Park News/Comment in association with
Park Hoppin’ with Paul Ruben
Theme parks as brand
extensions During a recent visit to Hersheypark, Pennsylvania, I stopped to take this photo with Milton S Hershey, who is memorialised in brass on the midway. Hershey founded the world famous Hershey's chocolate company in 1903 and built a town named Hershey for his employees, complete with homes, schools and cultural and recreational opportunities. In 1907, he founded Hersheypark as a picnic and pleasure ground for his workers. Over the years, the facility has developed from being a simple brand
extension into a world-class theme park that doubles as a marketing tool for Hershey's products. Three rides are even themed to chocolate, meanwhile the adjacent Hershey’s Chocolate Tour has just reopened with 13 new animated figures by Garner Holt Productions (see opposite). And then it hit me. Other parks are used for marketing purposes, too, and not
just those incorporating film or TV-based based intellectual property either. Pennsylvania is the motherlode of such parks. In Tipton, DelGrosso's Amusement Park sells and uses DelGrosso's pasta sauces, popular in the region. Under the auspices of the Boyer Candy Company, Lakemont Park in Altoona was operated as Boyertown USA from 1986 to 1988, adopting a similar model to Hersheypark. In Albany, New York, Huck Finn's [furniture] Warehouse opened Huck Finn's Playland next door in 2015. Some come to take their kids on the rollercoaster and go home with a new table and chairs. Others dangle the park as an incentive for their children, telling them if they behave in the store, they can ride the rides afterward. That's creative marketing. Both Busch Gardens parks in the United States were initially developed as
marketing vehicles for Anheuser-Busch and featured hospitality houses providing free Busch beer. Eventually, rides, animals and attractions were added. The Anheuser-Busch connection was severed when the brewer was sold to InBev, and the group (which also operates Sesame Place in Pennsylvania) was reborn under new ownership as SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment in 2009 and I was forced to pay for beer. It tasted better when it was free. The first Legoland park, in Billund, Denmark, was built next door to the town's
Lego factory in 1949. Today there are six Legoland parks around the world (seven with the the opening of Legoland Dubai this autumn), plus several smaller Legoland Discovery Centers. All are operated by Merlin Entertainments, and Lego toys remain a top seller in their retail stores. Other branded parks around the world include offerings as diverse as Tayto Park in Ireland, founded by a producer of potato chips, and of course Ferrarri World Abu Dhabi. Both Disney and Universal's
parks constantly promote the intellectual properties of their parent companies and contribute significantly to their profitability. See the movie, then ride the ride. Or on occasion, build the ride and then make a movie about it, as in the case of Pirates of the Carribbean, which provided the inspiration for an entire land at Disney's new park in Shanghai. Synergy and marketing tie-
ins are everywhere. As brand owners look for new ways to connect with consumers in an increasingly saturated media landscape, surely we can expect to see more branded parks and attractions emerge in the years to come.
6 Hershey’s
Chocolate Tour Garner Holt brings new life to dark ride
The USA's most visited factory tour has reopened after its first major renovation in 10 years. Among the improvements to Hershey’s Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania, guests can now enjoy a new look Hershey’s Chocolate Tour dark ride complete with animated figures by Garner Holt Productions. Seven comical cows are featured in the attraction's barnyard scene, which
transports passengers to the farms of Pennsylvania where Hershey sources milk for its chocolate. Garner Holt supplied a total of 13 animated figures including the cows and also various Hershey characters. Guests riding Hershey’s Chocolate Tour will also notice new graphics in the queue area highlighting the Hershey Company’s commitment to responsible sourcing and simple ingredients such as milk, cocoa and sugar. The ride also features enhanced sets featuring the latest in projection mapping and holographic imaging, a brand new narration and theme song, power-saving LED lighting and an interactive media-based final scene that integrates photos submitted by Hershey fans.
Since opening in 1973, the free-to-enter Hershey’s Chocolate Tour has hosted
more than 75 million visits, or almost 4 million a year. Other activities at the visitor centre include Create Your Own Candy Bar, Chocolate Tasting Experience, 4D Chocolate Mystery and the World’s Largest Hershey’s Candy Store
parkworld-online.com
JUNE 2016
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