Choosing a Theme for Your Entertainment Features

Your brand is everything that is associated with your business, including the features that you outsource from third parties. If your company is the name on the banner, people will associate everything with that marking with your business.

For instance, the great mini golf course has been bringing pirate loving families into Maryland’s Jolly Roger theme park for decades. When you are building out entertainment features such as miniature golf courses, ask yourself the following questions to ensure that you have a clear vision when meeting with contractors.

What does this feature say to the world?

The aesthetics and the feel of your entertainment features should keep to a unified front alongside your marketing materials and other business features. Your theme should also consider the culture that your business has built up to this point. If you have not built a brand yet, consider how this new feature will introduce you to the world.

Your contractors will be able to work much faster if you can communicate a clear vision to them. Look at your contractors as your first line of defense against missteps - if they do not fully understand the direction of your feature, then you may need to simplify and hone your thought process.

Who is my message likely to attract?

No one can tell exactly who will be attracted to your feature once it is built, but you can make some good estimates based on competitors and market research. You can and should also closely consider the preferences of the audience you would prefer. For example - are you looking to appeal to families (Kentucky’s Lexington Ice Center) or teens on a first date (the Putting Edge Fun Center) with a mini golf course? What kind of design and marketing would appeal to them? Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience so that you can create a vision based on a truthful assessment of your audience.

Do not be afraid to look into the success of competition for ideas. Of course you want your message to be unique, but there is nothing wrong with working from a idea template. In order to avoid messaging that is too close to your direct competitors, look outside of your industry for ideas. Note the common threads in successful trends and incorporate those ideas into your theme.

How are you going to communicate your message to your audience?

Another way of thinking about your theme is to view it as the most important question to your audience. Beyond all of the outreach that you will be conducting in your marketing campaigns, the theme that you put together will serve as the loudest piece of communication to your future customers. For instance, if your mini golf course brand is family oriented (such as Par-King in Illinois), this branding will find its way into everything. From the colors that you choose in your design features to the seating arrangements around your physical features, your vision should scream "family."

What about pricing?

Although no one likes to think that a vision is affected by the budget, it always is. However, the more honest you are about any budgetary limitations, the more creative you can be with your contractors to fulfill your vision without bankrupting your company. A great contractor may be able to provide alternatives in materials, consolidate manpower or rework the supply schedule to fit your needs. You will never know unless you begin to plan now with your team.

For instance, a painting style that is photorealistic may be too expensive for you. Alternatively, you might choose a stylized cartoon period to reduce the number of colors that you use without taking away from the theme. IF you use less expensive materials but fit a theme faithfully, no one will know the difference!

The process of choosing a theme for your entertainment features is an important one for every business. Start the process of thinking your vision through now so that you can have a fruitful conversation with your contractors. Planning ahead will save you money in the long run on labor, materials and overall time.

Finally, make sure that your theme speaks intimately with the audience that you are trying to attract. Be flexible to new ideas, and incorporate something unique and special into your theme to separate it from the pack. The tips above will get you started on the right track - the rest is up to your due diligence.