The 13yth Gatre Marketing Audit

1. 1
Market Analysis of The 13th
Gate Brand
MKT 4451-Kris Lindsey Hall-section 003
Deliverable I
Group G: Dale Honeycutt, Jonathan Riera, Joshua Murphy, Michael Thomas, Ashlyn Soileau,
and Ethan Kyle

2. 2
Table of Contents
A. Team Leadership .................................................................................................................. 3
a. Leadership Team Bios...................................................................................................... 3
b. Strength Overview ........................................................................................................ 3
B. Situational/Market Analysis ................................................................................................ 3
c. Background ...................................................................................................................... 3
d. PESTLE Analysis:........................................................................................................ 4
e. SWOT Analysis................................................................................................................ 5
f. Competitive Analysis ....................................................................................................... 6
g. Customer Analysis:....................................................................................................... 9
C. Analysis of Existing Marketing Strategies........................................................................ 11
h. Current market position:............................................................................................. 11
i. Current marketing objectives:........................................................................................ 11
j. Current Value Proposition/ key benefit.......................................................................... 11
k. Eliminate Reduce Raise Create .................................................................................. 11
D. Conclusion: .......................................................................................................................... 12
l. Proposed Objectives....................................................................................................... 12
m. Summary..................................................................................................................... 13
E. Work Cited .......................................................................................................................... 14
F. Appendices........................................................................................................................... 16

3. 3
A. Team Leadership
a. Leadership Team Bios
Our team consists of a well-rounded, diverse group of individuals. We all had different strengths,
skills, and personalities that allowed for the effective implementation of creative thinking.
Dale Honeycutt is a competitive soul who analyses his situations so that he can make decisions
confidently. He uses these strengths when he’s trying to improve in his workouts, his studies for his
career,or to improve results he produces at work.
Mikey Thomas also contains a competitive spirit, but he brings a more intellectual focus to the table.
He believes in striving for excellence and takes every chance to grow that becomes available to him.
Jonathan Riera is personable individual. He’s great at keeping a team motivated, making everyone
feeling included, and making actions take place. He uses this strength for him in a sales career.
Ethan Kyle values harmony and is exceptional at problem solving. Along with problem solving, he
adapts well with others, which translates nicely when he’s playing pick-up sports, fishing, or playing
video games.
Ashlyn Soileau has a very creative mind. Between her creativity and her intellect, she makes strong
strategies. Ashlyn is an employee of The 13th Gate and loves getting to express herself through her work.
Josh Murphy is a strategic thinker, and because of this, he analyzes his situation analyzes his
situations carefully. This makes him adaptable to any situation. He takes advantage of these strengths
whenever he is playing sports, whenever he is out fishing or hunting, and even when he is pursuing his
personal fitness.
b. Strength Overview
As a whole, our team is dynamic in skill and intellect. Four out of five of the team members scored
very highly in adaptability, which shows a resilience and persistence regardless of environment. Also,
three members of this team are in the professional sales concentration, which shows superior marketing
skill and strength in persuasion. From the StrengthFinder’s examination, most of the members are highly
analytical, which reveals a mind for tactical approaches necessary for marketing research. The cumulative
strong intellect will allow our team to think critically about the position of this company. The team shows
promise in detail orientation as well as innovation. Together, this team will gather, evaluate, and
strategize marketing information effectively. Our goal is to inform and evaluate the standing of Midnight
Production and the 13th Gate with tactical effectiveness.
B. Situational/MarketAnalysis
c. Background
Midnight Productions began operation in 1994 providing scares to Louisiana’s residents with their
portable haunted house attractions. Then in 2004 they began working on a new attraction known as The
13th
Gate, which is a permanent location that is in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 13th
Gate
quickly gained popularity and has since become a flourishing business. The 13th
Gate has expanded to
now have another attraction known as Necropolis 13, which opened in 2011 (“About the company”
2018). The newest venture for the 13th
Gate is the escape game they have recently added in 2015. Their
current challenge is to increase revenue and interest to this part of their business.

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d. PESTLE Analysis:
i. Political/Legal Factors
A trademark of the legal system is its certainty, but when Halloween creeps up it seems
to be ignored. One of Louisiana appeals court stated, “On any other evening, or event,
presenting a frightening visage might be a violation of a general duty not to scare others. But on
Halloween at trick-or-treat time, that duty is modified.” The Louisiana legislature has
recognized Halloween as a special occasion by exempting it from the statute, which prohibits
the wearing of masks in public places (Coverage Opinions, WSJ 2013). Haunted houses such as
13th
Gate are granted this so called “Halloween Rule.” There are various amounts of duties
enacted on property owners to uphold a safe environment. One core principle is the importance
of haunted house safety. Provisions on the back of admission tickets and websites help defend
the allure of litigation by providing individual warnings. For instance, women who are pregnant
and people with heart conditions are warned upon entrance of any attraction. Props also play a
huge role in the customer’s safety. Props must be disassembled to pose no danger at all. For
example, the loud bone-chilling chainsaw that’s heading straight after someone is required to
have no blade or chain on it. The principal regulation of haunted house acting is to never
directly touch a customer. The 13th
Gate has multiple emergency exists in case someone
becomes too frightened or possibly injured. NFPA 1, Fire Code, advances fire and life safety for
the public and first responders as well as property protection by providing a comprehensive,
integrated approach to fire code regulation and hazard management. It addresses all the bases
with extracts from and references to more than 130 NFPA® codes and standards. In the case of
the Louisiana Court of Appeal, in each lawsuit naming a haunted house a defendant, the court
ruled in favor of the haunted house (NFPA 2018).
ii. Environmental Factors
Faux fog and compressed air help create a frightening atmosphere but can also raise
carbon monoxide levels in the enclosed spaces. As a result, managers must be sure that air is
properly filtered in the attraction to keep it safe for breathing (Haunted House Magazine
2017). Also chances of precipitation can cause problems for the haunts because people will
not wait in the line if it extends to non-covered areas. The 13th Gate attraction itself has
open-roof segments that could deter any customer that does not wish to get wet.
iii. Socio-Cultural Factors
In general, parents and other peers influence kids to avoid talking to strangers, especially
refrain from accepting food from them. But one day a year we make an allowance. Our society,
particularly today, encourages children and adults to disguise themselves into skeletons, demons,
witches and ghosts, and play this game of frightening neighbors for treats. In the haunted house
industry, one must know that the inclinations in fear also change continuously in time. The 13th
Gate does a fantastic job of making each guest feel a sense of accomplishment when completing
the course. The fears individuals encounter through the experience gets their blood flowing and
goose bumps popping. These sensations combined makes the customer feel more alive. “When
we’re in a safe place, we can interpret that threat response as we do any high arousal response
like joy or happiness," says Margee Kerr, a sociologist and author who specializes in fear. "The
response is triggered by anything unpredictable or startling. But when we're in a safe place and
we know it, it takes less than a second for us to remember we're not actually in danger. Then we

5. 5
switch over to enjoying it. It's a kind of [euphoric]. That's why you see people go right from
screaming to laughing" (Kaplan 2016). Social bonding is a major component The 13th
Gate
incorporates in its attractions. They do a great job in making the customers feel this shared
intensity with the individuals in your tour group. This shared intensity can rework someone’s
mind into thinking that the customer and their group have accomplished something together as a
team, but, the only accomplishment was paying 30 bucks to get chased out of a house by actors.
iv. Technological Factors
Most of Escape and the haunted house are run on electricity. In escape, the technological
advances include laser tunnels, automated reactions in the games, ceilings that lower, and walls
that fall apart. Many special effects are controlled by motion sensors and touch pads such as a
shot of air or an animatronic skeleton that bolts upright. Touch pads that activate when guests
walk across them can add more unpredictability than motion sensors since not every person will
walk across the pad in exactly the right place to set it off (Conger 2017). Haunt owners enjoy this
aspect since scares need to be quick and unpredictable.
v. Economic Factors
According to an article in The Haunted House Magazine, one of the fastest growing
industries in America is the Halloween industry. Over the past decade, Halloween has evolved to
levels no one has ever anticipated. Haunted attractions have grown over the last ten years from a
1-billion-dollar industry to a near 15-billion-dollar industry (Haunted House Magazine 2017).
The market will constantly grow because each year, there’s always that one more family member
that is finally old enough to go; becomes a family tradition; becomes a personal/friend tradition
for years to come. According to co-owner Sam Hatfield, The 13th
Gate made 1.8 million in 2017
over a 24-day period. Any money either attraction makes is shared amongst one another, with
exception to sponsorships. Money received from a sponsorship must be used toward the specific
brand that the sponsorship is intended for. Online sales grow 20% every year (Hatfield 2018).
The key driver that separate 13th
gate from other haunted attractions is the costs they put in to
make everything seem so realistic. 13th
Gate provides 160 professional actors in movie quality
makeup and over $1 million worth of special effects in the haunted house, not to mention
Necropolis (Haunted House Magazine 2017). Hatfield also states that they try to give to inner-
city youth by allowing free participation and donating to the community. They are big on
keeping money local by using local vendors. The costs incurred are not always during the intense
Halloween season. In fact, most of the costs associated with 13th
Gate are consumed during its
off-season. They spend an average of $260,000 renovating before each season. Incorporating a
placement strategy helped improve The 13th
Gate’s revue tremendously. In 2014 merchandise
sales were $4000, in 2017 merchandise sales were $42,000 because of placement strategy
(Hatfield 2018).
e. SWOT Analysis
One of the major strengths of The 13th
Gate involves its location. The surrounding area has
absolutely no competition because of the massive scale difference between The 13th
Gate being a
legitimate production versus others being “pop-up shops.” They have 13 different levels that has
a longer run time than most haunted attractions which is 30-60 minutes long. This being the case,
The 13th
Gate spends little to nothing on the costs of advertising in the Baton Rouge area. The 13th

6. 6
Gate spends more on advertising in New Orleans and Lafayette because the Baton Rouge market
is already supersaturated. Advertisement is cheap for The 13th
Gate because instead of paying for
air space, they’ll give free VIP tickets in exchange for an advertisement on the billboard, which
is a massive bonus for The 13th
Gate (Hatfield 2018). The 13th Gate is consistently
acknowledged as one of the topmost haunted attractions in the United States. The attraction's
preciseness of detail, set design, and special effects joined with inspiring actors and astonishing
makeup artists can simply be paralleled to a Hollywood movie. Co-owner Sam Hatfield states,
"We’re creating a very dynamic environment where the characters go about their daily lives
regardless of the audience, something you don’t see much in haunted house attractions” (Hatfield
2018). She’s managed to corner the market for seasonal thrills and escape adventures in Baton
Rouge. A key weakness that The 13th
Gate is working on involves their parking lot situation.
Since The 13th
Gate is a nationally ranked haunted house attraction, there is tons of traffic going
in and out of the surrounding area. This becomes even a bigger issue for The 13th
Gate because
customers also purchase their entry tickets in that same parking lot. This is a major weakness
because the first thing customers see when they are trying to park is a chaotic crowd waiting to
purchase their tickets. In our interview with co-owner Sam Hatfield, she stressed the fact that she
is aware of this problem and is in the process of expanding their parking and possibly relocating
their ticket office. Aside from parking, another issue with The 13th
Gate is how crowded and
uncomfortable the customers are inside the haunted house. There are thousands of customers
patiently waiting to experience this nationally ranked attraction; therefore, causing a packed
environment. Since there are so many individuals trying to enter, The 13th
Gate’s only option is to
put people into groups, and the majority of groups are small groups of friends joining one big
group of strangers. This can seem awkward for most people because they expect to enjoy this
haunted house with their close friends. While inside the haunted house some customers
complained how packed in they are and are more worried about tripping over the person in front
of them than they are with the actors trying to scare them. One of the most prominent
opportunities for The 13th
Gate is expansion. Recently, The 13th
Gate expanded its opportunities
by adding an Escape game called The 13th Gate Escape (Escape). Which consists of groups of
people locked inside of a special themed room where the individuals work together to solve
various riddles to free themselves from captivity (Haunted House Magazine 2017). Necropolis
13 was created for an added experience and an up-sale opportunity. A crucial threat associated
with The 13th
Gate are power outages since it is operating strictly on electricity. According to co-
owner Sam Hatfield, this happened in the past. Since Sam is very innovative, she distributed
flashlights to all the visitors, and turned on the various number of generators. However, Hatfield
turned this threat into an opportunity by incorporating a night strictly for visitors to use only
flashlights. They named this “Flashlight Friday Night,” which is one of the most popular nights
in October according to Hatfield (Hatfield 2018).
f. Competitive Analysis
Halloween plays a huge role regarding big business, and haunted houses are no small
factor when they are contributing approximately $300 million to the potential $8.4 billion-dollar
spending estimates for total Halloween spending, conducted by the National Retail Federation
(Alton 2016). Each well-known haunted house throughout the United States proudly stand out
and are recognized for their own unique flair in the industry. The 13th Gate prides itself as being

7. 7
known for its “extremely realistic haunts in the country and artists behind the massive dark
attraction are experts at blurring the lines between horror and reality” (HauntWorld.com). In
terms of competition locally however, “In the surrounding area there is not any competition
because of the massive scale difference between the 13th Gate being a legitimate production
versus others being ‘pop-up shops’” (Sam 2018). While these pop ups are not perceived as a
threat, they still cut into the potential market share for The 13th Gate. “Probably the biggest thing
I would say you’re seeing within the haunted house industry is that many people have made it a
full-time job” (Alton 2016). With the increase in time and effort put forth into these businesses,
slowly we are seeing an overall increase in the industries standards. However, other well-renown
haunted houses around the country have their own ways of attracting consumers. According to
multiple website ranking of haunted houses including HauntedHouses.com and HauntWorld.com
the 13th
Gate ranks in the top 2 in 2017 of the top ranked haunted houses to visit country-wide.
Netherworld located in Atlanta, Georgia is among the top two. While another example of top
ranked haunted house known as The Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, Ohio really capitalizes off
the story behind their location and building. “Taking place in an actual haunted schoolhouse
from the 1800’s, the schoolhouse follows the legend of its murderous janitor”
(HauntWorld.com). While these haunted houses pose more of a threat in their own
demographics.
When the month of October ends, The13th Gate depends on its simulated escape
adventure game, The 13th Gate Escape, to produce revenue throughout the remainder of the
year. That being said, The 13th Gate Escape will be analyzed with competitors such as The
Escape Covington as well. These escape adventures lock a group of people in a confined space
and they must use their wits to make their way out.
i. Primary Competitors
The Primary competitors would be considered the “pop-up” haunted houses around
Louisiana. Even though these pop-ups do not pull in near as many patrons as The 13th Gate, they
have a geographical advantage and can inhibit customer acquisition.
ii. Secondary Competitors
The Secondary competitors of The 13th Gate are nationally recognized haunted houses
within the South. This would be Netherworld in Atlanta, Georgia, and Universal Studios of
Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights. These are the three top nationally recognized haunted
houses of the south. Even though that Universal Studios is an amusement park, it transforms into
a large haunted house the week of Halloween, making it a strong competitor for The 13th Gate.
These would be considered secondary competitors because while they are larger and attract more
consumers, they rarely attract The 13th Gate’s customer.
iii. Levels of Competition
Market Leader
Regarding the haunted house industry for the surrounding area of Baton Rouge, The 13th
Gate
does not have any real competition. The 13th
Gate is a full-time operation with advancements far
beyond its local competitors. While the 13th
Gate is considered a production, many of the other
companies it faces locally are considered “pop-ups” which really cannot be considered at, or
near, the same level.

8. 8
Market Challengers
As for the haunted house industry nationwide, The 13th
Gate has some competition as far as
making sure they keep up with changing industry standards. A few to mention would be the
Netherworld located in Atlanta, Georgia and The Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, Ohio. These
two are also well known in the haunted house industry and being leaders in specific fields related
to the haunted house industry. Each have something special that helps them stand out above the
rest, while these houses are not direct competition to The 13th
Gate, they do help set an industry
standard that needs to be kept up with.
Market Followers
The next level down in the haunted house industry, a follower of The 13th
Gate, would be
considered the Mortuary Haunted Mansion located in New Orleans has been open since 2007.
While the Mortuary is in the same industry as The 13th
Gate, they are not on the same production
level. When researching best-haunted houses through HauntedHouses.com and
HauntWorld.com, nationwide the Mortuary was never mentioned in any of the relating articles,
while the The 13th
Gate was consistently in the top two or three.
Market Niche
In the fourth level of competition, pop-ups in the surrounding area in cities such as New Orleans,
Hammond, and Covington would be considered market niches. Places such as the Scream
Factory in Covington Louisiana that only operate a few years at a time are the closest to a niche
that the industry contains. Most of these companies use The 13th
Gate as a source of information
to try and make their experience more compelling to their consumers. While these are just part-
time deals, most do not make it long after their first few years.
iv. Competitors Strengths and Weaknesses
First, these pop-up shops have a geographical advantage of being able to be established in
a central location. This appeals to time conscious consumers. Also, they follow a cost-leadership
model. Pop-up shops cut cost and can offer lower admission prices. However, this drives down
quality and puts the business below the market standard.
The secondary competitors have the advantage of established real estate, which gives
them access to high quality products to use within their haunted house. Their strength is the fact
that they can deliver the best quality possible. However, they are at a geographical disadvantage,
as it is hard to attract out of state consumers when there are closer and cheaper options.
v. Market Share
As referenced earlier, haunted house industry contributes $300 million of the $8.4 billion
Halloween spending (Alton 2016). In 2017, The 13th Gate made $1.8 million in revenue, giving
The 13th gate approximately .6% of the market. While this may seem like a small sum of the
market, the market is heavily limited by the geographical locations and split up accordingly.
When compared to local pop-up shops, $1.8 million is a very large amount, making The 13th
Gate the market leader in Louisiana. Most of this data is approximated however, due to the lack
of public data.

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vi. Competitor’s Objectives
Primary competitors, such as pop-up shops, objective is mainly to take advantage of the
season and try to rake in a profit in a short amount of time. They mean to acquire a small part of
the market for a short time, and do not focus on retaining market share.
Secondary competitors however, look to establish themselves as market leaders in the
local economy, and retain as much market share and customer loyalty as possible. While most
look to obtain out of the state customers, most of their resources go to retaining their local
market share.
vii. Competitors Strategies
Haunted houses use a lot of the same techniques to gain an edge over its opponents.
Consistent with all the companies’ websites they put up names of organizations and websites that
rank them in their top tier of the country’s best-haunted houses (HauntWorld.com). The houses
also use promotional videos to give the potential consumer a taste of what they have to offer and
what they can expect to see, which is like a movie trailer. Using social media and billboards
come Halloween time, these companies are also able to grasp the attention of local and non-local
customers (Sam 2018). Gaining the backing of big time sponsors is another way these big-time
production houses keep their competitive edge.
g. Customer Analysis:
Midnight Productions possess extremely diverse market segmentation from children ages
eight up to senior citizens. There are customers that range from lower class all the way up to
Spencer Calihand’s family that are large supporters of Midnight Productions. The demographic
is predominantly white middle-class customers in their twenties with at least a GED or high
school diploma. There are many children in high school that visit the 13th
Gate as well. This
aspect of the demographic is widely affected by the fact that Baton Rouge is home to thousands
of LSU students and worked closely with LSU 4-H, which bring in a variety of farmers and
agricultural groups. Additionally, horror loving fans come from across the nation to experience
the immersive styling of Midnight Productions. The company's target market is anyone who
enjoys an intensely immersive adrenaline pumping experience. With opening of Escape’s newest
addition, Cutthroat Cavern, the company is attempting to move its target from horror fans to
families. Often time, families feel uncomfortable bringing their children to a haunted house or an
escape room with a sinister or dark ambiance. For this reason, 13th
Gate Escape is more than
excited to announce that Cutthroat Cavern is a Mayan island themed escape room with an
adventurous, exploratory vibe that is more kid and parent friendly. It is more achievement based
rather than pushed by the threat of a horrifying penalty as are the other games offered. According
to Samantha Hatfield, manager of Midnight Productions, she would love to move in a new
direction focused on targeting parents, particularly mothers. This may be a future movement, but
the opening of Cutthroat Cavern certainly assists that goal. The markets that are not targeted at
this point are locals, simply because they are already very aware of The 13th Gate, and have a
brand loyalty associated with it, which is a huge reason that The 13th
Gate line wraps around the
building with thousands of locals entering it each night (Hatfield). Though Escape is seeing
many more Church groups recently, the haunted house seems to encompass a stigma with which
religious leaders as well as public officials associate some distaste. Hatfield also mentioned that
she would like to see marketing efforts targeting Human Resources personnel in the future.

10. 10
Looking at the current market segment and their needs, the brand addresses the need for
immersion and authenticity in this type of industry, which the 13th
Gate very diligently provides.
The main customer needs in the haunted house encompass both a need to experience superior set
design, acting, and authentic jump scares, which are executed manually and electronically. From
the perspective of Escape, the need is for a truly immersive environment, with puzzles that are
creative as well as challenging. Of course, this varies with the amount of diversity of its customer
base, but these needs are directly addressed in the companies' most profitable endeavors.
The purchasing habits addressed by Hatfield are very prominent in the company’s most
successful marketing strategy which involves the small area across the street from the haunted
house where Necropolis 13 is located. This area is designated solely for upselling and is very
successful at doing so (Hatfield). Customers are required to redeem their tickets directly in front
of Necropolis, which is another haunt offered at $5 with the purchase of a ticket for the haunted
house. Across from it, customers will see a large merchandise booth with everything a haunt
lover could imagine sold by the sales team known as the “Glamour Ghouls,” which are about
group of girls dolled up with horrifying makeup just enough to make them appear spooky but
attractive. They dress in black shorts with crop tops and communicate with the customers
directly to draw them to the merchandise booth. Directly in front, customers will see the five-
minute escapes created to market Escape, which include themes like Saw, Abyss, and Voodoo.
They are located directly in front of Escape's building. Directly to its left, there is a food stand
for fast food while customers wait in line. Forcing customers to go through this designated
segment of the grounds creates and a large increasing profit each year just from upselling, which
led to a total of $42000 in merchandise sales this past season (Hatfield).
As far as the purchasing quantity of customers, 13th
Gate haunted house broke record
sales in 2017 with $1.8 million just over the span of a twenty-four-day period(Hatfield). This
goes to show the success of The 13th
Gate haunted house thus far. Escape varies dramatically
from week to week, but with four to eight participants in each group paying $30.80, the
minimum for each game costs $123.20. With Saturday being the busiest day for Escape, on
average twenty to twenty-five games will book with an average of five players, which brings in a
total of anywhere from $3080 to $3850 in one day (Hatfield). The two sectors of Midnight
Productions have a shared budget. Escape runs off a sort of trickledown effect from profits made
from the haunt. The sponsorships gained are solely for the haunted house, and do not apply to
Escape.
The "non-customers" of Midnight Productions tend to be religious organizations and public
officials that feel that the darker aspect of 13th
Gate may have a demonic
connotation. Fortunately, The 13th
Gate is sponsored in part by Dr. Pepper, which is one of the
most family friendly and light-spirited brand deal with which to work. Many marketing
regulations must be passed to get a sponsorship from Dr. Pepper, which goes to show that The
13th
Gate is not in any way derogatory toward religion and is in fact for everyone from children to
adults. With the opening of Escape, religious groups have adapted to the culture more. Escape
now has a regular Church group who thoroughly enjoys playing games 13th
Gate Escape. Even
with the opening of Escape, there will always be some "refusers" who want nothing to do with
horror and will not participate even though, it is not meant for jump scars or anything of the sort.
An article from 225 Magazine reviewing Escape wrote, "Unlike the popular haunted house
attraction at The 13th Gate, you aren’t met with actors in scary costumes during the game. But
it’s still creepy and adrenaline-inducing. The setup, props and sound effects were film-worthy—I

11. 11
was hesitant to touch what looked like much-used furniture in my jail cell, and I shrieked at the
buzz of the electric chair (Capritto)."
As mentioned previously, the "soon to be's" in Samantha's mind are families who see
Escape as more of an adventure than a horror themed experience. The "unexplored" segment in
this case would be mothers. Hatfield explained that she has not decided how to approach mothers
yet since she is not one herself, but she would love to come up with a strategy to target them
(Hatfield).
C. Analysis of Existing Marketing Strategies
h. Current market position:
Through our research we have found that The 13th
Gate has secured their position at the top of
their market. The 13th
gate has been able to use its reputation as a quality attraction to limit their
competition, which now mostly consists of small “pop up shops” that are not long-term
competitors. We also found through our interview with Sam Hatfield, the head of marketing for
The 13th
Gate, that they also buy up all the advertising space in the Baton Rouge and New
Orleans area to prevent competitors from advertising. By doing this, The 13th
Gate can solidify
their position at the top of the Halloween scare attraction market. The 13th
Gate is also expanding
into a new market with the “escape” section of The 13th
Gate. They are currently ranked in the
top 5 escape rooms in Louisiana by tripadvisor.com (TripAdvisor 2018) but are number one for
the Baton Rouge area. Most of their competition comes from escape rooms located in New
Orleans.
i. Current marketing objectives:
Through our interview with Sam Hatfield, the head of marketing for The 13th
Gate, we found
the biggest objective for The 13th
Gate is to increase sales for the escape attraction of the
company. The escape attraction looks to immerse and engage the customer in an escape
adventure rather than just a get-in and get-out experience with a “carny” feel. They have also
begun to grow advertising in the New Orleans area to help broaden the scope of their market.
The 13th
Gate currently tries to advertise to a wide variety of ages and income levels, encouraging
people of all backgrounds to come enjoy their attraction. Another goal is to grow their
merchandise sales. They have been using a placement strategy to increase their sales from $4,000
in 2014 to $42,000 in 2017 (Hatfield 2018). By placing ATM’s and other traffic drivers near
merchandise and photograph opportunities, they have been able to increase the number of up-
sale items they sell. This along with their steadily increasing online merchandise profits will help
The 13th
Gate remain at the top of their market.
j. Current Value Proposition/ key benefit
The 13th
Gate looks to provide an adventure that immerses the customer in a realistic,
authentic horror experience blurring the lines of fiction and reality.
k. Eliminate Reduce Raise Create

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Figure 1 shows the results we received from the survey our group created
To achieve a greater market share in the Halloween attraction market, The 13th
Gate
should look to eliminate any negative perceptions there may be about the attraction, such as it
not being family friendly or portraying sacrilegious scenes. Through our interview with Sam
Hatfield our group found that The 13th
Gate uses a large portion of its marketing budget to
advertise using billboards. Our group created a survey through which we found most people
recall seeing or hearing social media and radio advertisements more than they recall seeing
billboards advertisements, as shown in figure 1. Our group concluded after seeing this that The
13th
Gate should reduce the amount of revenue they spend on billboards and instead use that
revenue to raise their social media presence. By raising their social media presence, it will create
opportunities for promotion and partnerships with local companies to give The 13th
Gate better
exposure.
D. Conclusion:
l. Proposed Objectives
The next couple of upcoming years will be crucial for The 13th Gate brand. These years will
either allow The 13th Gate brand to grow beyond what could’ve been imagined, or to plateau as
a favorite local attraction. To make sure The 13th Gate exceeds its maximum potential, it firstly
needs to determine a more specific target market. Generally, marketing efforts are aimed at brand
awareness across a broad Louisiana region. In the upcoming 2018 Halloween season, marketing
efforts need to target specific groups of people to attract every customer possible rather than a
general audience. Secondly, real estate will need to be addressed within the next two years. Our
interview with Sam Hatfield revealed that within 2 years, The 13th Gate will run out of space to
expand any attractions and parking will increasingly become more difficult also (Hatfield 2018).
This issue needs to be tackled so that The 13th Gate’s continued growth is an achievement and
not a burden. Lastly, through increased marketing efforts, the sales and awareness of Escape
needs to be increased. Escape is a year-round attraction that brings income when The 13th Gate
does not. The more money that can be made year-round, the faster The 13th Gate brand can
grow.

13. 13
m. Summary
The success story of The 13th Gate alone should be inspiring to any person that learns it.
This nationally known and ranked haunted attraction started out as nothing but a mere local
project. As the years passed, more and more hard work was being invested and dedicated to this
project. When someone cares about something, or believes in something, or genuinely wants to
make something great, creations like The 13th Gate are born. When we were talking with co-
owner Sam Hatfield, we asked her where she saw The 13th Gate brand going 10 years from now,
20 years from now. She replied with a smile on her face simply, “I don’t know” (Hatfield 2018).
It is clear that The 13th Gate brand has a great potential. Our team cannot wait to discover what
lays beyond The 13th Gate.

14. 14
E. Work Cited
“2017 TOP HAUNTED HOUSES IN AMERICA.” Haunted Attractions, 28 Sept. 2017,
hauntedhouses.com/2017-top-haunted-houses-in-america/.
Alton, Liz. “Halloween Is Big Business: An Inside Look At The Haunted House Industry
With Larry Kirchner.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 31 Oct. 2016,
www.forbes.com/sites/lizalton/2016/10/31/halloween-is-big-business-an-inside-look-
at-the-haunted-house-industry-with-larry-kirchner/.
Capritto, Amanda. “225 Adventures: Escaping the 13th Gate Escape.” 225 Magazine, 28
Sept. 2015, www.225batonrouge.com/our-city/arts-entertainments/225-adventures-
escaping-13th-gate-escape.
Conger, Cristen. “How Haunted Houses Work.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 7 Oct.
2008, people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-halloween/haunted-
house4.htm.
From Boo To Sue: Are Haunted Houses Liable For Scaring Their Visitors?,
www.coverageopinions.info/Vol4Issue10/BootoSue.html WSJ.
Hatfield, Samantha. Personal Interview. 19 Feb. 2018.
“Haunted House in Baton Rouge, Louisiana The 13th Gate Haunted House.” Find The Best
Haunted Houses in the World - Learn How to Build A Haunted House
www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com, www.hauntedhousemagazine.com/13thgate-
warning.
Kaplan, Rachel Feltman and Sarah. “Dear Science: Why do people like scary movies and
haunted houses?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 Oct. 2016,
www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/10/31/dear-science-
why-do-people-like-scary-movies-and-haunted-houses/?utm_term=.4a73d93b590b.
“List of NFPA Codes & Standards.” List of NFPA Codes and Standards,
www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-
standards.
Rivera, Jonathan. “The 13th Gate and The 13th Gate Escape”. Survey. 26 Feb. 2018.
Sandburn, Dwayne. “About the Company.”The 13th Gate,
midnightproduction.com/about_13th_gate.htm.
“The Top 10 Louisiana Room Escape Games.” TripAdvisor,
www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g28939-Activities-c56-t208-Louisiana.html.

15. 15
“TOP 13 RATED HAUNTED HOUSES IN AMERICA 2017.” Find the Biggest, Best and
Scariest Haunted Houses NEAR YOU! Find Corn Mazes, Pumpkin Patches,
Hayrides, Escape Games, Zombie Runs and Haunted Attractions at
Www.Hauntworld.com, www.hauntworld.com/top-13-rated-haunted-houses-in-
america-2017.

16. 16
F. Appendices