Dreamworld Corroboree rockstar."

And as for Village Roadshow Theme Parks:

- "John Citizen & athlete go head to head on the country's best coaster, Rivals HyperCoaster""

- "The Flash takes on gold-winning marathon champions"

- "What's faster? A roller-coaster, Superman, or a gold-medallist runner? We find out."

- "Sea World's dolphins impart vital message about conservation to athletes in one on one"

- "Athletes tour the country without leaving the Gold Coast at Australian Outback Spectacular"

- "Surprised guests catch a wave with Usain Bolt at Wet 'n' Wild"

And this is without considering the fact that the games are ripe for guerrilla style marketing. Where was Bugs Bunny cheering on athletes at the Marathon or popping up randomly and being part of the spirit of the games? I would've loved to see Kenny Koala pop in next door in a Model T Ford and for Dreamworld to give out a stack of free passes. Could you imagine if Dreamworld still had a barbershop quartet and they randomly popped up on the strip? Why not do a games challenge for the public? Can you do all the biggest rides on the Gold Coast? Win a free limited edition hat with all the park's logos on them. And there could be so many live events that encourage athletes and volunteers to stay after the games and take the parks up on the opportunity to go for free.

The ideas go on and on hey, but what do I know, i'm just some random whinging online.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Roachie

[webslave]

I think Roachie's reply goes more to my thoughts on the parks making the most of the opportunity.

[New display name]

37 minutes ago, Roachie said:

Why aren't there giant billboards on the side of busses that say "Verse your commonwealth rivals on the country's best coaster? As @joz mentioned, why aren't there different countries having a race down the aqua racers for a bit of good fun and commonwealth spirit? How many other commonwealth countries have baby tigers or the beautiful native wildlife we have?

Every day there should be something incredible going on with the athletes and our parks. There's an opportunity to tap in to dozens of countries and gain new influence and advertise what's on offer that's totally been wasted in my opinion.

For Dreamworld, there could've been:

- "Freestyle divers take on the freefall of Dreamworld's Giant Drop"

- "Dreamworld helps gymnasts cool down next door with a splash with baby tigers"

- "Kenny Koala and a dozen of his koala friends get cuddly with athletes at Dreamworld"

- "Local and neighbouring indigenous athletes get one on one weapons training with 16 year-old Dreamworld Corroboree rockstar."

And as for Village Roadshow Theme Parks:

- "John Citizen & athlete go head to head on the country's best coaster, Rivals HyperCoaster""

- "The Flash takes on gold-winning marathon champions"

- "What's faster? A roller-coaster, Superman, or a gold-medallist runner? We find out."

- "Sea World's dolphins impart vital message about conservation to athletes in one on one"

- "Athletes tour the country without leaving the Gold Coast at Australian Outback Spectacular"

- "Surprised guests catch a wave with Usain Bolt at Wet 'n' Wild"

And this is without considering the fact that the games are ripe for guerrilla style marketing. Where was Bugs Bunny cheering on athletes at the Marathon or popping up randomly and being part of the spirit of the games? I would've loved to see Kenny Koala pop in next door in a Model T Ford and for Dreamworld to give out a stack of free passes. Could you imagine if Dreamworld still had a barbershop quartet and they randomly popped up on the strip? Why not do a games challenge for the public? Can you do all the biggest rides on the Gold Coast? Win a free limited edition hat with all the park's logos on them. And there could be so many live events that encourage athletes and volunteers to stay after the games and take the parks up on the opportunity to go for free.

The ideas go on and on hey, but what do I know, i'm just some random whinging online.

For this to work wouldn't the parks have to be sponsors of the games and have some agreement of using athletes to promote them.  I don’t think the Star Casino would be happy if the parks got the athletes for free after the casino had to sponsor them to get access.  The Commonwealth Games has been very quick to stop anybody who is not a sponsor from benefiting from the games.

"Meter Maids owner Roberta Aitchison claims her staff — dressed in skimpy gold bikinis — have been told not to venture into official Commonwealth Games areas, that includes the promenade at Surfers and famous Cavill Avenue"

"Dracula’s took their show to the streets of Surfers Paradise this week to celebrate the Commonwealth Games and council turned up".

Edited April 13, 2018 by Skeeta

[Brad2912]

No commercial promotion or activation is allowed in games venues or in precincts.. 

only paid sponsors (namely the Star, Optus & Woolworths) are allowed to mention the games or athletes in promotional activity (hasn’t stopped small business from trying to piggyback off it, but a large corporation like VTP would get done). 

The Comm Games sees itself as a brand - and as such doesn’t want others stealing exposure from its operations 

[Slick]

Sweet. So the second largest Gold Coast employers and the most integral part of tourism on the Gold Coast today should 100% be a sponsor the games then. To me it’s a no brainer. 

[Brad2912]

Maybe VTP evaluated and decided the ROI wasn’t high enough given their target market and the expected tv audience demographics? 

I seriously doubt either of our parks didn’t investigate and evaluate a partnership opportunity. Maybe they believed the marketing $$ were better spent in more targeted campaigns following the games? 

Edited April 13, 2018 by Brad2912

[rac2703]

As stated the games are very strict with promotional activity. There is no way they would allow Bugs Bunny to just pop up at an event, they don’t even allow you to take in pre-packed food (chips, drinks etc) because of the branded logos on the packets - you have to empty them into clear bags/containers before entering a venue. 

46 minutes ago, Roachie said:

Sweet. So the second largest Gold Coast employers and the most integral part of tourism on the Gold Coast today should 100% be a sponsor the games then. To me it’s a no brainer. 

With sponsorship deals starting at over $2million for 11days, I’d much rather the parks keep the money for future attractions which will do way more for drawing in the crowds. 

—

This info is direct from the Games website:

You must not engage in conduct which would suggest that you or your products or services have an association (such as a sponsorship, approval or affiliation) with the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games™ that you do not have.

Statements must not be used as a promotional tool or draw specific attention to the Commonwealth Games e.g. theming, highlighted text and Commonwealth Games related headlines are not allowed.

Information pertaining to the Commonwealth Games may not be used on signage, billboards, TV advertising, radio advertising or online advertising.

Media releases, advertising, promotions, giveaways, packages and alike which reference the Commonwealth Games are strictly forbidden as they are solely designated under sponsorships rights e.g. a ‘Gold Coast 2018 Games Package’ would create an association and be in breach of Commonwealth Games rights.

Edited April 13, 2018 by rac2703

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Roachie said:

Sweet. So the second largest Gold Coast employers and the most integral part of tourism on the Gold Coast today should 100% be a sponsor the games then. To me it’s a no brainer. 

With respect - that suggestion needed more brain...

35 minutes ago, rac2703 said:

With sponsorship deals starting at over $2million for 11days, I’d much rather the parks keep the money for future attractions which will do way more for drawing in the crowds.

^ditto.

[New display name]

1 hour ago, Roachie said:

Sweet. So the second largest Gold Coast employers and the most integral part of tourism on the Gold Coast today should 100% be a sponsor the games then. To me it’s a no brainer. 

Before the game started I would have agreed with you and if you went by what the Commonwealth Games was telling everybody the Gold Coast was going to go off. 

The Commonwealth Games sent out letters asking bosses if employees could work from home because it’s going to be busy and hard for people to move around.

In reality my normal 30min trip from Hope Island to work is taking me half the time.

Nightquater, (located in the main transport hub for the Commonwealth games) was going to be open every night of the games but decided on Wednesday not to open that night and Thursday night.

I believe most if not all the supermarkets that were to open 24hrs during the games decided to only open 12hrs a day now.

Festival 2018 in Southport has lost half of its stalls because it’s a ghost town.

People are going to the sporting events than catching the first train out of here and anybody that is not going to the games is staying away. 

Businesses have spent a lot of money in readiness for the games and most of them are saying they are down 40% in trade.

I’m glad Village didn’t spend millions of dollars for no reward unlike a lot of other businesses.

 

[Slick]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

With respect - that suggestion needed more brain...

With respect to both you & @rac2703, the idea that every single dollar should be spent on capex "needs more brain."

Let's keep in mind my suggestions are firmly rooted in a fantasy world that doesn't exist, as @Skeeta mentioned the reality is that the whole Gold Coast has actually suffered economically in the short term from the Games because of a crazy amount of price-gouging and fear mongering about crowds.

However, judging by how packed The Star is (a CommGames sponsor) at a time when no one else is as busy, the 500k or whatever it is to let your PR people come up with games related copy and events is money well spent IMO.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Roachie

[rac2703]

7 minutes ago, Roachie said:

With respect to both you & @rac2703, the idea that every single dollar should be spent on capex "needs more brain.”

Not once did I say that every dollar should be spent on capex?? 

I don’t think anyone here would truly prefer $2million dropped on an 11day ad campaign instead of a new attraction. 

9 minutes ago, Roachie said:

However, judging by how packed The Star is (a CommGames sponsor) at a time when no one else is as busy, the 500k or whatever it is to let your PR people come up with games related copy and events is money well spent IMO.

The Star is a top tier sponsor of the games, would have cost around the $3-4million mark for their exposure not $500,000. 

The star is also providing accommodation for the Game officials and the channel 7 broadcast team. 

[Tim Dasco]

Do keep in mind VR are providing studios for the games, yes the government did pitch in some coin for them. But I would have thought they could have made a deal with the leasing of those studios and advertisement. 

[rac2703]

13 minutes ago, Tim Dasco said:

Do keep in mind VR are providing studios for the games, yes the government did pitch in some coin for them. But I would have thought they could have made a deal with the leasing of those studios and advertisement. 

A bit of coin? The Government paid $11million to build the new soundstage #9 (Village contributed the remaining $4million). 

They now have a state of the art soundstage - the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere to lure in even more big budget movies - I think that’s a pretty good take away legacy for the business.

Could they have “fought” to have the “Village Roadshow” name used? Maybe. 

Would it have been worth it? Probably not - everyone that attended events there would clearly have seen the surrounding theme parks to peak their interest in visiting. 

Most of the non-locals including those from interstate wouldn’t really accosiate the “Village Roadshow” name with the theme parks anyway. 

[Slick]

42 minutes ago, rac2703 said:

Not once did I say that every dollar should be spent on capex?? 

I don’t think anyone here would truly prefer $2million dropped on an 11day ad campaign instead of a new attraction. 

The Star is a top tier sponsor of the games, would have cost around the $3-4million mark for their exposure not $500,000. 

The star is also providing accommodation for the Game officials and the channel 7 broadcast team. 

FYI, capex = new attractions. I didn't write that you said "every dollar should be spent on context" either, so no need to try and distort the context of my opinion either.

Furthermore, asking enthusiasts if they'd rather two million spent on attractions instead of advertising would net you the same kind of confirmation bias you'd get from asking Trump supporters whether or not he was the best president ever.

It's like saying The Star should've kept the 3-4 million and made their rooms cheaper, or Griffith Uni should've kept their money and spent it on building more classes, Optus on more towers, Woolies on more Apples etc. etc. etc. Suffice to say the world doesn't actually work like that, and if it did there wouldn't be any games to begin with.

Also - you presumed I said VRTP should be a top tier sponsor (fun fact, I didn't). The point I was actually making was that for the 500k or whatever you'd need to spend to be able to be a part of the games in a minor role and in turn be able to do cool things with the athletes would be money well spent in terms of both goodwill and advertising return.

Update: Quick @rac2703 - go get the council! Someone's up to no good! 

https://www.parkz.com.au/article/2018/04/13/604-Dreamworld_Joins_Commonwealth_Games_Celebrations_at_Broadbeach.html

Edited April 13, 2018 by Roachie

[rac2703]

3 minutes ago, Roachie said:

FYI, capex = new attractions. I didn't write that you said "every dollar should be spent on context" either, so no need to try and distort the context of my opinion on either.

see below your quote below implying i that every single dollar should be spent on capex:

54 minutes ago, Roachie said:

With respect to both you & @rac2703, the idea that every single dollar should be spent on capex "needs more brain."

_______________________________________________________

9 minutes ago, Roachie said:

Also - you presumed I said VRTP should be a top tier sponsor (fun fact, I didn't). The point I was actually making was that for the 500k or whatever you'd need to spend to be able to be a part of the games in a minor role and in turn be able to do cool things with the athletes would be money well spent in terms of both goodwill and advertising return.

I never presumed you said VRTP should be a top tier sponsor, I simply pointed out that the exposure that the "The Star" is getting has cost significantly more than just the $500,000 to use the "Comm Games" name as you suggested VR could have done.

"The Star" logo is literally plastered all over the Gold Coast, inside every venue, is clearly visible during every event broadcast.

_______________________________________________________

[Slick]

1 minute ago, rac2703 said:

see below your quote below implying i that every single dollar should be spent on capex:

_______________________________________________________

I never presumed you said VRTP should be a top tier sponsor, I simply pointed out that the exposure that the "The Star" is getting has cost significantly more than just the $500,000 to use the "Comm Games" name as you suggested VR could have done.

"The Star" logo is literally plastered all over the Gold Coast, inside every venue, is clearly visible during every event broadcast.

_______________________________________________________

I think in the process of trying to be right you forgot the difference between implying something and actually saying something. All good.

Fun fact, apparently you don't need to be a sponsor anyway, so your whole argument is moot.

[New display name]

2 koalas’ in a park is a lot different from what you posted @Roachie. 

Fun fact, MW was on Sunrise at the games.

[rac2703]

2 minutes ago, Roachie said:

Fun fact, apparently you don't need to be a sponsor anyway, so your whole argument is moot.

25 minutes ago, Roachie said:

Update: Quick @rac2703 - go get the council! Someone's up to no good! 

 Notice how the Minister for Tourism/Commonwealth Games (representing the Goverment, an offical partner of the Games) was on hand at a pre-arranged media event, trying to talk up the positive impact for tourism in QLD that Games have had.

Dreamworld didn't just randomly decided to stroll Kenny and Belinda down to Surfers without permission.