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Branded Attractions
www.parkworld-online.com
ENTERTAINMENT RIGHTS
The owner of brands
including Basil Brush,
IP owner partners with 3DBA to target park market
Postman Pat and George of
the Jungle, Entertainment
Rights boasts a portfolio of
licensed properties perfectly
suited to amusement park
audiences. It was such family-
friendly fare that persuaded
Roger Houben of 3D Branded
Attractions (3DBA) to appoint
the company as a key
provider of content for his
new enterprise Immersive
Intellectual Property. Recently
acquired by Boomerang
Media in the United States,
Entertainment Rights now
plans develop a varied range
of branded attractions using
its characters. Owen Ralph
visited the company’s London
offices recently to talk with
global head of live
entertainment Mat Way, live
entertainment manager Clare
Wiggins, and Roger Houben
Left to right: Clare Wiggins, Roger Houben and Mat Way
of 3DBA
Why did you choose to work with Entertainment Brands are now playing a large part in people’s lives and
Rights? parents want to take a more active role in what their
Roger Houben – When I started my company, I had always children enjoy. It’s no longer just enough to sit them down
wanted to do something with IP (intellectual property), that’s in front of the television, we are seeing more parents and
why I called it 3D Branded Attractions. grandparents taking children out to live shows, theme parks
Three years ago I decided to visit the New York Licensing etc. That’s great news for us as some of our brands have a
Show. I had around seven or eight meetings and then I tremendous heritage, making them very strong across
waked into the Entertainment Rights booth; it really caught several generations. We hope to create a very nice
my eye, with George of the Jungle, Casper and Finley the environment within a park that will increase the dwell time,
Fire Engine all in one line. From my experience of theme leverage good retail sales and keep the family together.
parks, those were the right products that we could easily
maximise and also the look was very attractive for this What are you looking for in a park operator?
market. We had a very nice meeting and the rest if history. MW – We want to work with what we consider to be like-
People may not have realised it before, but that is what minded parties, not necessarily the parks with the largest
we stand for at 3DBA: Interactive, immersive and media- footfall, but a partner that understands the brand, has the
based attractions. As well as Entertainment Rights we are same integrity and values, and has the marketing team that
also working with other partners including Falcon’s understands how it can work with the brand. We are
Treehouse and Art Project (art and design), P&P Projects licensing something that is very precious to us and therefore
(theming), Alterface (interactive technology), Kraftwerk (AV we want the right people to do business with and that’s why
systems and 4D theatres), nWave (3D/4D films), SkyTrack we appointed Roger.
(Airball ride systems) Westech and Preston & Barbieri (family
rides). I’m pleased that we are now able to prove all that How does an operator justify the extra investment?
we can do. MW – The value really is that your’re investing in a brand
that is going to get ongoing support and cross marketing.
What attracted you to the theme park market? We work with the best broadcasters, we’ve got the best
Mat Way – By developing immersive attractions we can partners, and each park will be able to benefit from that.
present exciting opportunities for consumers to engage with our Parks can also expect an increase in secondary spend. I
brands in a way they've never experienced previously. It should think once we’ve got our first attractions up and running we
also provide us with cross marketing opportunities that will offer will be able to come to the table with some very interesting
more value to the customer, in addition to driving consumer information about the impact on footfall and retail.
product sales. Although it will become a licensing and revenue RH – One of the reasons people go into IP is because they
stream for us, I think the most important thing will be that want to have something different than the next person. If you
deepening of the relationship with the brand. look at the family entertainment centres (FECs) in the Middle
26
MAY 2009
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