Marketing A Mountain with Austin Martin

On this episode, we are joined by Austin Martin, Head of Publicity for Anakeesta in the breathtaking Great Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. With almost a decade of experience in broadcast television as an anchor, producer, and reporter, Austin brings a unique perspective to creative storytelling, crisis management, and elevating the publicity game for the adventure park.

Transcript

Kristy Tozer 0:01

Today on Behind the Buzz, we have Austin Martin, head of publicity for Anakeesta. Have you ever been to an adventure park at the summit of a mountain? Anakeesta is Gatlinburg, Tennessee's award winning adventure park surrounded by the majestic Smoky Mountains. It's a place for adventure and relaxation, exploration and wonder. A place where people of all ages can discover nature and family entertainment. On this episode, we're exploring how you market a unique attraction like this. How to keep the buzz going and keep visitors coming back. With recent exciting attraction openings, Austin has taken us behind the scenes of Anakeesta.

Andrea Alava 0:37

Hey from Andrea, chiming in that Austin is extremely charismatic, a pop culture guru, and a peak Bravo fan. I'm under the weather so I won't be joining this episode, but let's get buzzed anyway. Hi, Austin.

Austin Martin 0:52

how's it going?

Kristy Tozer 0:54

It's great. Great. Are you ready to do this?

Austin Martin 0:57

ready.

Kristy Tozer 0:59

Awesome. Right. Well, welcome everyone to our second episode of Behind the Buzz. Today on the pod, we have a special guest with us, Austin Martin. He's the head of publicity for Anakeesta in the breathtaking Great Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. With almost a decade of experience in broadcast television as an anchor, producer, and reporter, Austin brings a unique perspective to creative storytelling, crisis management, and journalism. And Elevating the publicity game for the adventure park.

Austin Martin 1:28

Well, thanks for having me. Wow. I didn't know I got such an intro.

Kristy Tozer 1:36

Hey, that's the way we do it here. Um, Welcome to Behind The Buzz. Are you ready to get

Austin Martin 1:41

I'm ready. Let's do it.

Kristy Tozer 1:43

All right, we've been working together for about a year now. And as uh, as we prepared to open two, two brand new attractions. The Hellbender Mountain Coaster, Which we got a great headline for today. I don't know if you've seen it yet. And the Bird Venture. Hell on Wheels, it was so good. Um, and then also BirdVenture. So, which is a whimsical family play zone featuring three uniquely designed and larger than life birdhouses and seven incredible slides

Austin Martin 2:12

it is,

Kristy Tozer 2:12

with LED lights.

Austin Martin 2:14

you know, honestly, you knew how excited I was before it opened and now that it's here, I'm like, no, very cool.

Kristy Tozer 2:22

So good, so good. Alright, so you are relatively new to the attractions industry, Austin. You came from a career in broadcast journalism. What's the biggest lesson? or challenge that you've had transitioning to the other side of the table or camera, if you

Austin Martin 2:37

well, one, it feels like it's been so much longer than a year. You know how much work we put in, you know, opening these new attractions over the past new year. Um, I think the biggest, well, besides having normal, and I say normal quote, unquote, normal hours, um, and sleeping like a normal human, um, I think really the biggest challenges to overcome is really when you're telling the news, you're giving, you know, just, just the basics. Here's what happened, that kind of thing. You know, you're really selling an attraction. So you're really, you know, building up that brand. What does that brand mean? And you actually get to really dive deeper into those stories that you're telling versus just kind of giving that surface level what you need to know. And so I think that has been my biggest challenges. You know, telling those stories, not just in an advertising way, but going more in depth. Okay, you've told this story before, how do you make it different? So, you know, yes, we have those kinds of stories in news, but, you know, really going into, you know, let's build this brand, let's build this story, let's give it a little more. You know, time and effort, and I, I think that really has been my biggest learning curve is like how to get away from just the facts, but also, you know, have a little fun with it.

Kristy Tozer 3:50

Awesome. So if you had to prepare or mentor someone that is just starting to work in attraction publicity, what would your advice be?

Austin Martin 3:59

Um, never plan, uh, for anything and think,

Kristy Tozer 4:03

that's terrible advice!

Austin Martin 4:04

wait, wait, wait, finish. Never plan for anything, but plan for everything, and I think that is the best way to describe it because, uh, you really, you need to be able to shift that plan. You know as well as I do this past year. None of our timelines worked out the way we thought they were going to, they really didn't, and so, you know, you can plan to have it done by July, but it's not going to be done until November, and so you just need to have, you know, Everything planned out, you know, what you think is going to happen. And then you need to really have a realistic plan of what's actually going to happen.

Kristy Tozer 4:39

You have to be able to adjust on the

Austin Martin 4:40

Definitely. You have to be prepared for everything as well.

Kristy Tozer 4:45

Without a doubt. So when we started working together just after this current expansion was announced, it was about a year ago, um, Back then it felt like we had a lot of time to prepare. Like we had this huge long window, you know, almost a year. How do you feel about those timelines now? And assuming that other publicists or owners are listening, how much time would you recommend that someone give themselves to build a viable launch plan?

Austin Martin 5:10

Well, I think you learned a lot about me. And I think I learned a lot about myself and those timelines. I'm, you know, Me and you, you are very like timeline driven and I am too to a certain point, but I'm like, we got a year to do it. We're good. We're fine. no, it is never enough time. Um, I think, you know, honestly, um, we had a good plan, you know, had it open, you know, and no hiccups or anything like that. I think we gave it, you know, you guys started planning a little bit before I did, um, you know, before I got here. And so. I think we had a great plan. It didn't go that way though. And so I think honestly, you know,

Kristy Tozer 5:46

Be ready to adjust.

Austin Martin 5:48

you really do. I think, you know, maybe two years is a really great time, you know, because that first year is really. doing all those bigger picture things and really thinking about like what do we need to get done and then that next year being an execution of how do we get it done on time and make sure that we're not, you know, last second. Everything's going to be last second. It doesn't matter how much time you plan. It's really, you know, you're going to have so much going on, especially that month leading up to those attractions. I think just giving yourself enough time to really think about what could go wrong and what probably is going to go wrong. And then, of course, all the things that go right that just take time.

Kristy Tozer 6:24

Right, right. Um, so what were some of the elements that you built into your pre publicity plan? Pre publicity plan? Wow, that was hard. That made it really impactful.

Austin Martin 6:36

So, I mean, we really just, wow, uh, that's a, that's a complex question. Uh, so, pre publicity, uh, as in, like, for, you know, our opening and things.

Kristy Tozer 6:49

Well, you took some of those small moments or construction moments and turned them into big milestones, like your hard hat tour and some of the moments that you were able to get media out there to start talking about it even before you had anything to share.

Austin Martin 7:01

Yeah, I,

Kristy Tozer 7:02

anything

Austin Martin 7:03

yeah, exactly. I think

Kristy Tozer 7:05

You always had something to

Austin Martin 7:06

we got very good at, uh, kind of planning that, but I really think that, you know, building those moments exactly, you know, you might only have a dirt lot to show off, but hey, you know, for example, we brought those, uh, hellbender carts. up onto the mountain, the sleds. We built a mountain of rock, uh, to give you kind of the view of what the Hellbender might be. And then, you know, for BirdVenture, we literally, we only had the statues done. So we put the statues on the back of a flatbed and put it up there for our media day, you know, through the whole process. Every little thing, you know, we took those social media, um, you know, people really just want something new all the time on social media. And that's one of the biggest challenges also. You asked earlier what the biggest challenge is of this. How do you come up with those new moments? And so, every little thing that happens, make sure that you document. Take, everyone involved, take pictures. Uh, that's the one thing I have learned through this whole thing because you really are feeding the beast. You really, the beast being that social media and tension spans and really figuring out. How to get the best moments and get people excited about something that may be a year off, you know, um, and so really just making sure that you're, um, really keeping up with all the things that are happening and staying in good communication with your team. I think that's the biggest thing, making sure that as their, whatever their job may be. At your park, at your attraction, making sure that they're communicating with you to make sure that your goals of marketing are gonna match theirs. And you know, making sure there is that line of communication. So one, they feel comfortable when something doesn't go right. They don't feel like, oh man, I have to tell Austin, you know, and so you really just wanna avoid that. But really just building on. You know, making sure people are excited about what's coming.

Kristy Tozer 8:48

I love it. So tell us about the actual grand opening day. What did it look like?

Austin Martin 8:53

Um, well, it looks like, uh, we have planned it for a year or something. Um, knock on, you know, I don't even have to knock on wood anymore. I, I was very pleased with, uh, grand opening day. So, you know, you all arrived the night before, our national writers arrived the night before, and so we really got up here in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was absolutely beautiful. I will, you know, great weather. Could not have asked for a better day. We got up. It was a beautiful fall morning. All the leaves were changed. Uh, we all went to breakfast. Um, I, everyone who was supposed to be there was there on time. We had a great turnout for what it was. Um, we had all of our owners. They kind of gave us that. Welcome to Aeestata, what's coming, what to expect that day. I walked everyone through, you know, what the day would look like. We did a tour and then we all just went as a group and got to experience all the brand new attractions. So we went on the Hellbender. We put people with cameras, we got them all rigged up. Our staff was. It's super great about, you know, making all these, you know, cameras work on our track because, you know, we are on a mountain and so our biggest thing ever is logistics and so really making it look good but also be kind of fun and behind the scenes, you know, it's not your typical mountain coaster, it's actually on a mountain so, you know, really making that work. Then we went, you know, to BirdVenture, um, we got to try out some of the slides for the first time. You were there, you know, it was a lot of fun. Our slides were

Kristy Tozer 10:23

It was wild.

Austin Martin 10:24

Our slides are, you know, we're literally going down the mountain. So kind of getting people to experience those for the first time. It was a lot of fun. Uh, we did lunch and then. Our, you know, baby over the past year, really getting people to that grand opening VIP event, and it really was magical, uh, it's one of those, it's a feeling that you don't get doing other things, um, it's a, a feeling of accomplishment, and I don't know, it's probably a lot of relief, too, um,

Kristy Tozer 10:54

no

Austin Martin 10:55

So, you know, seeing everyone that, you know, had really either been a partner or, you know, a media, um, sponsor or anything like that, really get to see what you've been working for. So, you know, we had the little details, you know, that really came together, you know, we had our step and repeat, a blue carpet event, you know, we had, you know, a projector ready to announce our next big thing. We, we did our. Next big thing announcement, Astralumina, getting two brand new, you know, zones. So, everything really went as planned and it really turned out to be a magical night.

Kristy Tozer 11:30

And it was a gorgeous night. I mean, again, the weather was perfect. You can't get better cooperation. And certainly riding the Hellbender at night gave everybody who was there, your partners, your journalists, a very different experience than what they got to see during the

Austin Martin 11:44

It was, and the video that came out of that, because, you know, I guess I rode it so many times in the daytime, I didn't realize what a different experience it is at night, and You know, coasters are thrills for me. That is thrill enough. At night time, that is a whole nother. I'm like, well, nope. you know, for thrill seekers, absolutely amazing. And then seeing BirdVenture really, you know, all the way up to grand opening, our team was here, you know, for probably 72 hours straight, really just making sure all those finishing touches and like paint and lights and everything were ready to go. I had never seen BirdVenture. lit up at night. And so really getting to see what it looked like in all its glory. This thing that was just an idea finally coming to life. It really was out of this world. I mean, it really was something you'll never see anywhere else. And just seeing all the little details that you had heard about, but not actually knew what they look like kind of come together. It really was. It's a really cool event.

Kristy Tozer 12:45

And it's so, it's so nice to get to hear everybody rave about how wonderful it is, right? It's beautiful, it's magical, all the

Austin Martin 12:51

it is like I've been trying to tell you.

Kristy Tozer 12:56

You're justified now. So if you could prioritize the most important or effective aspects of your grand opening plan, what would they be? And like, it could be anything. A focus area, the multi layered approach, your teasers. What was really impactful?

Austin Martin 13:11

Um, besides follow Kristy's plan, even when you are unsure of it. Um, besides that, no, uh, definitely just, uh, having, having that plan really, um, you know, all the way down from the big picture things. Okay. There are the obvious things that have to get done, but really thinking about, um, something that helped us here at. Anakeesta was really breaking down by department, what do I need for this grand opening? Where does social media fit in today? Or where does food and beverage? Where does you know, really making sure that everyone is on the same page really paid off for us? Um, you had a crash course, you know, kind of in that Astralumina grand opening, the one before we opened this, so you know, two years in a row, you got to do it back to back, but really, um, just making sure that everyone is on the same page and that everyone's good to go, and really just having a little margin of error for either department, you know, making sure that you're, you realize not everything's going to be perfect, even though, knock on all the wood, That event. Yeah, that event went great. So, you know, but really just making sure that, one, you're not too hard on yourself, but two, that you are holding everyone else accountable, making sure that everyone is ready to go for your big, your big event or big reveal.

Kristy Tozer 14:29

I love it. I love it. So, switching gears a tiny bit, you had a pretty significant curveball thrown at you during the construction of BirdVenture. You had a little fire.

Austin Martin 14:41

we did have a fire and you guys, you know, um, it, it, it was. A setback happened on May 24th, uh, about nine o'clock. We were in the middle of a commercial shoot here on the mountain, and then we had this massive fire and, uh, destroyed one of the birdhouses. Um, it, you know, spontaneous combustion was the cause of that fire that was later revealed. But, you know, after that we really had to set, sit down and like, how do we, how do we come back from this? And not only how do we come back from that, how do we make this up, you know, make this promise happen to our guests. How can we really come through and deliver this thing that we'd been talking about for so long, still in 2023? And so we worked with our team out of Florida, our contractors. They really, I don't know how they did it. From May to November, they got us back to the same spot they were when they started this back last November. So from November to May, they worked really hard. The fire happened. And then from May. to November. They got it done. We got a brand new owl, a brand new owl house, and it's actually a little bit bigger than the other one was going to be. And so, you know, some good came from that. You know, we, we one, learned how to deal. You know, I had never been in a crisis situation here. And so I got to learn through that. We got to learn about, Oh, this is a great comeback story. How do we market that to really be like, Hey, you know, we are doing this for you guys. So,

Kristy Tozer 16:05

right? And that's kind, that is kind of a question. How do you go from that kind of crisis communication and then transitioning back to, it's all good, it's okay, it's okay, right? We handled this, we talked about it the best we could, um, minimize the damage as much as possible. Certainly, you know, the fact that nobody was hurt and it was nobody's, it was no fault really, it's kind of a weird thing to say.

Austin Martin 16:30

of those strange things you can never plan for in life. And so we, we were very fortunate, you know, nobody was hurt. Everything still went off, you know, as it should have. Our team on the mountain handled that well. They handled the bounce back well. Then we had to go through a whole deconstruction of this, you know, attraction we've been working so hard from, and then we had to rebuild it again, so. You know, we had a lot of, lot of things working in our favor and we were very lucky with how well everything did turn out in the end.

Kristy Tozer 16:59

yeah, and really from a publicity standpoint, you didn't really miss a beat. I mean it, there was the, the crisis communication piece of it, but you were able to really quickly jump back into new attraction conversation and it really was not, it did not overshadow the beauty and the excitement of opening that BirdVenture experience.

Austin Martin 17:19

did. And so many people were so excited for BirdVenture in the beginning, but I think even after this, they're even more excited now it's like, oh my gosh, this is still happening, thank goodness, you know? And so I, I think that really did, um, you know, help in that aspect, going from that crisis communication to. You know, hey, this is still opening. We're still delivering this for you.

Kristy Tozer 17:39

right, right. So what's next for Anakeesta? Any new publicity features, coming attractions?

Austin Martin 17:46

So, Anakeesta is always starting a new project. You've learned this very well in your time. Um, so right now we're working, uh, as I was talking about, you know, during our grand opening. We announced our two brand new, uh, Astrolumina zones. So, Astrolumina, we're getting a brand new zone, uh, which is gonna be Nebular Waves. I'm very excited about it. It's gonna be... A super cool liquid sky effect. Uh, if you head to at Anakeesta on Instagram, you can find a cool video of what is to come. Uh, we'll be doing that during our downtime of January and February because it is going to require a little bit of construction, so we're going to have to kind of change the trail of astralumina and as we get that new attraction that's going to lead you right into our reimagined astral genesis chapter and so that is where our disco ball if you will is um we're kind of reimagining that to make it a little more interactive right now. It is very cool if you stand and watch it. However, you want something that people can really get into and be immersive. And so here at Anakeesta, we're trying to make people really get an experience they won't get anywhere else. And so they, we're rebuilding this and it's kind of going to be something you walk through versus you walk and look at, if you will.

Kristy Tozer 18:58

Oh, I love

Austin Martin 18:59

And then down the road, you know, Stone Village, we are about to announce our second phase of that. So, you know, Stone Village phase one just wrapped up. It included, you know, Astralumina, the Hellbender, Bird Venture, and then the Stone Village area. Well, now we're about to open our Fur Trader, which is a brand new retail location. It's the biggest one on the mountain. That one should be open by the end of the year, if not the first of, uh, 2024. And then of course, we're going to work on that Astrolumina, and then we have some pretty big announcements that we can't share quite yet, but we'll be announcing those next year in 2024.

Kristy Tozer 19:35

exciting. And so just even for Astral Lumina to know that if you come back next summer, even if you've seen it before, you're gonna be able to have a new experience.

Austin Martin 19:44

And that's really, you know, what we're trying to do. You don't want to. Nobody wants to go to the same thing, same place, do the same thing twice. You know, you might want to twice, but that's about it. So you always want to make sure that you're really progressing forward. Okay. What makes people want to come back to Anakeesta? So, you know, besides it's beautiful and the food, A plus, but you, you definitely, you know, you, you want to be able to go do something new and really share that with your friends. And then also, you know, when you take someone after you've gone to do it, it's a little less magical for you. So you don't get to see as. much excitement on your end that you could be experiencing with. So, you know, that way families can bring their other family members up and still be just as excited to go through AstraLumina.

Kristy Tozer 20:27

love it. So if one of our listeners is preparing to launch a new attraction or a new product or even open a new business venture, what would your top three tips be to maximize their publicity to reach new customers?

Austin Martin 20:39

Um, make sure you have a plan, um, to really, yeah,

Kristy Tozer 20:44

That that's what you

Austin Martin 20:45

it was, make sure you plan everything. Um, you can't wing it.

Kristy Tozer 20:49

warms my heart.

Austin Martin 20:50

So, you know, from the publicity, make sure you're creating that excitement early. So, you know, even if there's nothing to look at, make sure that you have that social media, like, okay, I need to hit this milestone then. this milestone and make sure you just set goals for yourself very early on. The second, make those personal connections. Um, coming from my background, for example, it has helped me. I have, you know, had some really great relationships with our local media and knowing people who work in the industry. But really, um, I, as a reporter, I had people really, you know, You'd never want to send just an email and leave it at that. You always want to, Hey, you know, I have this great thing happening. If you have time for lunch or you even stop by a station, make sure you really build those. Personal Connections to make sure that you are getting your message heard and it's not just going into a junk email box. Um, the third one, I would say, make sure, besides having a backup plan, um, make sure that you're really creating that excitement. So, you know, I, I talked about that in the first one, but you really need to make sure that. Okay, you did it once. Well, you're going to have to do it again a thousand times. How are you going to do it better? Making sure that you're always trying to better what you're putting out there. And, you know, maybe take those risks. Maybe try something a little unconventional. If it works, great. If it doesn't work, you learned something. And so you really need to just be flexible with yourself, uh, and always be willing to try. Something new, you know, the world is ever changing. You worked in marketing a long time. I've worked in TV, you know, traditional TVs even changed. And so where is social media these days compared to what it was a year ago, completely different places. So just making sure that you were flexible as you're trying to gain that publicity and willing to take those risks on something that may work, or maybe something that's very new and is really up and coming. So just making sure that you are. Ready for all of those random challenges that are going to come.

Kristy Tozer 22:53

Excellent. Excellent. Um, this has been so great talking to you Austin. I always love chatting with you. We probably do need to start wrapping it up. So let's talk about you and what you are currently buzzing about. So what are you currently watching?

Austin Martin 23:10

Oh, what am I currently watching? Well, honestly, I'm not gonna lie. It just came off a vacation. So I really unplugged, um, but Winterhouse is my go to. Um, it always has been, you know, Bravo. It is a wormhole that I get into, and then I'm just like, I don't know these people, but I love them. Um, and so,

Kristy Tozer 23:31

BravoCon, here we come.

Austin Martin 23:33

ready for it. Andy Cohen, you need a co host? Let's go. Um, but yeah, Winterhouse is where it's at right now. I'm all into Lindsay Davis, you know, Carl Radke. I had hopes for them, but here we are.

Kristy Tozer 23:50

Oh, gosh. What are you reading?

Austin Martin 23:52

What am I reading? Um, actually, I'm not doing as much reading. I, uh, just started a new self guided journaling. Uh, it's called Story of My Life. Uh, go to your local bookstore. It's very cool. And so it's really, um, Not just about the traumas of your life, but also like things you might not remember until you're asked about them And so it's really just recording them and putting them all down Into one place that you can look back and maybe in ten years you won't remember that one specific thing But it really it asks you a different prompt Prompt every single day and one it makes you think but also like keeps you engaged So you're writing your own story versus reading someone else's

Kristy Tozer 24:32

Oh, I love that. Love that. Alright. What's the next show that's on your radar?

Austin Martin 24:37

Oh, next show. Hmm. Honestly, I just wrapped up The Crown as well. Uh, the first part of the final season. The next part comes out on December 14th. I'm super excited for it. It is the final one, which I'm kind of sad they're ending it. Because there's so much more to the royal family. Uh, this is the Diana era. And so the, uh, the first part was the Diana very much. And the second part is kind of as, uh, William and Harry. end up going, uh, to college and kind of where they get their start into the royal family, transitioning into that next chapter.

Kristy Tozer 25:11

I love it. I actually have not been watching that, but I think that I may just have to binge it from start to finish.

Austin Martin 25:17

I personally recommend it. I watched the last part, shamefully, in about a half a day. So,

Kristy Tozer 25:24

Oh, wow. But you were on vacation,

Austin Martin 25:26

you know, I had time.

Kristy Tozer 25:29

all right. So then last but not least, what brands are you currently watching on Instagram or TikTok

Austin Martin 25:36

Brands, brands, brands. Honestly, I'm very, uh, impressed. Uh, Lulu has had a pretty good campaign out. Uh, it's caught My Ad a few times. Um, Also, here in Gatlinburg, if you are, uh, luckily, well, lucky enough to see some of those targeted ads, our, uh, visit Gatlinburg. They do a really good job of kind of rebranding every few years. And some of their stuff, I was like, Oh, I didn't know we were working on this. So good to see Anakeesta in a few places. Um, so that's been really cool to kind of watch, you know, some of those other things come to life.

Kristy Tozer 26:11

nice, nice. All right. Well, this has been awesome. Thank you, Austin. It's been so good getting buzzed with you.

Austin Martin 26:18

Thanks so much for having me from the buzz.

Kristy Tozer 26:22

And until next time, this is Behind the Buzz.