Imagine stepping into a world where your favorite movie scenes come to life, or immersing yourself into some of the most iconic brands of all time. This is the imaginative realm of intellectual property (IP) in location-based attractions. Put simply, IP in entertainment refers to any creative asset or idea owned by a company or individual. This can vary from trademarked brand names to movies and their beloved characters.
Traditionally, location-based entertainment was tied to amusement parks. But as IPs strengthened and consumer demand evolved, experiences like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ at Universal Studios Florida™ (or anything Disney Parks and Resorts) proved their value and consumer engagement–both socially and monetarily.
IP-driven experiences spark a sense of familiarity, recognition and often nostalgia, bringing to life our favorite characters and creations in new and immersive ways. From an operational lens, there’s also built-in brand awareness and marketing advantages. Target audiences are already excited and engaged, therefore there is a pre-existing level of interest and cult-like fandom to help drive attendance with plenty of room for more audience growth.
DI has partnered on a variety of IP-driven attractions such as LEGOLAND® Resorts’ LEGO® Ferrari Build & Race and Alamo Drafthouse Death Star, as well as the Hallmark Christmas Experience soon to be unveiled this November. Most recently, we teamed up with Andretti Indoor Karting and Games to help bring the Andretti family’s historic legacy and brand to life inside a number of new action-packed locations. Looking to open many more in the coming years, DI helped ideate and scale these location-based experiences at volume.
Coming-soon IP venues such as Mattel Adventure Park and the John Wick Experience are already garnering major buzz before even opening their doors. Why? These themed attractions as well as the ones mentioned above merge the digital and physical to create next-level entertainment audiences haven’t seen before. Success of the Barbie movie, for example, has paved the way for brands like Mattel to bring the magic of Barbie Land to the real world, literally.
It’s also important to note these experiences don’t have to be built from the ground up. Take Netflix House for example. The first two locations will be housed in existing shopping malls. Transforming existing spaces into new imaginative experiences ignites the never-been-done-before inside familiar venues we know and love.
When helping create an IP-based experience, efficiency and execution are key. The majority of the creative elements and design decisions are already well ingrained within the IP itself. Therefore it’s our job to bring these experiences to life through design development, engineering, build, install and service efforts. Many of these attractions are intended for young audiences, so ensuring the space is built for continuous wear and tear is a major part of our engineering, testing and fabrication process.
As brands continue to expand upon their likeness in category, we’ll also see a growing interest in social competitiveness among consumers. People relish in competition, especially against their friends and family. Whether they’re racing go-karts or immersing themselves in their favorite cinematic universe, location-based experiences and themed entertainment have a unique and exciting way of bringing people together. At DI, we understand the value and power of making IPs a physical (and highly realistic) reality through a turnkey, scalable approach.
