Brands and IP-based experiences are a rapidly growing vertical for licensors. Nowadays, it’s rare for us on blooloop to cover a new attraction launch that isn’t linked to a character, brand or IP. Operators are seeing the benefits and pulling power of a well-known brand as vital to their marketing for a new opening. Meanwhile, brands are seeing the potential of LBE to allow fans to interact with their characters and stories in new, engaging and authentic ways.
With an explosion of experiences around the world, from theme parks and gamified experiences to theatre and F&B, there are tons of interesting projects in this space.
I recently held a panel session at Brand Licensing Europe 2023 with Ngaio Harding-Hill, head of live events and attractions at Aardman Animations and Danielle Tanton, head of licensing for Path Entertainment Group. From a brand and operator perspective, we looked at five trends we are seeing in brand experiences across the industry.
#1 Immersive, immersive, immersive
Whilst an overused buzzword, it is sometimes hard to find another word to describe immersive experiences. Small footprint attractions, typically inner city locations with high foot traffic, they are often heavily themed environments that also involve some sort of interaction. This could be with live actors, with technology or in an escape room format. Many, like Little Lion Entertainment’s Crystal Maze, are gamified experiences, allowing the whole family to work together towards a goal.
The examples are vast – from Secret Cinema’s epic multilayered experiences (Bridgerton, Stranger Things and Guardians of the Galaxy to name a few) to Park Row, the high-end fine dining experience inspired by DC Comics. This was brought to life by the ex-CEO of the Fat Duck Company. So, the food is as wacky as you would expect – including edible floating balloons.
F&B is a growing sub-sector, such as the new Angry Birds Cafe in NY. Cafes are particularly popular in Asia. Aardman was one of the first to do this kind of experience with its Shaun the Sheep Cafes in Japan. Another example is Paul Frank’s Cafes with locations across South Korea.
Merlin Entertainments also recently announced a multi-million pound and multi-territory partnership with Immersive Gamebox. This will start with two venues in Australia and Germany. Then Immersive Gamebox will be coming to other Merlin locations over the next 5 years.
The immersive vertical is exploding, with the main hubs being London and New York. However, with so much competition, a successful immersive experience should either have a unique angle (whether that is technology, style, gameplay or a world’s first) or be something that fans have yearned for forever.
Path is doing this with the new partnership announced with Hasbro IP Clue (or Cluedo if you are playing here in the UK). Fans can finally join in the game to solve the murder mystery for themselves! At BLE, Path Entertainment’s CEO David Hutchinson spoke in the keynote with Hasbro’s Matthew Proulx, senior director of location-based experiences on the new partnership and the success of its previous partnership Monopoly Lifesized.
Path is expanding rapidly. It will be opening the Paddington Bear Experience next year too in its location on London’s South Bank.
Ultimately, the key to immersive experiences is to be authentic to the brand or story. Lightroom’s Hockney experience has done so well because Hockney himself was involved in creating unique artwork and narration for it. This gave authenticity to the experience.
#2 Younger and cross-generational experiences
A second trend was the shift to experiences aimed at younger guests, such as the upcoming Peppa Pig Surprise Party with Immersive Everywhere, the company behind the hugely successful Peaky Blinders. This under-utilised toddler market also brings with it the spending power of guardians, parents and grandparents.
The sweet spot for brands, especially older ones, is appealing to cross-generations and that sense of nostalgia for older family members where they can enjoy sharing an experience all together. Something Aardman Animations enjoys as one of Britain’s best-loved brands with characters like Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run (the second feature film is coming soon) and more.
Harding-Hill has grown Aardman’s LBE presence across every LBE vertical. The firm has projects all over the world for families to enjoy together.
Other good examples include Transformers. This is enjoying the franchise’s reboot. And, of course, there is Barbie and its tidal wave of popularity post-summer blockbuster. Mattel’s own Mattel Adventure Park, featuring Barbie and Hotwheels, will be opening in Glendale, Arizona in early 2024.
Thomas Merrington, creative director, and the team at Penguin Ventures are utilising this nostalgia pull in the upcoming The World of the Snowman Afternoon Tea at JW Marriott Grosvenor House. Successful partnerships will align with the brand values and story and allow everyone to enjoy an experience together.
Blooloop also recently spoke with Rob Glenny, head of commercial and new business, and the team at Beano. They explained how they are expanding their LBE portfolio and the potential of the 85-year-old beloved brand across generations.
#3 Major operators focus on IP
Disney and Universal have had a huge back catalogue of stories to pull from. However, other operators have had to weigh up the costs of buying a brand and often their complex agreements, to the benefits in increased attendance, and guest satisfaction. Nowadays, operators can’t afford not to partner with one.
This is clear with Merlin Entertainment’s new CEO Scott O’Neil. He has said a big focus for him and the group will be brand collaborations and sponsorships. Merlin has very strong partnerships already with Peppa and Hasbro, Lego, and Ferrari in Legoland but most recently with Sony through a group-wide partnership. This year they opened World of Jumanji at Chessington World of Adventures and Jumanji: The Adventure at Gardaland.
It’s a big year for Jeffrey Godsick, EVP of global partnerships and brand management and head of location-based entertainment, and the team at Sony, as they also opened Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence at PortAventura. The brand also has huge plans in the works for multiple LBE experiences. These will draw from the portfolio of TV, movies and franchises as well as its PlayStation content – watch this space!
Another operator, Beto Carrero World in Brazil, the largest theme park in Latin America, has partnered with Hasbro for NERF Mania, the first-ever NERF-themed land. Hasbro recently announced two further projects in the region for Hasbro City, an FEC in Mexico City which will include MONOPOLY The Ride.
Hasbro has had incredible growth in LBE. In the 8 years since Proulx has held the role, the team has launched 100 projects across every vertical in LBE. With more than 1,500 brands in its portfolio, there is vast potential across themed entertainment. This year, they celebrate their 100th birthday.
From the panel discussion with Tanton and Harding-Hill, it was clear that whilst LBE partnerships are often quite complicated (much more so than straightforward consumer goods licensing deals) they reap even richer rewards: from revenue generation, greater attendance, elevated positioning and guest satisfaction, to richer brand loyalty, engagement and merchandise selling. Licensors and operators need to meet in the middle for a successful collaboration.
#4 Brands coming into museums
Museum experiences and travelling exhibitions are a growing way for brands and IP to reach wider audiences, whether that is geographically in all corners of the world, or reaching new age groups too.
There are blockbuster exhibitions, like Imagine’s Harry Potter: The Exhibition or Neon’s AVATAR: The Experience. Here, you can interact with characters and have many Instagrammable moments with your favourite characters.
Brands can also delve into their archives to create a historical exhibition on their company’s legacy created for their fans. For example, the new Disney100 exhibition from Semmel Exhibitions which just opened at the Excel in London.
Some exhibitions merge their brand with an educational element. A great example of this was the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature exhibition. This blended real weird and wonderful animals with the world of JK Rowling and its home in London’s Natural History Museum was the perfect backdrop.
Aardman’s Shear Genius is a touring exhibition done in partnership with the Minnesota Children’s Museum. It encourages visitors to interact in various hands-on exhibits through the humoured antics of beloved characters Wallace, Gromit, Shaun and the gang.
#5 Halloween all year round
Once an American tradition, Halloween events are now very much a global trend. Attractions are putting on their largest and longest-ever Fright Nights and selling out. They enable new revenue streams for parks and give variety to regional guests. So much so, there is a demand for permanent year-round Halloween attractions.
The best example of this is Universal Resorts and Destinations Halloween Horror Nights attraction. This will be coming to AREA 15 in Las Vegas to provide year-round thrills. Vegas is a busy market already. For example, it has the Blair Witch Project and the Walking Dead attraction. However, it has a constant flow of older kids, adults and convention businesses to sustain this type of attraction. And it’s not just Vegas, Path Entertainment created its own permanent haunt The Saw Experience in London too.
Family-friendly Halloween events are trending too. One such example is the Harry Potter Studios Dark Arts overlay for Halloween which sells out in minutes each year.
Festival of Innovation 2023
It’s an exciting time for brands in the LBE space! To find out more about what is trending, join blooloop at the upcoming virtual event, the Festival of Innovation. This is taking place online from 6 – 8 December 2023. We have some great brands speaking including Warner Bros, Mattel and more. Register here for more info.
Brand Licensing Europe will be taking place from 24 – 26 September 2024 at the ExCel in London.
Top image: Optimus Prime at Hasbro City
