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When you have a client that’s willing to don crazy wigs, wear neon lipstick, bury treasure, and do handstands for photo ops, it certainly adds frivolity to the PR toolbox. But as the agency of record for Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Waterparks in Wildwood NJ from 2012 to 2020, we took our responsibilities to secure press coverage pretty seriously… even when it meant we had to test out new boardwalk food and rides to properly pitch them (hey, someone’s gotta).
Our job each year encompassed a wide field, including:
- Get coverage: traditional media, blogs, social influencers
- Generate ideas: big, small, wacky, charitable, sales, press… you name it
- Grow business: extra-special support for spring and fall seasons
- Regional targeting: heightened focus on Philadelphia and New Jersey regional media, especially finding new creative ways to get the same high-profile media to care about Morey’s every year
Each winter when the park closed for the season, we partnered with the fabulous Morey’s in-house team to plan the following year’s opening-to-closing-day robust PR and social strategy. New rides and exhibits provided natural news hooks for any seasonal attraction, and we treated each launch with high-octane power…but of course these precious PR gifts weren’t always in the operations plan. So, we ALSO created our own news opportunities each year using existing rides/elements and good old marketing ingenuity. Some highlights:
Doggie Dash & Splash: an event that opens the waterpark to dogs on the last weekend of the season, featuring a puppy pool party, 5K run for dogs/owners, partnership with rescue charity, hotel packages and more.
WildwoodStock: an annual opening weekend food and music festival launched in 2019, kicked off as part of the 50th anniversary season (ahem…launched the same year as Woodstock’s 50th anniversary), that provides a strong balance to the fall Oktoberbest closing season events.
Breakfast in the Sky (and Buyout for Groups): for leisure guests on weekend mornings in July and August or for groups to do a buyout any time, the Ferris wheel became a high-end restaurant, featuring white linens and china, custom gourmet breakfast, and the ability to savor it all inside each car while the wheel gently spins to showcase coastal views.
Mother’s Day Tea at the Tea Cups: a now-annual event we created in 2013 that features delectable tea service for moms and their kids in the iconic Tea Cups ride, plus brunch, cookie decorating, photo ops, and hotel packages.
#MoreysWildWedding Vow Renewal Contest: a wild and joyful social media contest that selected 50 adventurous couples to participate in a mass-vow-renewal ceremony in front of the legendary Ferris wheel.
Kong’s First Birthday: a fun way to get media coverage and drive crowds for the wildly popular KONG ride, a year after it debuted on the pier… we threw a birthday party for the world’s largest one-year-old.
Using a strategic combination of tailored pitching, in-market media tours, press trips, hosting broadcast crews, visiting journalist/blogger/influencer campaigns, press releases/media alerts and more, we saturated media year after year for Morey’s. In addition to those found at the top of this case study, tons of fun coverage appeared in outlets such as The Travel Channel, CBS-3 Philadelphia, New York Daily News, and NBC-10 Philadelphia, which kept the media spotlight firmly fixed on this iconic Wildwood attraction.
