Three of the most compelling levers for visitor growth and brand credibility in the attractions sector… and which can be intrinsically linked in an attraction’s business plan strategy.
Why? Because our industry thrives on compelling propositions, storytelling, differentiation and the guest’s willingness to invest more into an experience they can’t find anywhere else.
IP’s are not the only way to create growth. However, in this article, I want to examine their potential and how they can align so beneficially with investment and innovation.
Create the IP driven investment
Create the Hype
Create the FOMO
From my extensive career in the sector, I’ve seen it time and again, both first hand and admiring from afar.
Saw the Ride at Thorpe Park reframed the thrill-seeker market with a brand that already had equity in fear and suspense and combined it with an equally fearsome and suspenseful ride experience. This was a game changer. I was part of this journey. It was incredible to witness how delivering the perfect IP partnership with the perfect location and executing the perfect marketing strategy can create a hype and increase in turnstile clicks that surpasses all expectations.
Pepper Pig World at Paultons Park has become a benchmark for how a single IP can transform a park’s positioning and deliver year on year growth in a family market attraction. Once again, perfect brand partner, perfect location, perfect timing, perfectly executed.
Thomas Land at Drayton Manor took a mid-scale park and gave it an international calling card, reshaping its guest profile and broadening its family appeal. Even at a smaller scale, Drusillas Park’s Hello Kitty Secret Garden shows that a well matched IP doesn’t need a Disney budget to create fresh PR message, attract new audiences and unlock additional spend.
Of course, the 3 I’s are strategy cornerstones which have been driving growth at the major US parks for decades. Disney, leveraging its own characters and franchises, from Mickey Mouse to Frozen, Marvel and Star Wars to drive visitor growth and immersive experience. Universal has taken a slightly different approach, investing heavily in licensed IPs such as Harry Potter, Minions and Nintendo.
The lesson for UK operators is that consistent alignment of innovation, investment, and IP, whether owned or licensed, can underpin success. However, unlike Disney or Universal, the investment doesn’t have to run in tens of millions. Scale should always be aligned to size. The measure of success should be return on investment, both from a financial and brand recognition / guest experience perspective.
Probably a good place to note, the 3 I’s strategy does not and will not work for everyone and can easily cause confusion and frustration if not properly aligned and executed. A five year plan that simply reads “let’s buy an IP” is rarely a recipe for success.
Fit matters
Guest profile matters.
Timing matters.
Lifecycle planning matters.
The wrong IP, or the right IP executed without sufficient innovation or investment, can quickly become a distraction or even a drain.
Lifecycle planning is critical when investing in IP-based attractions. Even the most compelling IP will have a shelf life, and the proposition that drives a surge of visitors in year one rarely guarantees sustained growth in subsequent years.
Attractions need to plan for refreshes, updates and ongoing enhancements to keep the experience relevant and engaging. Without this forward thinking approach, an initially successful launch can plateau or even decline as the novelty wears off, guest expectations evolve and competing attractions / alternative partnerships with the same IP enter the market.
Understanding the lifecycle upfront allows operators to allocate investment for maintenance, seasonal updates and creative extensions, rather than accepting one-off spikes as being success.
Again, being able to talk from experience, a well executed example is Thorpe Park’s Saw attraction. The original ride opened in 2009 and as mentioned, moved the dial in terms of visitation and brand awareness. In order to maintain momentum, the park then launched the Saw Alive horror maze in 2010, generating fresh new news coverage and renewed visitor interest in the IP, as well as creating a fantastic new cornerstone for its renowned Halloween Fright Nights experience.
This demonstrates the importance of an IP investment not being a single event but should, where possible, be a staged journey. Each iteration, extension, or seasonal variation can reinforce the brand, sustain visitor numbers, and prolong the commercial impact. In practice, year one growth can be dramatic, but year two and beyond require deliberate lifecycle planning to avoid stagnation and maximise the return on the IP investment.
So what separates the winners from the rest? From my research, conversations and industry insights, I would identify five lessons which stand out:
1. Audience fit beats brand fame.
A global IP is not automatically a golden ticket. The match between brand and guest profile is what counts. Peppa Pig worked for Paultons because their market is young families. Saw worked for Thorpe because it spoke to thrill seekers.
Both are equally valid, but neither would have succeeded in the other park. This may sound too obvious and yes, these examples are extreme, but if nothing else, they prove the lesson very clearly!
2. Investment must match ambition.
An IP can set expectations sky high. Under invest and you risk disappointing guests. Over invest without the throughput to pay for it, and the numbers, quite simply, stop adding up.
The most successful cases balance ambition with a solid financial plan. Having a robust Investment Appraisal (with sensitivity analysis) to support the investment business case is paramount.
3. Innovation is the differentiator.
Adding an IP onto a generic ride or attraction is unlikely to deliver to its full potential. The game changers are where the IP is embedded into the storytelling, the placemaking, the guest journey and is delivered in ways that feel new and surprising.
A compelling proposition is only such if it’s compelling…!
4. Marketing multiplier effect is real.
IPs bring their own marketing gravity across the marketing spectrum. Instant awareness, free press, new partnership opportunities, partner promotion.
On top of this, the opportunity to generate significant income streams from merchandise and other IP connected products (including F&B) is significant.
It is so important to plan for this from the start as part of the business case and essential to align campaigns and merchandise in order to maximise returns in the long term.
5. Lifecycle planning is essential.
When working with an IP, there is likely to be a requirement for ongoing maintenance, product refreshes and potentially even contract renegotiations.
From my experience, it is so important to plan for the full lifecycle of the investment and to avoid the “new toy” syndrome where the shine fades too quickly.
If you get it right, year 1 returns can be significant. How you achieve further growth in year 2 can be difficult.
Remember, think of the IP investment not as being a single event, but as a staged journey. Consider how you can enhance the product or add an additional proposition in year 2.
In conclusion:
Think of the 3 I’s as a framework to support a capital investment where you are looking to work with a third party brand or exploit an internally generated brand. When they overlap in the right way, they can be transformational.
That’s where a five year plan proves its worth. I have always seen it as a decision making tool. Ideas, innovation, strategies, concepts are consolidated in a way that is financially measurable in the long term. How will investment drive growth in your business? which innovations to prioritise, what scale of investment is realistic, and whether IP is the right strategic bet for your business in your market.
So the question is: does your five-year plan create the right space for the 3 I’s to work together or is there a different growth path that better fits your audience and your resources?
If you’re thinking about your next phase of growth, I help attractions build strategies that turn good ideas into investable projects and investable projects into guest experiences that deliver results.