Madame Tussauds & SF Dungeon

Increasing Visitor Awareness for New Attractions

Spritz Skills

Event Marketing  |  Media and Public Relations  |  Relationship and Sports Marketing  |  Advertising  |  Social Media Marketing

The Client

Second only to Disney as the world’s largest visitor attraction operator, Merlin Entertainment Group opened a new Madame Tussauds celebrity wax museum and launched a sister themed attraction, San Francisco Dungeon, both in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

The Challenge

Build brand profile by generating awareness and media coverage for Madame
Tussauds and San Francisco Dungeon, the latter in its premier North America
location, a test market modeled on the London attraction.

Spritz Solutions

For Madame Tussauds, we secured interest in resident, local getaway and overnight visitor markets by creating innovative campaigns, such as an interactive poll for newest Bay Area tech innovator in wax. For the day trip market and locals, we managed wax figure launches: NBA MVP Stephen Curry, YouTube and internet-savvy celebrities with Millenial appeal such as SMOSH, Zendaya, and Grumpy Cat, and Orange is the New Black breakout star Laverne Cox in partnership with PRIDE week.

We identified and implemented strategic partnerships for Madame Tussauds with unique platforms and ongoing events at nontraditional venues. At events such as the Richmond/Ermet Aid Foundation Gala, we activated the brand by having wax figures such as Lady Gaga and Marilyn Monroe to surprise and delight guests. In addition, the Kate Winslet wax figure graced Sonoma International Film Festival, Joe Montana in wax was a highlight at the NFL Experience and a lifelike Tony Bennett was a centerpiece at the
Super Bowl 50 media center.

With the San Francisco Dungeon, we initiated and executed partnerships with Yelp Elite, local pubs Reed & Greenough and Scotland Yard, the Union Square Safeway Holiday Rink and Union Square Winter Walk, and hosted the Halloween Secret Show for local alternative radio station Radio Alice. We also supported development of media and advertising buys, including a BART takeover promoting Dungeon’s 2015 summer show, and online advertising buys on prominent local digital publication sites, such as SFGate and CBS Local.

Star Results

The Laverne Cox launch generated 1.1 billion media impressions, including front page
print coverage on SF Weekly and the SF Chronicle, widespread broadcast media and a
mention on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” We negotiated and managed the deal
for the creation of a Stephen Curry wax figure, which generated initial media buzz of
over 135 million impressions and press hits. The Dungeon on Ice partnership garnered
over 2 million in media impressions, and the zombie-themed Wicked Wednesday
late-night event generated 230,717 impressions in print and digital.

Pre Launch
Post Launch