Case Study: Hurricane Harbor Splashtown

A Houston staple looking to rebrand after being acquired, increase membership pass sales and generate positive buzz about the park.

THE CLIENT

“Wet N’ Wild Splashtown,” the Houston-based waterpark that has served the Spring, Texas area since 1984, was purchased by Six Flags and officially became “Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown” in early 2019, after the park was acquired by Six Flags in May of 2018. After working with the park for three seasons, Integrate knew that a multifaceted campaign including social media initiatives, PR initiatives and multiple events strategically placed throughout the waterpark season, is what would be needed to maintain momentum all season long for season membership pass sales and positive coverage of the new park.

The Obstacle

With the new name came a new theme, refreshed painting throughout and branding on all rides, new Season Pass and Membership structure, new key partners to appeal to, new double decker cabanas and plans for a new ride that would open during the season. With so much to share with Houstonians, Integrate determined that rather than creating a one-off event or campaign around the opening, we would create an ongoing season-long, strategically-integrated, Grand Opening Campaign. Integrate wanted to create excitement from the park that would appeal to a large majority of demographics across Houston and not isolate the existing Wet N’ Wild audience through initiatives and messaging that were uniquely Houston.

The Approach

Integrate created a six-month campaign that included an exclusive media announcement of the rebrand, countdown to grand opening giveaway and sneak-peaks on social media, a partnership with the Houston Astros, a three-day Fourth of July event a the park that brought a steady drumbeat of media coverage throughout the middle of the summer, an interactive engagement initiative and targeted media relations around opening of new ride Wahoo Wave and a Labor Day Luau to finish out the season. Integrate set the goals of increasing social media followers by 1,000, earning at least 2 percent engagement across our most targeted channel (Instagram) and securing 100 pieces of positive media coverage to ensure that the messaging and key announcements made an impact, and significantly surpassed these goals!

The Results

Social Media

At the end of the season, Integrate had reached over 35 million Houstonians through strategic social media posts, and more than doubled our reach on Instagram from just 4,700 to well over 7,000. We also reached our target audience in Houston and its surrounding areas through 128 pieces of media coverage with links back to the website for ticket booking. In addition, Integrate had a satisfied client that exceeded their internal goals for Membership and Season Pass sales, under new ownership.