In contrast to the former policy of two new rides a year across the group, there will now be something new in every park, every year
“Our fi rst quarter was great,” says Reid- Anderson proudly. “Having gone through bankruptcy, many people thought this com- pany was doomed. Instead, we’ve grown our revenue and substantially improved our fi nancial position.” The CEO credits this to focusing on
being the leading regional theme park company. To gain the increases in attend- ance and revenue necessary to achieve this goal, Reid-Anderson knew it was essential to add new experiences. He
plans to spend about $90m (£56m, 63m), or nine per cent of revenue, a year in capital, the bulk of which will be on new attractions. This is a complete change of direction for the company, as previous form was to invest in just a couple of new rides a year throughout the whole 19 parks.
“That limits the excitement you can create for your guests,” Reid-Anderson says. “I believe guests like new things. We’ll have something new, every year, in every park.”
MR SIX Next, pricing came under scrutiny. The company had been offering increasingly
AM 3 2011 ©cybertrek 2011
“Having gone through bankruptcy, many people thought this company was doomed. Instead, we’ve improved our fi nancial position”
greater discounts, which Reid-Anderson felt was unnecessary. “That was going too far, so we’ve been more disciplined around pricing and discounting,” he explains. The company’s marketing strategy has also been updated. “The campaigns weren’t getting through to our target guests,” he says. “They were very focused on a character called Mr Six, who was cre- ated years ago and dances in the park in the adverts. By concentrating on Mr Six, we’d lost sight of the park.” Now the parks have become the heroes of Six Flag’s advertising and guests can see exactly what they’ll get when they come to visit. The use of Mr Six is just one example of
where Reid-Anderson feels the company lost track of what it does best. In trying to become a broader, media/entertain-
ment company, it had lost focus. “We’re a regional theme park company and we’re good at it,” he emphasises. “We’re going to be the best at that, deliver fantastic guest service, run our parks safely and effi ciently and offer new attractions so our guests keep coming back.”
CUT BACKS As well as adding to the company, Reid- Anderson has also had to make some cuts. This has affected staff to a degree – the number of full-time staff was reduced by 10 per cent last year. But the main reduc- tions have been as a result of operating more effi ciently. “The company had never really looked at its capital spending from an overall return on investment perspec- tive,” says Reid-Anderson. “By doing that
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