by Graham Speak, Speak Consulting
Excitement and interest across the industry have been building over the past few months as we’ve learnt that Universal Destinations & Experiences is potentially developing a theme park resort near the town of Bedford, about 50 miles north of London, in the UK.
At this stage, neither Universal nor the UK Government has given this the green light. However, land has already been purchased, engagement plans have started, and significant stages of feasibility have been completed. The go-ahead could be given by the end of the year, and a 2030 launch date is being speculated.
Before we get into this opinion piece, I have no information from Universal about its plans for specific attractions or IPs. The intent is not to speculate on individual IPs. Rather, I want to consider some of the factors that may contribute to those decisions.
In exploring this topic, I hope it demonstrates that no two projects are the same. When any business is thinking about leveraging IP and brands, careful consideration needs to be given to context, target audiences, and objectives.
So, what are some of the main considerations Universal might be wrestling with as it plans IP for its new UK park?
Fuelling its owned franchise ecosystems
When developing its parks, Universal has traditionally acted as both an IP owner and a licensee (i.e. it has agreements to use others’ brands).
More than ever, IP owners understand the value that experiential touchpoints create for their broader franchise ecosystems. If fans spend time immersed in their brands, they generally go on to spend more time (and money) watching content, playing games, buying merchandise, talking about the brand, and generally keeping the IP alive.
We’ve seen examples of experiences creating/being the source of content. For example, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. We’ve also seen experience-based attractions being the vehicle that re-boots or keeps an IP ‘living and breathing’.
Universal is not new to this principle, having created and operated experiences for nearly 60 years. It has seen, before many others, the benefits of experiences as part of its owned IP ecosystems. That said, it has also collaborated with other studios to bring content to life. For instance, it previously licensed rights to The Simpsons and IP from the Marvel Universe for its US-based parks.
Licensing others’ IPs can have huge benefits. However, it can also come with complexity and risk (not least with territory-specific licensing rights and ownership changes), compared to building equity in your own brands.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see the extent to which Universal looks to license the IP of others in its UK park, versus using its creative and operational expertise to leverage and build out its own franchise ecosystems.
Considering future plans for Universal brands
Current speculation suggests Universal Great Britain may open in 2030. In that time, a lot can happen in the world of IP.
We have a rough idea of big movie and content releases for the next few years. But what we don’t know are the longer-term plans of the studios, content creators and brand-building geniuses at the helm. We also are seeing IPs develop from other sources – not just studio content.
Universal will consider how to integrate these plans into the experiences it creates for its new park. So, we could see totally new IPs come to life and new iterations of IP. Or we could see Universal bringing IP and themes from back catalogues to the fore.
Leveraging IP successes from other Universal parks at new UK park
Universal has a number of big-hitting, popular franchises. Many have been leveraged with great success across its global park portfolio, although often tailored for the local market through ride systems and experience delivery.
A great example is the multi-billion dollar Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise. The IP is present in all five existing Universal resorts. At the Beijing resort, indoor/non-water-based attractions are already developed and operating. These could be a great fit for the UK climate (and differentiated from the popular US attractions).
We may also see big successes at its other parks adapted to tell a local story. For younger audiences, Universal is more than ever leveraging its owned DreamWorks and Illumination IP across its estate. Could we see a proven park success like Minions, adapted with a UK storyline, come to the resort? (After all, the first Minions movie was heavily set in London).
Whilst some IPs feature in multiple locations, that isn’t always the case. Battlestar Galactica is unique at Universal Singapore (and launched around the time of a TV reboot). Will we see Universal dig into the achieves to bring to life locally loved, still relevant classics (perhaps alongside other touchpoints of the franchise re-launching)?
Not cannibalising attendance at other Universal resorts
The UK is an important market for Universal’s US resorts. Visit Orlando recently stated that the UK is the 2nd biggest international market for Orlando tourism after Canada. Universal will be careful to balance maximising the potential value in the European market, with minimising the cannibalisation of its existing resorts. IP use will likely be part of the toolkit Universal optimises to achieve this at the new UK park.
The result is likely to be a combination of classics and new IP products to create a complementary and differentiated experience. Universal already balances this equation at its US domestic parks with some cloned attraction favourites alongside unique, park-exclusive experiences (considering the different audiences, visit occasions, and locations of both resorts).
It’s not just about reducing cannibalisation for its existing attractions. Universal will also want to leverage IP to create reasons for international guests to travel to Bedford and its other resorts around the globe.
Mark Woodbury, Universal’s chairman and CEO of destinations and experiences, has been quoted as talking about using “powerful, trip-driving IPs.” So, Universal will consider using some of the biggest IPs in its arsenal to drive attendance not just from the UK market to Bedford but from across Europe and beyond, for experiences guests can only get at the UK resort.
Universal could leverage UK IP (with global appeal)
On the topic of Shanghai Disney Resort, Bob Iger was quoted as saying the guiding principle behind the resort was to create something “authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese”. Universal has been adapting and evolving similar principles since the opening of its first international park in 2001. It will want to continue this with the Great Britain Resort.
Whilst Universal is likely to opt to focus predominantly on its owned IPs, it may also partner to deliver experiences around British-originated, global mega-hits. The rumour mill is currently speculating deals with Lord of the Rings, James Bond, Paddington, and Doctor Who, which could be in the discussion.
Many of these IPs have previously been rumoured to be in discussion for The London Resort. This suggests brand owners may be open to finding a theme park partner to bring them to life. These brands could also be perfect for generating global pull and creating experiences only found in the Bedford park.
This wouldn’t be the first time locally originated IPs debut in an international park. As an example, opening this year at Universal Japan is the ‘Detective Conan 4D live show’ based on the popular Japanese Manga series.
Alongside popular local IP, we could also see regional trends and growth areas being leveraged. For example, the rise of Halloween scare events in the UK market. With hundreds of events and experiences now popular across the UK, will Universal see the opportunity to apply learnings from the upcoming Universal Horror Unleashed attraction being developed for Las Vegas, or its Universal Monsters IP at Epic Universe?
Storytelling inspiration comes from many sources
The vast majority of attractions at Universal parks are based on well-loved movie and animation IP. However, there are popular examples based on music (Rip Ride RockIt in Orlando and Hollywood Dream in Japan) or even broad themes like space (Space Fantasy – The Ride, again in Japan).
Gaming is another area getting a lot of attention in the location-based entertainment space. Universal’s Nintendo partnership is in full swing, but so too are other partnerships in the online gaming space. Earlier this year, Universal announced a partnership with Minecraft to launch an in-game theme park experience. Could we see a physical manifestation of this partnership come to life at some point in the future?
As the world of IP and brand partnerships evolves, the sources of inspiration for storytelling change, and the way guests choose to immerse themselves in other worlds moves on, it will be interesting to see how the Universal team incorporates this into their plans.
What will the future bring?
It’s early days for the Universal Great Britain Resort, but it’s already clear there’s excitement around the project. The fan community is full of rumours and speculation. Part of the fun for fans is watching projects develop and seeing which concepts are brought to life.
But as this article outlines, there are lots of far-reaching considerations behind the scenes of IP decisions. There are many we haven’t even touched on in this piece, including the role and impact of IPs already being used in the market and broader competition in the UK and wider European market.
Whether a multi-billion dollar resort or a local visitor attraction, when looking at developing attractions based on IP, it’s important to start with a clear focus on your objectives and an understanding of the audiences you are trying to engage and excite. It’s equally important to consider the challenges that you may encounter, be that contractual rights complexities, hidden costs, partnership risks and longevity & differentiation requirements.
Each business context is unique, and Universal is no different. Even as a mega-player within the IP experience field, Universal’s stakes are high. So, the decisions it makes about the IP to leverage are critical—not just for the success of any potential resort but also for the impact it could have on its broader franchise ecosystems.
It will be interesting, both as a fan and an industry professional, to see decisions the Universal Great Britain team moves forward with over the coming months and years.
