Park People
parkworld-online.com Q Lines Mark Fisher Merlin’s IP strategy
Merlin Entertainments’ business model has always been based around leveraging strong brands, usually its own. Over the next 12 months, however, the industry giant is partnering with some big external brand owners to
realise new attractions dedicated to Shrek, Angry Birds and CBeebies. Park World quizzes Mark Fisher, Merlin’s chief development officer, about the company’s approach to making the most of intellectual property, whoever’s IP that may be.
Merlin’s attractions already enjoy strong brand identities. What are your criteria for integrating external intellectual property? Clearly positioned and powerful brands are at the heart of all successful commercial businesses. This is certainly true of theme parks and attractions. Merlin is all about brands – we value and understand them, and each of the Merlin attractions has a very clear and different positioning and appeal. Any IP, attraction or sub brand we introduce must reflect, enhance and support that overall positioning, and be seen by guests as a natural extension to the overall attraction offer.
What’s more important – the brand or the attraction experience?
Both are as important as each other – together they make the kind of compelling propositions which people want to visit/experience. The brand builds trust and loyalty, and creates expectation of the type and quality of experience which will be on offer. The experience then has to deliver on that!
Why did you choose Thorpe Park as the launch pad for the Angry Birds Land/4D experience? Thorpe Park Resort is the UK’s thrill capital. Its edgy, fun and tongue in cheek atmosphere is
perfect for the Angry Birds 4D theme park debut and Thorpe Park’s young adult and family visitors are the core target audience for the franchise. We are very excited about the partnership with Rovio.
How much theming can we expect in the new area at Thorpe Park?
It will be a really fun area and take on the character and humour of the much loved Angry Birds characters, including coming home to roost on Detonator – the resort’s 100ft drop tower ride – while Red Bird and the Bad Piggies will go bump to bump
MARCH 2014
on a brand new dodgem attraction and shopping in the branded F&B and retail outlets. The Merlin Magic Making [Merlin Studios] team will be developing all of the theming for the area, including for the 4D theatre.
Why is CBeebies the right fit for Alton Towers? The CBeebies brand is trusted and widely recognised among British families to deliver quality programming that both excites and
engages a pre-school audience. CBeebies and Alton Towers share core values to deliver unique, memorable and rewarding experiences and we believe that CBeebies Land adds to the already fantastic offering we have for young families at the resort. Together with BBC Worldwide, we are excited by the chance to bring some of CBeebies’ best-loved characters and brands to Britain’s number one theme park resort.
What brands will guests find at CBeebies Land? We will open with a host of popular CBeebies brands including Something Special, Mr. Bloom’s Nursery, Tree Fu Tom, In The Night Garden, Charlie & Lola, Postman Pat, Nina and the Neurons and many more. The Big Fun Time area will showcase a whole host of CBeebies brands which will change and evolve throughout the year – no two visits will be the same.
The introduction of Prezzemolo Land this season at Gardaland – based around the park’s own mascot – proves that in-house IPs can be as compelling
as those licensed externally. Do you envisage any similar opportunities at any of Merlin’s other resort properties? At Merlin we have been very successful at developing our own brands and sub-brands which appeal to all ages. That is already very evident in our theme parks – whether it is X Sector at Alton Towers with its terrifying rides like The Smiler and Oblivion, Polar X- plorer at Legoland Billund; or Zufari at Chessington World of Adventures. Prezzemolo is an established character at Gardaland and a massive favourite with Italian children, so when looking at developing new experiences for this age group it made perfect sense to develop his character in this way.
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Merlin meets Shrek
Debuting in 2015, Shrek’s Far Far Away Adventure is set to become the latest ‘Midway’ short stay attraction format from Merlin Entertainments. The first of at least six such attractions to be realised over the next nine years will open next summer in the British capital as part of Merlin’s County Hall operation, where it already runs the London Sea Life aquarium and London Dungeon midway attractions and, just footsteps away, the London Eye. The new 2,000 square-metre attraction will be a walk-through experience, created in partnership with DreamWorks Animation, and the first indoor Shrek themed facility of its kind. Featuring Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots and other characters from the hit animated Shrek movies, Shrek’s Far Far Away Adventure will allow guests to meet Shrek and his swamp friends, along with characters from other DreamWorks films including Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. An exhibit area supporting DreamWorks cinema/DVD releases will also be featured together with a retail outlet. Merlin has previously co- operated with DreamWorks on various Madagascar live shows at its parks in the UK, Germany and Italy. Among the rumoured locations for future Far Far Away Adventure outlets are Orlando. Larger, outdoor Shrek themed areas can already be found at Universal Studios Singapore and Dreamworld in Australia. “Shrek is the biggest animated franchise of all time, and we are delighted that to add Shrek’s Far Far Away Adventure to our portfolio of iconic international entertainment brands,” notes Merlin chief executive Nick Varney. “Developing an attraction based on Shrek and his friends is hugely exciting for Merlin and the start of what we hope will be a wider collaboration with DreamWorks Animation.”
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