Start Licensing’s Ian Downes sees some examples which underline the rapid growth for experiential, immersive and live licensing this week.
I think people call it a side hustle these days – apparently a lot of us have them. Mine is hosting guided walking tours in London from time to time. I’m an enthusiastic amateur and use it as a charity fundraiser. It is a fun diversion and nice to give people ‘something new to do’ in London. That said, looking at Easter holidays themed newspaper articles and posters at locations like train stations, there is no shortage of ‘things to do’ this Easter and, encouragingly, a number of these things are centred on licensing and built around intellectual property.
It really is a boom time for experiential, immersive and live licensing. My instinct is that this category of licensing seems to be one that is in rapid growth and a key development area for the UK licensing sector.
I guess this thought was further reinforced by the news this week that Universal Studios will be building a new park in the UK. This has been widely reported and was greeted as a ‘good news’ story. The media reports focused heavily on IP and how companies like Universal are leveraging content in the experiential space.
The free Metro paper I picked up last week had a special Going Out section put together to inspire families over Easter. This wasn’t just focused on London and included locations across the country. Licensing wise things seem to divide into two rough categories. Firstly, an existing venue that buys in licensed content either on a long-term deal or a shorter term arrangement geared up to a holiday period – this seems to be to add extra appeal to a venue and give fresh reasons for the public to visit. The other category is standalone events, locations or productions that are entirely based on a bought in licensed IP. A lot of these activations are targeted at families with children, but increasingly there is a focus on the adult market particularly with the fully themed approach to IP usage.
Warwick Castle was highlighting that it was hosting a Horrible Histories maze which allows visitors to “… get lost in time with history’s best (and worst) moments…” Horrible Histories is a great example of an IP that fits well into the experience market as it comes with a distinct and well developed theme awash with content. Indeed, as noted in previous columns, I often see the Horrible Histories Terrible Thames boat tour when indulging my other side hustle of mudlarking (for the record and the Port of London Authority this is actually a hobby and not a side hustle – I don’t sell anything I find). The boat tour is a really good example of an innovative approach to licensing in the sector and is a spin off from the successful Horrible Histories stage shows. This in itself shows how a portfolio of activations could be built up in the market.
As a quick aside, it is always tempting to think that things like experiential licensing and theatre are new to the market. However, back in my CPL days in the 1990s we were involved in a number of theatrical productions with characters like the Mr Men, while Chessington World of Adventures had a dedicated Beanoland for 10 years – it also had other themed areas such as an Action Man ‘action adventure’ zone.
Returning to my copy of the Metro and the ‘days out’ it was highlighting, it is worth remembering many of the featured venues were ‘licensing free zones’. Maybe by choice but I also think this suggests there is good growth potential in the sector for brand owners. One task is raising awareness of the benefits of licensed content. This is where it is probably appropriate to acknowledge the contribution that licensee Rainbow Productions makes in this sector. Rainbow specialises in designing, manufacturing and managing costume characters and have a broad and deep portfolio of licensed characters. It spends a lot of time talking to the leisure industry about featuring costume characters, creating shows and using IP proactively in the sector. It has certainly helped open a lot of doors to licensing in the sector. Partnerships can also grow from relatively humble beginnings – a costume character appearance can be developed into a theatre show or a themed area.
Another point to note is that some IP owners are spending more time and resource on this sector. This is in part as they have seen the growth, but also in response to a slow down or decline in other licensing categories; they are seeking out other revenue streams. One of our clients, Aardman, is a great example of this approach. It has a dedicated team in-house which focuses on this market sector. It has brought characters like Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit ‘alive’ in a diverse range of activities including Art Trails, Escape Rooms, Theme Park rides and increasingly in areas like Augmented Reality trails.
An added bonus of this kind of activation is that it can bring new and fresh retail opportunities. A great example of this is the M Shed museum in Bristol. The M Shed is located near Aardman’s Bristol offices and there are links between the two organisations. The M Shed Gift Shop now has a bay of Wallace & Gromit licensed products – great for M Shed visitors, but also for the Bristol tourist trade generally.
In the Metro I noticed that Westfield London is hosting a CBeebies Rainbow Adventure show featuring Hey Duggee, Bluey, Mr Tumble and Jo Jo Gran Gran. This is a good example of how shopping malls are using licensed content to help drive footfall. In the context of the Easter holidays, a stage show like this is a very compelling proposition and I can see this working well for Westfield.
Other noteworthy ‘licensed attractions’ I have noticed on my travels include a Minecraft Experience which, judging by the number of children I see wearing Minecraft t-shirts and carrying Minecraft shopping bags, seems to be very popular. These sort of activations aren’t solely targeted at a children’s or family market.
Looking at the posters on the London Underground and at railway stations, it is easy to get a snapshot of what else is going on in the space – and there is a lot. It seems to be a particularly good moment to be a fan of music and movies. I noticed Grease: the Immersive Movie Musical is coming to Battersea Park on a limited run. Limited runs seem to be a technique used in the sector to drive interest. I was also intrigued to see that a musical version of the classic film Midnight Cowboy is on at the Southwark Playhouse. A longer term experience in London is Elvis Evolution – billed as the Immersive Experience this runs at ExCeL in London. Venues like ExCeL are increasingly driving experiences like this as well known IP is a great way of them utilising their space and making the most of the reach.
It has also been interesting to see how organisations like the National Trust are increasingly dipping their toes into the IP pool to create events particularly around school holidays like Easter. Petworth House and Park is currently hosting an activity trail themes around the Ben Plants a Butterfly Garden book. The book written by Kate Petty and illustrated by Axel Scheffler is part of a licensed book range developed by Nosy Crow with the National Trust. It makes good sense for the National Trust to support a licensing partner like Nosy Crow with this kind of activation. Naturally, the shop at Petworth had copies of the book on sale.
Another example of the National Trust using IP to drive engagement with families sees Winkworth Arboretum using The Very Hungry Caterpillar to theme a trail this summer. It seems that individual National Trust sites have more freedom to choose and create their own events. The family audience is an important one for the National Trust and activations like this are a productive way of connecting it to younger consumers.
It will be interesting to see how this category of licensing kicks on, but from a London perspective in particular there are no shortage of opportunities to immerse yourself in ‘live licensing’. It isn’t just a London thing, of course. On my travels around the UK it is very clear that IP and experiential go hand in glove. It isn’t always about official or paid for experiences either.
In Waterloo you will find the Leake Street Arches – I have mentioned this site before – it is a home and hub for street art. It is a great ‘free attraction’ and worth visiting.
The bonus is that every so often you can spot a ‘licensed character’ – at the moment there are two excellent examples of ‘character street art’ and quite contrasting ones – you can currently see Mr Bean and Sonic the Hedgehog. Both painted by the artist Slae One. Leake Street is a very vivid example of how licensing, live experiences and fandom crossover.
I would recommend a visit but go quickly as it is likely by next week Mr Bean and Sonic would have disappeared.
Ian Downes runs Start Licensing, an independent brand licensing agency. His X handle is @startlicensing and on Instagram he is @iandownesphotos – he would welcome your suggestions for what to look out for.
