Merlin Entertainment Group lays out a new path in China and opens an indoor theme museum

in the theme park industry, Merlin Entertainment Group, second only to Disney, has a different layout in China. Merlin Entertainment Group has announced that it will open two indoor theme pavilions in Shanghai and Beijing in 2018.

in the theme park industry, the layout of Merlin Entertainment Group, which is second only to Disney, looks like a different way in China. Merlin Entertainment Group has announced that it will open two indoor theme pavilions in Shanghai and Beijing in 2018. In terms of layout, Merlin has been building IP projects around short-distance indoor themed venues. In fact, Merlin focuses on indoor venue strategy, on the one hand, the use of indoor amusement venues can avoid the uncertainty caused by the weather, on the other hand, it can also compete differently with international outdoor theme parks such as Disney and Universal Studios. However, there are also some challenges of less secondary consumer demand such as catering and accommodation in indoor theme venues. at the same time, for Merlin, the marketing cost of the decentralized IP brand will also increase, so it is worth considering whether the effect of small IP can be successful in China.

< strong > opening two more indoor theme halls in China < / strong >

Merlin Entertainment Group, which has always kept a low profile, has made frequent moves in China recently. On August 3, Merlin Entertainment Group announced that its "Big City and small Elephant" theme venues would be launched in Beijing in mid-2018. On the same day, it was announced that the theme Pavilion of "Shanghai Horror" will be opened in Shanghai in 2018.

according to Merlin Entertainment Group, "Big City and small Elephant Beijing" is a new home entertainment concept venue launched by Merlin Entertainment Group, and it is also the second in the world after the "Big City and small Elephant" in Berlin, Germany. The project will take the interactive and experiential miniature landscape as the core content, and more than 6000 characters with a height of 8 centimeters will become "residents" of Beijing at a scale of 1:24, about the change of dynasties and cultural changes in Beijing over the centuries.

"Horror" will become Merlin's fourth indoor family entertainment venue in Shanghai after Madame Tussauds, Lego Discovery Center and Changfeng SeaWorld. It is reported that the "scary place" comes from the London dungeon, a theme pavilion run by Merlin Entertainment Group, which is known as one of the most terrifying scenic spots in the world.

John Jakobsen, chief executive of Merlin Entertainment Group's new project, said that China is a very important investment market for Merlin Entertainment Group. For Chinese families' continuous pursuit of high-quality entertainment experience, the "big city and small elephant Beijing", which is planned to land near Qianmen in Beijing, will become Merlin's 11th entertainment attraction in China. In addition, Merlin Entertainment Group has future cooperation projects in all first-and second-tier cities in China.

compared with Disney and Wanda, Merlin in the UK, as the second largest live entertainment development and operation company in the world, has a much lower profile. According to the 2016 Global theme Park Survey report jointly released by the American theme Entertainment Association (TEA) and the US AECOM Group, Merlin ranked second in the world with 61.2 million visitors in 2016, second only to Disney. At present, Merlin Group has nearly 20 scenic brands in more than 20 countries on four continents, including Legoland, Madame Tussauds, London Eye, Ocean Exploration Center and so on.

< strong > find another way of differentiation Competition < / strong >

as a theme park group second only to Disney, Merlin Entertainment Group is not too late to enter the Chinese market. In 2006, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Shanghai officially opened, which became a stepping stone for Merlin Entertainment Group to enter China. With this as a starting point, Merlin Group continues to expand its business in China. Madame Tussauds in Wuhan, Beijing, Chongqing and Chengdu have successively landed. In addition, Changfeng SeaWorld and Lego Exploration Center have also opened in Shanghai. In April 2017, Merlin Entertainment Group said that its SEA LIFE Ocean Exploration Center would soon open in Chongqing. Then, Shanghai's "panic zone" and Beijing's "big city and small elephant" announced that they would welcome guests in 2018.

it is not difficult to see that in the process of marching into China, Merlin Entertainment Group has taken root in first-and second-tier cities and expanded the strategic intention of short-distance indoor theme venues. Compared with Disney, which is also an international entertainment giant, Merlin Entertainment Group is different from a large outdoor theme park with a variety of needs, but mostly small and scattered indoor theme venues. According to industry insiders, Merlin Entertainment Group chose another differentiated way of competition to compete in the Chinese market.

with regard to this differentiated competition, Li Baiwen, a professor at Beijing Union University, said that with the development of science and technology, there are more and more indoor themed venues that provide all kinds of experiences, which indeed cater to the increasingly high-end tourism needs of consumers. In addition to the needs of the market, indoor theme venues can avoid the impact of weather environment on entertainment projects, and most of them are located near commercial centers with dense flow of people, which can save travel time. Zhou Mingqi, chief analyst of Jing Jianwen Travel, told reporters that at present, China's indoor theme venues, including indoor theme parks, are still in the blue sea, and the market potential is huge, and many domestic enterprises have begun to enter this field, such as the Hello Kitty Indoor theme Park that the World Trade Group is going to open in Shanghai, Shanghai Sega JOYPOLIS and Evergrande World, and so on.

at present, Merlin Entertainment Group mainly focuses on indoor themed venues in the Chinese market, which has formed differentiated competition, and it is indeed more convenient to copy. Madame Tussauds' successive landing in five cities is a strong proof. Zhou Mingqi said that after the venue has formed a chain of large-scale operation, high content production and licensing fees can also be diluted.

< strong > disperse IP to narrow audience < / strong >

although indoor themed venues are indoor entertainment places that focus on high-tech experience, IP content is king, and visitors must experience unique fun here that can not be replaced by other devices. For Merlin Entertainment Group, its IP is independent and has developed to a certain mature stage, such as Lego series based on toy IP, Madame Tussauds series based on star effect, and historical mystery series. But because of these IP, Merlin Entertainment Group's road to expansion is also facing some challenges.

Putnam Shin, managing director of Merlin Group Asia Pacific, once said to the layout of Shanghai, "tourists can go to the Lego Exploration Center in the morning, go to Changfeng SeaWorld in the afternoon, and visit Madame Tussauds in the evening. You can experience different platforms in a city. But Merlin's idea is to complement each other in the same city's layout through different IP indoor venues, which is to make up for the over-segmented audience caused by multiple independent IP of Merlin Entertainment Group, making it difficult to reach a wider audience. Lego Discovery Center, for example, is mainly open to 3-to 10-year-olds; Madame Tussauds is more of a fan effect.

industry insiders analyze that Merlin Group's different IP can meet the personalized needs of tourists. It is a good idea, but there are very high requirements for each IP. Zhou Mingqi said that the increase in brand IP also means an increase in costs. Merlin Entertainment Group's independent IP has to implement different types of strategies only in marketing, coupled with different high-tech technologies required by different brands, and the audience is obviously different, making it more difficult to promote.

at the same time, indoor theme venues rely on entertainment content, mainly through watching, listening, smelling and other sensory exciting venue experience, the possibility of repeated play is naturally reduced. As tourists feedback, "Wax museums all over the world, one visit is enough; the London dungeon is interesting, but it is difficult to make people have the desire to repeat it."

for consumers, indoor venues need strong technology and content support. Li Baiwen said that indoor theme venues are generally less interactive. For example, Beijing's big city and small elephants are centered on history and culture, so they are not so entertaining. Therefore, saving the repetitive play rate and entertainment experience requires constantly updated new projects and new content. Disney, Universal Studios and others are constantly updating their entertainment programs based on an endless stream of movie IP. Merlin must also be aware of and strive to improve this.

from the perspective of the industry, the construction of indoor theme venues seems to be springing up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, but indoor amusement venues, including Merlin's indoor theme venues, all have a single profit model that depends on ticket income. Short trips stimulate less secondary consumption such as accommodation, food and so on. Some industry insiders said that Merlin Entertainment Group still has a long way to go in terms of the scientific and technological content of the venue, the richness of IP content, production, and the sustainable attractiveness of the venue.

Edit: mary