Postman Pat has been entertaining children since 1981. As popular as ever, he’s one of the biggest IPs in the CBeebies portfolio


not just the ogre protagonist who wins hearts; the franchise’s success is owed to the multitude of genial char- acters. A 2012 poll by Co-operative Pet Insurance to find the UK’s all-time favourite animal film star saw Donkey claim the number one spot. “It really does appeal to everybody because of its multi-level humour,” says Fisher. “Some people have grown up with the franchise, and older people too have an affection and an affinity with it.” This near-universal fondness for the animated characters gives added weight to the importance of Merlin and DreamWorks working so closely together. The UK-based entertain- ments business accepts that a global franchise like this puts it ahead of the game in terms of marketing the final products to the public, but as Fisher points out, the challenge then is to “make sure we deliver and live up to what people love about Shrek.” There are several aspects of this


partnership that seem to have helped lay the foundations for a successful


ISSUE 4 2014 © cybertrek 2014


FINDING THE RIGHT IP


There are a lot of IPs with a lot of potential, but how do you know which ones to bank on? Here are some tips from Merlin Magic Making’s Mark Fisher.


n A well known and loved IP means a readymade customer affinity with the brand. That helps when it comes to building its appeal and the mar- keting side of things.


n Be driven by what customers say they want. Try not to be too subjective. n Do your research. With CBeebies Land, we found out the big- gest and best IPs in the pre-school market, then asked the audience to choose their favourite from the best five or six we’d found. Turned out CBeebies is far and away the biggest IP brand for the toddler group.


attraction that meets and surpasses expectations. The first is the ability to negotiate — and skilfully. According to Fisher, DreamWorks was “pretty open because they are a good group with similar aims.” Even then, it took a lit- tle time for the details to be ironed out.


“An IP holder’s main collateral is his IP


, and he’s not going to let you walk all over it. There was some negotia- tion [with DreamWorks] about what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do


n Be on your toes. You never know the next big thing, and some of these opportunities come up quickly, like a pro- ject we’re doing with a [CBeebies’] brand called the Octonauts at Sea Life. It went bonkers. n Choose IPs that are going to be around for a reasonable amount of time, par- ticularly in today’s society where every- thing moves so quickly.


it, but it was all done with good grace.” Every IP holder will be protective of their creation, and each presents a unique set of circumstances. The recent collaboration between the BBC and Merlin to create CBeebies Land at Alton Towers not only involved work- ing with the BBC on their own IPs but also managing sub-IPs owned by other parties. Fisher says: “I think there were 12 to 15 different IP holders, and that’s probably the most complicated


Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 59


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