April 2, 2025 • 27 mins
"You don't need to be the opposite of the rest of your category just for the sake of being different."
Notable Moments
00:53 The Adventure Factory
05:10 Teamwork is Essential in Designing and Escaping Rooms
06:39 Accessible and Story-Driven Experiences
10:30 Revamping Escape Game Marketing
14:27 Developing Virtual Games During Pandemic
19:28 Guest Feedback to Drive Decisions
20:34 Escape Room Experience Challenges
24:27 Unique Value: Exclusive Orlando Experience
Connect with Teddy Cheek
TeddyCheek.com - teddycheek.com
Teddy on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/teddycheek
The Escape Game - theescapegame.com/
Connect with Jody
About Jody - https://jodymaberry.com/about-jody-maberry/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sugarjmaberry
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodymaberry/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/sugarjmaberry/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodymaberry
During a visit to Nashville, I stepped into a world full of creativity and storytelling. The Adventure Factory of The Escape Game is where architects, engineers, scenic artists, and game designers turn ideas into interactive puzzle experiences. Teddy Cheek, the Senior Director of Marketing at The Escape Game, was my guide. Even though I knew it would be neat, the visit left me in awe.
Teddy joins for a conversation about knowing what you really sell. For example, The Escape Game is more than challenging games. They focus on creating fun and engaging escapes accessible to everyone, regardless of their skill levels.
Read my blog for more from Teddy on the way you can turn ordinary into extraordinary.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to the Jody Mayberry Show. This episode, I
am so happy to introduce you to Teddy Cheek.
Teddy is the senior director of marketing at the
Escape Game. Teddy, it is so good to have you on the show
finally. What's up, Jody? I know. This is so fun. I'm
excited about it. I say finally because Teddy and I have known each
(00:25):
other for years now. I don't even remember how
many. I'm I'm gonna guess and say six, but it could be longer than
that. I don't know. I think it's in that range. That sounds about right. Yeah.
So Lee and I have done many years ago, we
we did an episode of creating Disney Magic,
highlighting the escape game and the great work they do there. And
(00:47):
then since then, we did another project with the escape
game during the pandemic. That was fun. But the coolest
of all, I got to go to Nashville, visit Teddy,
get a tour of the facilities, and see where
the magic happens. My goodness. Where the stories are
created, and then where they're built, and then got to see the
(01:09):
backstage of the escape game
while it's in action. That was so fun, Teddy. Oh, that was awesome. Yeah. We
call it the adventure factory. It's outside of Nashville. It's
80,000 square feet, and it's full of architects,
engineers, scenic artists, game designers. And
if you need a shot of inspiration, you know, if you're having a a
(01:32):
day and you're like, I need some inspiration, you just go walk around there. It's
incredible. Yeah. There's so much talent and they're working on awesome stuff. You know,
in one corner, they're building, like, a really neat missile, and in
the other, they're making trees or something for a spaceship, and it's all
happening at once. And it's it's really neat. I think my favorite
part of senior facilities, the adventure
(01:53):
factory was really neat. The one spot that
might have been just a little bit cooler was where they actually
develop the stories and understand how it fits together.
That just fascinated me to see where they're taking ideas.
And I don't remember which one they were working on, but when I was
there, they were developing an idea that would
(02:16):
eventually become a room. And that was really neat to
see because I imagine there there's got to be so
much creativity to not only develop a story,
but turn the story into an experience. Yeah. Those game
the game design team is small and mighty. There's just a few of them and
they eat and breathe. They they love game creation. And
(02:38):
they're so creative. And you can throw the wildest stuff at
them and we have through the years. And they'll just turn
it around. I'll give you an example. A couple of weeks ago, I said, Hey,
I just talked to the Jonas Brothers team at American Dream Mall where we are.
They're doing a big event. I wanna do, like, a custom game, and they'll come
surprise fans in the game if we do something custom. Can you do an overlay
(02:59):
of one of our games that's, like, full of Easter eggs and surprises for the
fans? And one of them was like, I love the Jonas Brothers. I'm on it.
And so they created this game with so many clever puzzles
that the fans like, I got to watch them engage with it. It was amazing.
And then they came and installed it overnight one night. And then the
next day, we were taking Jonas Brothers fans in the games and just watching them
(03:20):
interact with it. And there's so many, like, subtle nods to their music through the
years that the fans were just dying over. They loved
it. Oh, how fun. I did not even realize that
that it just speaks to the team you have at the escape
game that you can pull that off. Very cool. If you have
not done an escape room I know there are a lot of
(03:41):
different brands that put them on. The escape game, in my opinion, is
the best. They do a phenomenal job, but it is
a room where you have to solve puzzles and clues and mysteries
to eventually escape. And I
remember you telling me, Teddy, when we were there that
one of the tricks to developing these is it has
(04:04):
to be hard enough that not everybody gets out.
Otherwise, it's not fulfilling to enough people.
Right. There needs to be suspense. And
it can't all be manufactured. Like, there has to be, you could
win or you can lose. And one of the things we one of the taglines
I use is, you might escape, you will have fun. So I'm
(04:26):
gonna guarantee you the fun. And we're going to present these
games with a lot of hospitality for our guests. We're really a hospitality
company more than anything. But the challenges are real,
and you may or may not escape. But you hinted at just the right amount
of difficulty. There's good and there's bad frustration. And we look for that. Like,
we're trying to calibrate these games. So it's like you watch the people trying to
(04:48):
solve the puzzle, and it's a little frustrating. And what is it? What is it?
And then it leads to a great moment. You don't want to just make it
so hard for the sake of being hard that it's not fun. And you just
sit in there frustrated, and you don't feel like you're progressing. Like, the games seem
to have little wins along the way. Like, maybe even if I didn't
escape, I had all these moments where I solve little things along the way, and
(05:08):
that still feels really good. One of the things that we
discovered now I've done an escape game
room with my family. I've done what so we
had one where you may remember, you said, let's get Lee
Cochran in one. So a few of I got
Lee to do it and a few of us went. And it was
(05:31):
it was a difficult one. Luckily for us, we had a
someone who designed roller coasters with us and and he
figured out the most difficult parts. But this is what I
have found. It is very rare that one
person takes charge and solves everything
that whatever your team is, there there
(05:53):
is each person has a different skill set that is going to
come in handy at some point to get you out of that room.
Yeah. That's part of the magic of the way our game designers think is there
there really is something for everyone, and something
will just completely stump, you know, a a
graduate student and then, like, a child walks up and gets it.
(06:15):
Gotta think that's fun to see. So there's just a lot of different kinds
of challenges, and it and it does take a team. But our main goal is
that the games are accessible. We're not building these just
for experienced escape room players that have
played a hundred, and they're just looking for the hardest challenge. Like, we want these
to be accessible. So they're they've got a great challenge, and there's a wide
(06:37):
variety of types of puzzles, but there's something for everybody. And that's
something we, in particular, really wanted to do when we opened because,
you know, escape games started in Asia and Europe. And
in Asia, they're really math heavy. There wasn't a lot of storyline
to it. And Europe kind of had its own flavor. And so our founders
were like, Let's make this really accessible for the masses to
(07:00):
get to love this. We wanna see three generations playing a game together, which is
unique. And we want, like, the theatrics and the together, which is unique, and we
want, like, the theatrics and the story to be a bigger part. It's
not going in a dimly lit room and, like,
cracking codes and doing math. It's a lot more to that. You feel like you're
more a part of a story. You feel like you're on a spaceship. You feel
like you're exploring ancient ruins. It's it's tactile.
(07:22):
And it's not just about the hardest puzzles
possible, I guess, is where I'm going with that. Yeah. It's true.
It's difficult for sure. But there is an element of
adventure to it. And of course, the urgency. We did
one in Orlando. I think it was. And I hope I don't spoil a
room for anyone. I'm just giving no, no, one little piece of that. I
(07:44):
think it was the gold rush one. My kids thought it
was amazing when you get to the point where you have to climb through the
fireplace. Oh my goodness. They just thought that was amazing.
Surprise. And okay. I'm gonna tie it back. So you know the fireplace opens and
there's a slide. Right? And you slide down into the gold mine.
That is the moment that we had the Jonas Brothers surprise like,
(08:06):
hiding down in the gold mine. And the fans took the slide down and they
were just there and they're like, hi. Oh my goodness.
That had to buddy, buddy. Gold Rush is a great game. My
favorite part of that one is where you have to and I won't give away
what the code is, but you have to knock on the tree in a certain
pattern and, like, an acorn falls down with something in it. It's
(08:26):
so great. Yeah. How fun. Well, you mentioned
that the escape game is a
hospitality company, and I wanna explore that idea
that you saying that makes me realize
you're not just marketing a room that you have to solve
puzzles to get out of. What is it that you're actually marketing and selling
(08:49):
to people? Yeah. Exactly. And it depends on who the
guest is, but the things we offer are, like, an
accessible, fun experience that you're gonna like I said, you might escape. You
will have fun. We're selling fun. You know, even team building
companies, like, our companies coming for team building, they're coming
for fun with the team and for bonding. It's not so much, hey. We're gonna
(09:11):
do some serious, serious learning and development. Like, yeah, you can do
that too. But, typically, it's fun, whether it's team building or it's a birthday party
or it's a night out with friends. Like, our brand promise you're gonna
have a good time, and that's typically what people are looking for. So that's that's
the use. So what changes in the way
you market or position the escape game, understanding
(09:33):
that you're selling fun rather than we're selling
you the getting locked in a room and you find your way out?
This is a great question. So when I first started here, I wasn't
here right at the beginning of the company. I missed about the first year and
a half, but every escape room in The US marketed
themselves the same way. The website, everything's dark. It's all
(09:55):
mysterious, and you won't be able to solve it. And no one
escapes, and no one would show pictures of their rooms because it was
all about nobody can know these secrets. We don't wanna give
anything away. Don't take your cell phone out in the room. It's not
allowed. We got rules. You're limited to three clues, and so on
and so forth. And I said, Guys, our biggest advantage is that our rooms
(10:17):
look awesome. We have this game design team. Like, we don't have pictures of them
online. The reviews people talk about, hey, this looks really cool. But
I immediately, like, hired photographers, started taking pictures, started using them
in ads and saying, this is what it looks like. We changed, like, our brand
like, we took it from, like, black and red to using
white and black and red and other colors, making it bright and fun, and people
(10:39):
are smiling and having a good time and using real pictures of our
guests having a good time, and then started messaging differently
about phones. We're like, take pictures with your friends and family in there. Like,
that's great. And, hey, you can ask for as many hints as you want.
This is your experience. There's no penalties. There's no judgment. It's up to you. We're
here to have a good time. So I'm sure there's a little bit of an
(11:02):
audience we miss because of that. They're saying, Hey, I want to feel like I'm
locked in and I can't get out and there's it's scary and I don't wanna
know anything before that like, that's not us. We're not dark.
We're not scary. It's fun. It's family friendly. It's for everybody. You can ask for
clues if you want. I even remember it was controversial. I made a
decision. We got asked by a pretty large streamer online,
(11:23):
like, can I stream the experience? And I was like, yes. Come in. There are
you know, tell anybody watching. The 10,000 people are gonna watch you do this live.
There are spoilers. But, sure, stream the whole thing. That's great. Let's
invite people into this. And so I have zero regrets about that change
in direction on marketing. I think it's been helpful for us. How
cool. I I really like that you did that. You look at what other people
(11:45):
are doing and say, let's do something different. That it's very Walt
Disney in spirit. I like it.
One other thing that I really was impressed with with what
the escape game did, and I know you played a role in this because
we talked a lot during that time in 2020,
something happened where you could no longer really do an
(12:08):
in person escape room anymore, which you would
expect that to have potentially a devastating
impact on a company like the escape game. Your
company handled that brilliantly. Do you mind telling
us what direction I would love to tell this story. I would I would love
to because COVID probably should have killed us. Like, here's what we're offering.
(12:30):
Go into an enclosed space, sometimes with strangers, and
touch everything. You know, that doesn't
with the start of COVID, that didn't sound really attractive to people. And
so, you know, I think it was the February 2020. We
started getting some cancellations. We didn't know a lot about COVID. No one did at
the time. And we're like, oh, man, we might miss our targets for February. Like,
(12:52):
we were we had such momentum. This is this is really disappointing.
Little did I know, like, first of all, this call is picked up and picked
up, and all these cancellations are getting out of control. But our wildest
nightmares, we didn't think we're gonna go to zero revenue overnight. Like, it
just happened so fast. Like, we have to close all of our stores, and we
don't have a plan for this. And so that happened, and
(13:15):
unfortunately, we had a furlough, like, most of the team, and a couple of us
stayed on to, you know, keep the lights on and kinda plan what's next. And
I remember we were in a room kinda like this with a conference table and
just a few of us that were on and our and our CEO. And I'll
say, our CEO is not the hype man. Like, he doesn't he doesn't have
my personality that's like, it's big, and we're gonna be
(13:36):
fine, and it's gonna be great. And so it was really extra inspiring
for him to look around the room and say, we're not just gonna survive this.
We are going to thrive, and someone in this room is gonna have an
idea. We're gonna end this year celebrating. And
it everybody was, like, super inspired because he when he says it,
he meant it. There was no fluff. You know, this is the real deal. Like,
(13:59):
he believes we were gonna do this. So the first thing that happened is one
of our founders, Johnny, who's just this wild creative,
factory into a face shield factory, and we're gonna get, like, a license
to make official face shields and go, go, go, go. And so it it was
like a one or two day turnaround. We got to bring some of the warehouse
(14:19):
back in and said, okay. We're gonna teach you how to make face shields, and
we have orders for hundreds of thousands of them. So
that helped. Now that didn't replace our company revenue, but it definitely
helped us employ some of the team members, like bring them back. And so
while that was happening, it bought us a little bit more time. A small group
of us was like, Okay, how can we take escape rooms
(14:41):
online? And what does that look like? And so we, you know, put someone in
an escape room with a camera on their head and said, what does this look
like over Zoom? Could this be fun? And we started prototyping a
virtual escape room, and it wasn't fun at first. We were, like, getting frustrated, like,
can this be engaging? Can this be entertaining? And we just kept
doing reps of it until it turned into something really great for us
(15:03):
to release where, you know, you have teams getting on Zoom together
and then a game guide in the room with a camera, and you're directing them
what to do. Hey, look left, look right, do do a push up. Teams would
have fun with it. And we'd also have a host on the call as well
there too, like, for hospitality to be your host and show you how everything
works. And we would we build a dashboard where everything you found in the room
(15:26):
with your game guide showed up there. And you're like, oh, let me take a
look at that. You can enlarge it and see it. And basically, it ended up
being something really fun, and it was the right product at just
the right time. It absolutely exploded.
I mean, it exploded. And suddenly, you know, we were doing
team building for companies in Australia and India and all over the world, and it
(15:46):
was, like, more than we can keep up with. Like, we were just trying to
scale this up fast and bring people back to work to help with this. And
the games were being run out of our stores all over the country, so we're
getting to employ some people in Jacksonville and Orlando and New York City
and Cal and just all over. And also, we got to do really wild
things. Like, companies would come to us and say, hey. Can you do an event
(16:07):
for 500 people at once? And what would happen, they wouldn't even
realize how complex this is, but we would put everybody on, like, a
giant Zoom call and then split into breakout rooms. And these eight
people would be playing Gold Rush in Orlando, like you did, and these eight
people are playing The Heist in Chicago, and they don't realize it's like,
Hey, we're your flight crew today. We're in Chicago. I'm in an
(16:29):
actual escape room in Chicago, and you're gonna direct direct me around. So it just
grew to something amazing. And so that gave us a head start
when we could open because we had people employed. We weren't starting from zero. We
kept our general managers on at every store the whole time because we said, we're
gonna be back. So we took that bet. We're like, we didn't furlough them. Every
general manager stays on fully and keeps the relationship with their team
(16:51):
that they had and keep communication up. So when the local government and the national
government said, hey. Chicago can open, full schedule. We're ready to
rock. Atlanta's ready to open. Let's go. No slowdown. We're ready to
rock. And so we kind of have screamed out of
COVID. Like, it was wild. And at the same time, we discovered this
other thing that kept going. We still do remote games. Not to the level we
(17:12):
did before, but we still do the virtual team building now. Lee and I did
one of the virtual ones. You may remember that. And it was
done so well because we had a host, so there was
hospitality. And then it it wasn't even
done in a manner of, hey. We've got this guy, and he's gonna
do the escape room for you. There was even a story created around
(17:34):
it. Like, he broke in and you got to tell him what to do.
Like, it it felt like something special. It didn't feel like, hey,
you can't be here in person, so we're gonna do it for you. Your team
did such a good job on it. It it made it a lot of
fun. Thank you. I love it. And we're doing later this year, I won't say
who, because I want them to be able to announce it, but we're doing a
(17:56):
a large virtual event with, like, 10,000 people. And those people are
gonna, like, direct the game guide with, like, polls and stuff.
We've we've never actually done an event with 10,000 people at once, but it's
gonna be cool. Yeah. How neat. And then the
other approaches you took with it on making it
going from a team building to making it a learning experience. I know you did
(18:17):
something with me and Lee. Did something with Donald Miller. Just how
cool to take something that a little while ago
was fun, but now you have to figure out, okay, what
else do we do with it and what else is possible to do with it?
And I was just fascinated by the way your team
approached the whole thing. That should have been a kick in
(18:39):
the pants for your company turned out to be such a boost. It was
definitely a boost and and maybe our finest hour so far.
We'll see see. But it was, I just mean, like,
where we really banded together and did something great. So yeah.
No. I love telling that story. Yeah. It is. It is a very impressive
story. One of the things I would like to talk about while we're lucky enough
(19:02):
to have you with us is you referenced earlier
how you're not selling, getting locked in a room
and escaping. You're selling fun and therefore you approach it different.
Given your experience and expertise in that, can
you talk to us a bit about rethinking
no matter what business we're in, rethinking
(19:25):
what it is we sell and how to approach it differently? Sure. I
think that the only way to start that process is
talking to as many guests as possible in person. Like,
I've always been big on doing interviews with our guests and being in stores and
talking to them and, like, hey, what do you like about it? You know, what
what could be better? And so those conversations lead
(19:47):
me to these decisions. And so it's hard to say, hey. There's a one size
fits all for that. It's just getting in there and actually having those conversations and
hearing people say, like, I like that you offer unlimited hints, and you
didn't penalize me like other companies. I'm like, oh, well, I'm gonna market the fact
that we do that more because that seems like a big thing. Or they say,
Oh, your games have multiple rooms. I've played others where you just go in one
(20:09):
room and go out. So I'm like, Okay. That feels like a factor I need
to focus on is, Hey, there's multiple rooms to explore
in every game to kinda show the expanse of it. So I think it's about
talking to your guests. And for me, it's not necessarily, you know, being
different for the sake of being different. I mean, there's there's a place for that
for sure. It's also understanding your category and being
(20:30):
clear, like, not going so far the other way. Like, we're still an escape game.
You're still solving puzzles to get out. And that's the hook. That's
the hook is, can you escape this room? Like, we're not
too far from that still, even though I talked about some other things. Like, if
we and I think we made a mistake at one point, like our messaging guides
and stuff in the store. I would hear a team member say someone would walk
(20:52):
in and say, Hey, is this an escape room? And they'd say or, How does
it work? They'd say, Yeah, you're going to go on an adventure, and you're going
to have a mission, and this and that, and it's cinematic and that. And they'd
say, oh, I thought this was an escape room. Never mind. You know, kind of
thing. So while you wanna maybe be different based on what you're hearing from
your guests, like, you don't need to be opposite of the rest of your category
(21:13):
just for the sake of being different. Yeah. Well, I'm gonna
use an example here locally. I live in a small town.
There are two auto parts stores, and one of them
approaches it as in we sell auto parts. If you need
something, come in and get it. Need wipers, come and get them. Need a light
bulb. Come and get it. But the other approach is it much different,
(21:35):
like, oh, we're here to help you keep your car maintained.
They don't say that. But you feel that when you go in, it's
not, hey, here's your item. Let's do this transaction.
They ask questions. They're friendly. They will tell you different
options. For example, I got a headlamp recently
and instead of just saying headlamps are in that aisle, it
(21:58):
is, well, Okay, what do you what do you want out of your headlamp? And
I'm like, to illuminate the
road. He's like, Okay, but we've got three choices.
So it depends on what you want. And I'm like, I didn't even know this
was a thing. Tell me more. And it just feels different. I feel
like one took the approach of, oh, we're not just
(22:20):
providing you your auto parts. We're actually helping
you maintain your car in the way that that you want. I'd have
to think about it to figure out what exactly they're doing, but there is a
clear difference. So I think that's probably in the
same line of what you're doing. And I mentioned what you do is in the
spirit of Walt Disney, and I'm sure you've heard the stories
(22:42):
of he got the idea from a carnival, but he said we are
not going to be a carnival. Yes. Exactly. Yeah.
I love that. Yeah. Well, I think
the escape game, the work that you're doing, there is so much
wrapped into it because I love the creative,
innovative side of how they're developed. I love the hospitality
(23:04):
side of what you do. I've been to Orlando
twice, Nashville once, And every time it's
just so welcoming. The team is so nice. And then the
marketing side, the way you position yourself as in, hey, you're going
to have fun, you're going to have an adventure. It's really good. I just
like the work that you're doing. Now, the other
(23:27):
side of what you do is getting the
message out there. So I'm going to take Orlando.
You're at ICON Park. There are at
least twenty, twenty five other options of something to do at ICON
Park. Sure. How do you approach that to say, okay, we're
going in a location where we know you have two dozen other
(23:50):
choices. What do you do to make me wanna come and see
you? Yeah. Big piece of it's reviews. I'd say that's helpful
because people do shop for things to do. Like, even if they know there's
25, they're looking for things to do in and around ICON
Park. Like, they're gonna look at reviews, and they're gonna also read what
listicles, like, review sites, listicles bloggers are having to say.
(24:13):
So good reviews, good relationships with people that that
write lists and things online go go a long way. Also,
a lot of the traffic is actually people looking for just escape rooms in
Orlando. And so, you know, important to have great SEO.
The reviews factor in there as well. So And you want people to
view it as a great value of time versus money. There's a lot you can
(24:35):
do in Orlando that's $40 for ten, fifteen
minutes. So the $40 for an hour is a pretty good deal. And we offer
something, as far as value goes, pretty unique. Like you're gonna have the whole room
to yourself. You know, the eight people that book that
room, you're gonna have the full room and the intention of a team
member on our team. So I think we're pretty unique in the attraction space.
(24:56):
Yeah. And it's fun, and it's something you go and tell stories about.
There's a new place at ICON Park that has axe
throwing. I don't know if you've seen that on any of your trips to Orlando,
but I did that recently Nice. And had fun. Yeah. And I
will end up saying afterwards, oh, yeah. I went axe throwing in
Orlando, which is different than the story I tell when I do
(25:18):
the escape game in Orlando, because you end up talking about details
in the adventure and we almost didn't beat it. So
one experience I usually will give one sentence about
it. The escape game, though, you end up talking quite a bit about it. So
that reviews is big. Word-of-mouth for what you do is
Word-of-mouth is huge. Yeah. It's a it's a huge piece of it. And you're right.
(25:41):
It's the kind of word-of-mouth that's specific. Specific word-of-mouth
is so much more potent. You know, I went here and it was good, or
I went here and these five things happened that are really specific. Like, if I
tell you a story about a business and I say it's good, you probably won't
remember it. But if I tell you three reasons it's good
or fun, you might remember that. Yeah. That's right.
(26:02):
Well, Teddy, this has been so good talking with you. I'm glad
I finally got you on the show. I make it sound like I've been trying
to get Teddy on for years, and he keeps saying no. But that's not true.
I just didn't ask him until recently. You call. I'm there, man. Yeah.
It's it's that easy. Well, Teddy, if we want to just
look at what escape now, hopefully, this will encourage people to
(26:24):
want to go do an escape room Helm them. Which is wonderful.
They're across the country, not way out west where I am yet. They haven't made
it to Seattle, but perhaps someday, you you're in
Vegas. Right? I've come to Seattle. Coming to Seattle twice this
year. So get ready. Alright. And then, yeah, location's announced
soon. Yeah. You'll see us soon. Yes. Wonderful. That is great
(26:46):
news. But if we just wanna check out what you do from a
marketing and positioning side, where can we go to
check that out? Yeah. You can look at our work at
theescapegame.com. You can follow us on social media. You
can sign up for our email. Or, you know, occasionally, I write about it on
my site, teddycheek.com. So you got you got some options if you're interested.
(27:08):
Teddycheek.com. Thanks for doing the personal plug. I
appreciate that because check it out. You will enjoy Teddy. He
is a a great guy. You'll be happy to get to know him. And I
don't think Teddy would mind if you reached out and said hello and let him
know how much you enjoy his work. Find me on LinkedIn.
Alright. Thank you so much, Teddy. It's been great talking with you. Yeah. Thanks,
(27:29):
Jody. See you, man. Thank you for listening to the Jody
Mayberry show.
Bloody oath we all love Sugar Jay.
Welcome to the Jody Mayberry Show. This episode, I
am so happy to introduce you to Teddy Cheek.
Teddy is the senior director of marketing at the
Escape Game. Teddy, it is so good to have you on the show
finally. What's up, Jody? I know. This is so fun. I'm
excited about it. I say finally because Teddy and I have known each
(00:25):
other for years now. I don't even remember how
many. I'm I'm gonna guess and say six, but it could be longer than
that. I don't know. I think it's in that range. That sounds about right. Yeah.
So Lee and I have done many years ago, we
we did an episode of creating Disney Magic,
highlighting the escape game and the great work they do there. And
(00:47):
then since then, we did another project with the escape
game during the pandemic. That was fun. But the coolest
of all, I got to go to Nashville, visit Teddy,
get a tour of the facilities, and see where
the magic happens. My goodness. Where the stories are
created, and then where they're built, and then got to see the
(01:09):
backstage of the escape game
while it's in action. That was so fun, Teddy. Oh, that was awesome. Yeah. We
call it the adventure factory. It's outside of Nashville. It's
80,000 square feet, and it's full of architects,
engineers, scenic artists, game designers. And
if you need a shot of inspiration, you know, if you're having a a
(01:32):
day and you're like, I need some inspiration, you just go walk around there. It's
incredible. Yeah. There's so much talent and they're working on awesome stuff. You know,
in one corner, they're building, like, a really neat missile, and in
the other, they're making trees or something for a spaceship, and it's all
happening at once. And it's it's really neat. I think my favorite
part of senior facilities, the adventure
(01:53):
factory was really neat. The one spot that
might have been just a little bit cooler was where they actually
develop the stories and understand how it fits together.
That just fascinated me to see where they're taking ideas.
And I don't remember which one they were working on, but when I was
there, they were developing an idea that would
(02:16):
eventually become a room. And that was really neat to
see because I imagine there there's got to be so
much creativity to not only develop a story,
but turn the story into an experience. Yeah. Those game
the game design team is small and mighty. There's just a few of them and
they eat and breathe. They they love game creation. And
(02:38):
they're so creative. And you can throw the wildest stuff at
them and we have through the years. And they'll just turn
it around. I'll give you an example. A couple of weeks ago, I said, Hey,
I just talked to the Jonas Brothers team at American Dream Mall where we are.
They're doing a big event. I wanna do, like, a custom game, and they'll come
surprise fans in the game if we do something custom. Can you do an overlay
(02:59):
of one of our games that's, like, full of Easter eggs and surprises for the
fans? And one of them was like, I love the Jonas Brothers. I'm on it.
And so they created this game with so many clever puzzles
that the fans like, I got to watch them engage with it. It was amazing.
And then they came and installed it overnight one night. And then the
next day, we were taking Jonas Brothers fans in the games and just watching them
(03:20):
interact with it. And there's so many, like, subtle nods to their music through the
years that the fans were just dying over. They loved
it. Oh, how fun. I did not even realize that
that it just speaks to the team you have at the escape
game that you can pull that off. Very cool. If you have
not done an escape room I know there are a lot of
(03:41):
different brands that put them on. The escape game, in my opinion, is
the best. They do a phenomenal job, but it is
a room where you have to solve puzzles and clues and mysteries
to eventually escape. And I
remember you telling me, Teddy, when we were there that
one of the tricks to developing these is it has
(04:04):
to be hard enough that not everybody gets out.
Otherwise, it's not fulfilling to enough people.
Right. There needs to be suspense. And
it can't all be manufactured. Like, there has to be, you could
win or you can lose. And one of the things we one of the taglines
I use is, you might escape, you will have fun. So I'm
(04:26):
gonna guarantee you the fun. And we're going to present these
games with a lot of hospitality for our guests. We're really a hospitality
company more than anything. But the challenges are real,
and you may or may not escape. But you hinted at just the right amount
of difficulty. There's good and there's bad frustration. And we look for that. Like,
we're trying to calibrate these games. So it's like you watch the people trying to
(04:48):
solve the puzzle, and it's a little frustrating. And what is it? What is it?
And then it leads to a great moment. You don't want to just make it
so hard for the sake of being hard that it's not fun. And you just
sit in there frustrated, and you don't feel like you're progressing. Like, the games seem
to have little wins along the way. Like, maybe even if I didn't
escape, I had all these moments where I solve little things along the way, and
(05:08):
that still feels really good. One of the things that we
discovered now I've done an escape game
room with my family. I've done what so we
had one where you may remember, you said, let's get Lee
Cochran in one. So a few of I got
Lee to do it and a few of us went. And it was
(05:31):
it was a difficult one. Luckily for us, we had a
someone who designed roller coasters with us and and he
figured out the most difficult parts. But this is what I
have found. It is very rare that one
person takes charge and solves everything
that whatever your team is, there there
(05:53):
is each person has a different skill set that is going to
come in handy at some point to get you out of that room.
Yeah. That's part of the magic of the way our game designers think is there
there really is something for everyone, and something
will just completely stump, you know, a a
graduate student and then, like, a child walks up and gets it.
(06:15):
Gotta think that's fun to see. So there's just a lot of different kinds
of challenges, and it and it does take a team. But our main goal is
that the games are accessible. We're not building these just
for experienced escape room players that have
played a hundred, and they're just looking for the hardest challenge. Like, we want these
to be accessible. So they're they've got a great challenge, and there's a wide
(06:37):
variety of types of puzzles, but there's something for everybody. And that's
something we, in particular, really wanted to do when we opened because,
you know, escape games started in Asia and Europe. And
in Asia, they're really math heavy. There wasn't a lot of storyline
to it. And Europe kind of had its own flavor. And so our founders
were like, Let's make this really accessible for the masses to
(07:00):
get to love this. We wanna see three generations playing a game together, which is
unique. And we want, like, the theatrics and the together, which is unique, and we
want, like, the theatrics and the story to be a bigger part. It's
not going in a dimly lit room and, like,
cracking codes and doing math. It's a lot more to that. You feel like you're
more a part of a story. You feel like you're on a spaceship. You feel
like you're exploring ancient ruins. It's it's tactile.
(07:22):
And it's not just about the hardest puzzles
possible, I guess, is where I'm going with that. Yeah. It's true.
It's difficult for sure. But there is an element of
adventure to it. And of course, the urgency. We did
one in Orlando. I think it was. And I hope I don't spoil a
room for anyone. I'm just giving no, no, one little piece of that. I
(07:44):
think it was the gold rush one. My kids thought it
was amazing when you get to the point where you have to climb through the
fireplace. Oh my goodness. They just thought that was amazing.
Surprise. And okay. I'm gonna tie it back. So you know the fireplace opens and
there's a slide. Right? And you slide down into the gold mine.
That is the moment that we had the Jonas Brothers surprise like,
(08:06):
hiding down in the gold mine. And the fans took the slide down and they
were just there and they're like, hi. Oh my goodness.
That had to buddy, buddy. Gold Rush is a great game. My
favorite part of that one is where you have to and I won't give away
what the code is, but you have to knock on the tree in a certain
pattern and, like, an acorn falls down with something in it. It's
(08:26):
so great. Yeah. How fun. Well, you mentioned
that the escape game is a
hospitality company, and I wanna explore that idea
that you saying that makes me realize
you're not just marketing a room that you have to solve
puzzles to get out of. What is it that you're actually marketing and selling
(08:49):
to people? Yeah. Exactly. And it depends on who the
guest is, but the things we offer are, like, an
accessible, fun experience that you're gonna like I said, you might escape. You
will have fun. We're selling fun. You know, even team building
companies, like, our companies coming for team building, they're coming
for fun with the team and for bonding. It's not so much, hey. We're gonna
(09:11):
do some serious, serious learning and development. Like, yeah, you can do
that too. But, typically, it's fun, whether it's team building or it's a birthday party
or it's a night out with friends. Like, our brand promise you're gonna
have a good time, and that's typically what people are looking for. So that's that's
the use. So what changes in the way
you market or position the escape game, understanding
(09:33):
that you're selling fun rather than we're selling
you the getting locked in a room and you find your way out?
This is a great question. So when I first started here, I wasn't
here right at the beginning of the company. I missed about the first year and
a half, but every escape room in The US marketed
themselves the same way. The website, everything's dark. It's all
(09:55):
mysterious, and you won't be able to solve it. And no one
escapes, and no one would show pictures of their rooms because it was
all about nobody can know these secrets. We don't wanna give
anything away. Don't take your cell phone out in the room. It's not
allowed. We got rules. You're limited to three clues, and so on
and so forth. And I said, Guys, our biggest advantage is that our rooms
(10:17):
look awesome. We have this game design team. Like, we don't have pictures of them
online. The reviews people talk about, hey, this looks really cool. But
I immediately, like, hired photographers, started taking pictures, started using them
in ads and saying, this is what it looks like. We changed, like, our brand
like, we took it from, like, black and red to using
white and black and red and other colors, making it bright and fun, and people
(10:39):
are smiling and having a good time and using real pictures of our
guests having a good time, and then started messaging differently
about phones. We're like, take pictures with your friends and family in there. Like,
that's great. And, hey, you can ask for as many hints as you want.
This is your experience. There's no penalties. There's no judgment. It's up to you. We're
here to have a good time. So I'm sure there's a little bit of an
(11:02):
audience we miss because of that. They're saying, Hey, I want to feel like I'm
locked in and I can't get out and there's it's scary and I don't wanna
know anything before that like, that's not us. We're not dark.
We're not scary. It's fun. It's family friendly. It's for everybody. You can ask for
clues if you want. I even remember it was controversial. I made a
decision. We got asked by a pretty large streamer online,
(11:23):
like, can I stream the experience? And I was like, yes. Come in. There are
you know, tell anybody watching. The 10,000 people are gonna watch you do this live.
There are spoilers. But, sure, stream the whole thing. That's great. Let's
invite people into this. And so I have zero regrets about that change
in direction on marketing. I think it's been helpful for us. How
cool. I I really like that you did that. You look at what other people
(11:45):
are doing and say, let's do something different. That it's very Walt
Disney in spirit. I like it.
One other thing that I really was impressed with with what
the escape game did, and I know you played a role in this because
we talked a lot during that time in 2020,
something happened where you could no longer really do an
(12:08):
in person escape room anymore, which you would
expect that to have potentially a devastating
impact on a company like the escape game. Your
company handled that brilliantly. Do you mind telling
us what direction I would love to tell this story. I would I would love
to because COVID probably should have killed us. Like, here's what we're offering.
(12:30):
Go into an enclosed space, sometimes with strangers, and
touch everything. You know, that doesn't
with the start of COVID, that didn't sound really attractive to people. And
so, you know, I think it was the February 2020. We
started getting some cancellations. We didn't know a lot about COVID. No one did at
the time. And we're like, oh, man, we might miss our targets for February. Like,
(12:52):
we were we had such momentum. This is this is really disappointing.
Little did I know, like, first of all, this call is picked up and picked
up, and all these cancellations are getting out of control. But our wildest
nightmares, we didn't think we're gonna go to zero revenue overnight. Like, it
just happened so fast. Like, we have to close all of our stores, and we
don't have a plan for this. And so that happened, and
(13:15):
unfortunately, we had a furlough, like, most of the team, and a couple of us
stayed on to, you know, keep the lights on and kinda plan what's next. And
I remember we were in a room kinda like this with a conference table and
just a few of us that were on and our and our CEO. And I'll
say, our CEO is not the hype man. Like, he doesn't he doesn't have
my personality that's like, it's big, and we're gonna be
(13:36):
fine, and it's gonna be great. And so it was really extra inspiring
for him to look around the room and say, we're not just gonna survive this.
We are going to thrive, and someone in this room is gonna have an
idea. We're gonna end this year celebrating. And
it everybody was, like, super inspired because he when he says it,
he meant it. There was no fluff. You know, this is the real deal. Like,
(13:59):
he believes we were gonna do this. So the first thing that happened is one
of our founders, Johnny, who's just this wild creative,
factory into a face shield factory, and we're gonna get, like, a license
to make official face shields and go, go, go, go. And so it it was
like a one or two day turnaround. We got to bring some of the warehouse
(14:19):
back in and said, okay. We're gonna teach you how to make face shields, and
we have orders for hundreds of thousands of them. So
that helped. Now that didn't replace our company revenue, but it definitely
helped us employ some of the team members, like bring them back. And so
while that was happening, it bought us a little bit more time. A small group
of us was like, Okay, how can we take escape rooms
(14:41):
online? And what does that look like? And so we, you know, put someone in
an escape room with a camera on their head and said, what does this look
like over Zoom? Could this be fun? And we started prototyping a
virtual escape room, and it wasn't fun at first. We were, like, getting frustrated, like,
can this be engaging? Can this be entertaining? And we just kept
doing reps of it until it turned into something really great for us
(15:03):
to release where, you know, you have teams getting on Zoom together
and then a game guide in the room with a camera, and you're directing them
what to do. Hey, look left, look right, do do a push up. Teams would
have fun with it. And we'd also have a host on the call as well
there too, like, for hospitality to be your host and show you how everything
works. And we would we build a dashboard where everything you found in the room
(15:26):
with your game guide showed up there. And you're like, oh, let me take a
look at that. You can enlarge it and see it. And basically, it ended up
being something really fun, and it was the right product at just
the right time. It absolutely exploded.
I mean, it exploded. And suddenly, you know, we were doing
team building for companies in Australia and India and all over the world, and it
(15:46):
was, like, more than we can keep up with. Like, we were just trying to
scale this up fast and bring people back to work to help with this. And
the games were being run out of our stores all over the country, so we're
getting to employ some people in Jacksonville and Orlando and New York City
and Cal and just all over. And also, we got to do really wild
things. Like, companies would come to us and say, hey. Can you do an event
(16:07):
for 500 people at once? And what would happen, they wouldn't even
realize how complex this is, but we would put everybody on, like, a
giant Zoom call and then split into breakout rooms. And these eight
people would be playing Gold Rush in Orlando, like you did, and these eight
people are playing The Heist in Chicago, and they don't realize it's like,
Hey, we're your flight crew today. We're in Chicago. I'm in an
(16:29):
actual escape room in Chicago, and you're gonna direct direct me around. So it just
grew to something amazing. And so that gave us a head start
when we could open because we had people employed. We weren't starting from zero. We
kept our general managers on at every store the whole time because we said, we're
gonna be back. So we took that bet. We're like, we didn't furlough them. Every
general manager stays on fully and keeps the relationship with their team
(16:51):
that they had and keep communication up. So when the local government and the national
government said, hey. Chicago can open, full schedule. We're ready to
rock. Atlanta's ready to open. Let's go. No slowdown. We're ready to
rock. And so we kind of have screamed out of
COVID. Like, it was wild. And at the same time, we discovered this
other thing that kept going. We still do remote games. Not to the level we
(17:12):
did before, but we still do the virtual team building now. Lee and I did
one of the virtual ones. You may remember that. And it was
done so well because we had a host, so there was
hospitality. And then it it wasn't even
done in a manner of, hey. We've got this guy, and he's gonna
do the escape room for you. There was even a story created around
(17:34):
it. Like, he broke in and you got to tell him what to do.
Like, it it felt like something special. It didn't feel like, hey,
you can't be here in person, so we're gonna do it for you. Your team
did such a good job on it. It it made it a lot of
fun. Thank you. I love it. And we're doing later this year, I won't say
who, because I want them to be able to announce it, but we're doing a
(17:56):
a large virtual event with, like, 10,000 people. And those people are
gonna, like, direct the game guide with, like, polls and stuff.
We've we've never actually done an event with 10,000 people at once, but it's
gonna be cool. Yeah. How neat. And then the
other approaches you took with it on making it
going from a team building to making it a learning experience. I know you did
(18:17):
something with me and Lee. Did something with Donald Miller. Just how
cool to take something that a little while ago
was fun, but now you have to figure out, okay, what
else do we do with it and what else is possible to do with it?
And I was just fascinated by the way your team
approached the whole thing. That should have been a kick in
(18:39):
the pants for your company turned out to be such a boost. It was
definitely a boost and and maybe our finest hour so far.
We'll see see. But it was, I just mean, like,
where we really banded together and did something great. So yeah.
No. I love telling that story. Yeah. It is. It is a very impressive
story. One of the things I would like to talk about while we're lucky enough
(19:02):
to have you with us is you referenced earlier
how you're not selling, getting locked in a room
and escaping. You're selling fun and therefore you approach it different.
Given your experience and expertise in that, can
you talk to us a bit about rethinking
no matter what business we're in, rethinking
(19:25):
what it is we sell and how to approach it differently? Sure. I
think that the only way to start that process is
talking to as many guests as possible in person. Like,
I've always been big on doing interviews with our guests and being in stores and
talking to them and, like, hey, what do you like about it? You know, what
what could be better? And so those conversations lead
(19:47):
me to these decisions. And so it's hard to say, hey. There's a one size
fits all for that. It's just getting in there and actually having those conversations and
hearing people say, like, I like that you offer unlimited hints, and you
didn't penalize me like other companies. I'm like, oh, well, I'm gonna market the fact
that we do that more because that seems like a big thing. Or they say,
Oh, your games have multiple rooms. I've played others where you just go in one
(20:09):
room and go out. So I'm like, Okay. That feels like a factor I need
to focus on is, Hey, there's multiple rooms to explore
in every game to kinda show the expanse of it. So I think it's about
talking to your guests. And for me, it's not necessarily, you know, being
different for the sake of being different. I mean, there's there's a place for that
for sure. It's also understanding your category and being
(20:30):
clear, like, not going so far the other way. Like, we're still an escape game.
You're still solving puzzles to get out. And that's the hook. That's
the hook is, can you escape this room? Like, we're not
too far from that still, even though I talked about some other things. Like, if
we and I think we made a mistake at one point, like our messaging guides
and stuff in the store. I would hear a team member say someone would walk
(20:52):
in and say, Hey, is this an escape room? And they'd say or, How does
it work? They'd say, Yeah, you're going to go on an adventure, and you're going
to have a mission, and this and that, and it's cinematic and that. And they'd
say, oh, I thought this was an escape room. Never mind. You know, kind of
thing. So while you wanna maybe be different based on what you're hearing from
your guests, like, you don't need to be opposite of the rest of your category
(21:13):
just for the sake of being different. Yeah. Well, I'm gonna
use an example here locally. I live in a small town.
There are two auto parts stores, and one of them
approaches it as in we sell auto parts. If you need
something, come in and get it. Need wipers, come and get them. Need a light
bulb. Come and get it. But the other approach is it much different,
(21:35):
like, oh, we're here to help you keep your car maintained.
They don't say that. But you feel that when you go in, it's
not, hey, here's your item. Let's do this transaction.
They ask questions. They're friendly. They will tell you different
options. For example, I got a headlamp recently
and instead of just saying headlamps are in that aisle, it
(21:58):
is, well, Okay, what do you what do you want out of your headlamp? And
I'm like, to illuminate the
road. He's like, Okay, but we've got three choices.
So it depends on what you want. And I'm like, I didn't even know this
was a thing. Tell me more. And it just feels different. I feel
like one took the approach of, oh, we're not just
(22:20):
providing you your auto parts. We're actually helping
you maintain your car in the way that that you want. I'd have
to think about it to figure out what exactly they're doing, but there is a
clear difference. So I think that's probably in the
same line of what you're doing. And I mentioned what you do is in the
spirit of Walt Disney, and I'm sure you've heard the stories
(22:42):
of he got the idea from a carnival, but he said we are
not going to be a carnival. Yes. Exactly. Yeah.
I love that. Yeah. Well, I think
the escape game, the work that you're doing, there is so much
wrapped into it because I love the creative,
innovative side of how they're developed. I love the hospitality
(23:04):
side of what you do. I've been to Orlando
twice, Nashville once, And every time it's
just so welcoming. The team is so nice. And then the
marketing side, the way you position yourself as in, hey, you're going
to have fun, you're going to have an adventure. It's really good. I just
like the work that you're doing. Now, the other
(23:27):
side of what you do is getting the
message out there. So I'm going to take Orlando.
You're at ICON Park. There are at
least twenty, twenty five other options of something to do at ICON
Park. Sure. How do you approach that to say, okay, we're
going in a location where we know you have two dozen other
(23:50):
choices. What do you do to make me wanna come and see
you? Yeah. Big piece of it's reviews. I'd say that's helpful
because people do shop for things to do. Like, even if they know there's
25, they're looking for things to do in and around ICON
Park. Like, they're gonna look at reviews, and they're gonna also read what
listicles, like, review sites, listicles bloggers are having to say.
(24:13):
So good reviews, good relationships with people that that
write lists and things online go go a long way. Also,
a lot of the traffic is actually people looking for just escape rooms in
Orlando. And so, you know, important to have great SEO.
The reviews factor in there as well. So And you want people to
view it as a great value of time versus money. There's a lot you can
(24:35):
do in Orlando that's $40 for ten, fifteen
minutes. So the $40 for an hour is a pretty good deal. And we offer
something, as far as value goes, pretty unique. Like you're gonna have the whole room
to yourself. You know, the eight people that book that
room, you're gonna have the full room and the intention of a team
member on our team. So I think we're pretty unique in the attraction space.
(24:56):
Yeah. And it's fun, and it's something you go and tell stories about.
There's a new place at ICON Park that has axe
throwing. I don't know if you've seen that on any of your trips to Orlando,
but I did that recently Nice. And had fun. Yeah. And I
will end up saying afterwards, oh, yeah. I went axe throwing in
Orlando, which is different than the story I tell when I do
(25:18):
the escape game in Orlando, because you end up talking about details
in the adventure and we almost didn't beat it. So
one experience I usually will give one sentence about
it. The escape game, though, you end up talking quite a bit about it. So
that reviews is big. Word-of-mouth for what you do is
Word-of-mouth is huge. Yeah. It's a it's a huge piece of it. And you're right.
(25:41):
It's the kind of word-of-mouth that's specific. Specific word-of-mouth
is so much more potent. You know, I went here and it was good, or
I went here and these five things happened that are really specific. Like, if I
tell you a story about a business and I say it's good, you probably won't
remember it. But if I tell you three reasons it's good
or fun, you might remember that. Yeah. That's right.
(26:02):
Well, Teddy, this has been so good talking with you. I'm glad
I finally got you on the show. I make it sound like I've been trying
to get Teddy on for years, and he keeps saying no. But that's not true.
I just didn't ask him until recently. You call. I'm there, man. Yeah.
It's it's that easy. Well, Teddy, if we want to just
look at what escape now, hopefully, this will encourage people to
(26:24):
want to go do an escape room Helm them. Which is wonderful.
They're across the country, not way out west where I am yet. They haven't made
it to Seattle, but perhaps someday, you you're in
Vegas. Right? I've come to Seattle. Coming to Seattle twice this
year. So get ready. Alright. And then, yeah, location's announced
soon. Yeah. You'll see us soon. Yes. Wonderful. That is great
(26:46):
news. But if we just wanna check out what you do from a
marketing and positioning side, where can we go to
check that out? Yeah. You can look at our work at
theescapegame.com. You can follow us on social media. You
can sign up for our email. Or, you know, occasionally, I write about it on
my site, teddycheek.com. So you got you got some options if you're interested.
(27:08):
Teddycheek.com. Thanks for doing the personal plug. I
appreciate that because check it out. You will enjoy Teddy. He
is a a great guy. You'll be happy to get to know him. And I
don't think Teddy would mind if you reached out and said hello and let him
know how much you enjoy his work. Find me on LinkedIn.
Alright. Thank you so much, Teddy. It's been great talking with you. Yeah. Thanks,
(27:29):
Jody. See you, man. Thank you for listening to the Jody
Mayberry show.
Bloody oath we all love Sugar Jay.
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