Latest marketing strategy for Merlin

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Families with small children are the target demographic for Merlin Entertainments and its Legoland theme parks. The company recently opened a Castle Hotel next to its Legoland in California, a hotel that looks built from Lego bricks and features theme decor. 'It’s like painting the story and making you feel like you’re living inside a medieval castle', says a Merlin executive.

Some rooms are decorated for knights, others for wizards...a fun, magical theme-park feeling for families that stay overnight. The hotel is differentiated and memorable, definitely not a bland, ordinary place to stay. This supports the brand image, as well.

Of course, Walt Disney is the market leader among theme park marketers. Given the intense competition within this industry, Merlin is pouring on the marketing magic to attract families during the all-important summer holiday period. In fact, Merlin drew a record 66m visitors globally in 2017.

Now Merlin is focusing on building hotels next to Legoland theme parks to capture more revenue and increase profits. It will not invest as heavily in its Madame Tussauds attractions. Nonetheless, in London and New York, Madame Tussauds recently installed wax figures of the new Duchess of Sussex, a good way to stay in the public eye after the royal wedding.

Merlin Entertainments' awesome, balanced portfolio

From Merlin's 'About us' page

Merlin Entertainments is having an awesome year, thanks in part to the global success of the Lego Movie. Revenues at Merlin's Legoland theme parks surged by an awesome 13% last year.

Other attractions operated by Merlin include Madame Tussauds wax museums (where Star Wars exhibits are attracting attention ahead of the new movie), Gardaland theme parks, Alton Towers, the London Eye and Sea Life aquariums.

On the 'about us' page, Merlin sets out its marketing strategy:

To create a high growth, high return, family entertainment company based on strong brands and a portfolio that is naturally balanced against the impact of external factors.

Merlin is smart to plan for balancing the portfolio 'against the impact of external factors' in the marketing environment. For instance, the weakness of the euro is expected to keep some European visitors from vacationing at UK destinations in 2015. Weather is also an uncontrollable factor.

By design, Merlin has assembled a portfolio that spans four continents and includes a variety of brands. At any one time, one brand (such as Legoland) might be in the media spotlight and therefore attract an awesome number of customers. Building on that interest, Legoland Water Park Dubai is in the works, among other enhancements to the portfolio.

From Millennium Wheel to Coca-Cola London Eye

The London Eye was originally branded as 'Millennium Wheel' in 2000, part of the city's celebration of the turn of the century. After being sponsored by British Airways and then by EDF Energy, the London Eye (a Merlin Entertainments attraction) is now sponsored by Coca-Cola.

This change in corporate sponsorship means the Coca-Cola London Eye (as it's being called) glows red at night--the color of the soft drink marketer's iconic label. The sponsorship includes Coca-Cola branding inside each pod and on staff uniforms, ticket kiosks, etc.

Some critics are outraged about Coca-Cola sponsoring such a popular family attraction, worried about encouraging children to consume sugary beverages. Health advocates distributed free toothbrushes at the Eye's reopening on Saturday to call attention to nutrition issues and the ethics of this sponsorship, which runs for two years. What then?

Marketing Merlin (Now a Public Company)

Merlin Entertainments became a publicly-traded company on November 8, building on several years of brand building. Merlin is known for its Sea Life aquariums, Alton Towers, Legoland theme parks, Madame Tussauds wax museums and other attractions, including the iconic Eye (below). Last year, Merlin attractions entertained 53 million visitors worldwide.

Merlin's strategy is: 'To create a high growth, high return, family entertainment company based on strong brands and a global portfolio that is naturally balanced against the impact of external factors'.
 
This strategy means strengthening the global focus of its brand marketing. 'We have over 40 Sea Life aquariums around the world, which do site-based activity to reflect the local culture and market, but there is also now an overarching global marketing team that is ultimately the keeper of the brand', explains the head of corporate affairs.

Madame Tussauds is particularly profitable because once the figures are in place, the attraction requires much less additional investment than high-tech theme parks and aquariums. A social brand, Madame Tussauds has more than 300,000 Facebook likes and 30,000 Twitter followers.

Earlier this month, Madame Tussauds asked football fans to vote for the legendary player they want to see installed as the latest wax creation: Pele, Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore or Brazil's Ronaldo. The winner: Bobby Moore (England's 1966 captain), whose wax figure will be ready for the World Cup 2014.

Marketing the London Eye

Built to mark the turn of a new millennium, the London Eye has lived on and on to become one of the city's most popular attractions. It's a highly visible symbol of London, often featured in movies, TV shows and tourism materials because it's so distinctive and instantly identifiable by a global audience.

Before it opened, some critics believed that the London Eye would be a 'white elephant' and others appreciated the unique design. In fact, the design has inspired other projects, such as a new attraction on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that will allow passengers a completely different view of their surroundings (see below).

British Airways was the London Eye's original sponsor. Merlin Entertainments operates the London Eye, and in 2011 it set up a three-year sponsorship with the French utility EDF Energy. Now the EDF Energy London Eye is being marketed online, through special mobile apps, occasional ticket giveaways, outreach to travel marketers, e-mail newsletters, special bundled pricing with other attractions and promotions with other brands.

Stay in touch with the London Eye on its Facebook page (336,000 likes), Twitter account (12,000 followers) or its Flickr page (175,000 uploads tagged for the London Eye).

Lego versus Mickey: Theme parks battle for visitors

The first LegoLand theme park opened in 1968. Now its owner, Merlin Entertainments, is expanding globally and has just opened the fifth LegoLand theme park, an easy drive from where DisneyWorld is located in Florida, USA.

Merlin operates 77 entertainment sites in 17 countries, achieving £800m annual sales worldwide. Its brands include Madame Tussauds, the London Eye and of course, LegoLand. The company knows its way around the theme park business and its Lego brand appeal is very strong.

LegoLand is also facing competition from other nearby theme parks (Universal Studios and SeaWorld). Florida is home to many other family-friendly attractions, as well. Can Merlin's marketing muscle (and 50 million Lego blocks) help LegoLand Florida beat the Mouse?