Commentary

COVID-19 notwithstanding, OOH entertainment pushes hard into retail and hospitality

Disney's entry into experiential hotel will see guests fully immersed into believing they are on a starship in the Star Wars universe, with live action role playing being employed by cast members and digital screens acting as windows on the space battles.

Image courtesy of iStock.

January 25, 2021 by Kevin Williams

The impact of COVID-19 and the many business closures in the out of home entertainment industry has led to a lot of "soul searching" among industry players. While business remains slow, most observers agree that the pandemic is building big demand for OOH that will let loose when the time is right.

Much attention has focused on immersive experiences, as a number of developments attest.

During the IAAPA Virtual Education Conference, Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Walt Disney's experiences and products, gave a fascinating keynote overview of the new projects still under construction within the corporation. One of those was imagery of a mocked-up room for the "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser." Disney's lavish entry into experiential hotel, which will see guests fully immersed into believing they are on a starship in the Star Wars universe, with live action role playing being employed by cast members, and digital screens acting as windows on the space battles.

Not since the $70 million Las Vegas Hilton Star Trek: Experience and legendary Quark's Bar has this level of LARP been employed in a mainstream attraction. Next year's planned opening will see if families will pay for the privilege in a hotel setting.

That digital immersion continued as a theme driving the new Disney park investment, with the first images of the "Space 2020" restaurant at Epcot, using a giant 250-foot wraparound digital window, simulating a space vista for the diners. This is a concept that has been attempted before, such as the ambitious Trans-Force Interactive Theater, opened in Saint Petersburg in 2009.

Other attractions under development from Walt Disney were revealed and a perfusion of digital projection and immersive displays permeated their design, underlying how much digital immersion factored in the current generation thinking. There were also several other presentations and panel discussions during the virtual conference.

'Retailtainment' emerges

During the MAPIC Live and LeisurUP virtual conference, taking place at the same time, "retailtainment" was noted, with the venerable retail and shopping center owners and investors conference moving to a virtual platform format, combining conference and networking. The organizers claimed that over the two days, they had gathered some 2,300 attendees, holding a series of conferences and virtual meetings. From attending the event, I came away with the feeling that "retail and leisure" were the key focus seen for the survival and re-emergence of this industry, planning for the post-COVID landscape.

The symbiosis between entertainment, food and beverage and retailing was underlined in a number of presentations during the event. Turning the retail venue into a "destination entertainment" proposition was proposed, with some calling on retail to look at "malls as the next entertainment destination."

A few sessions were held for the virtual audience that focused on the reality of looking at "retailtainment" as a champion for the very survival of retail.

"Reinventing Retail with Entertainment" was another perspective provided by mall owners looking at their future revenue. There is a need to understand footfall and customer habits, along with the understanding for the owner who is paying for the installation of entertainment installations.

Seeing the evidence of "staycation" spending habits under the global health crisis, huge opportunities for location-based entertainment exist for digital platforms.

Leisure entertainment differentiates itself

Leisure entertainment was also outlined during other sessions during MAPIC Live, the difference being that these installations are much more long-term offerings and fall into the aquarium, special event, live performance and exhibition (touching on "edutainment") approach.

Their greater expense is seeing more joint venture approaches, while many operators and owners were turning towards the investment needed for these innovations. This is seen to be strong, although entertainment investment was moving from an old model to a new model seeing the inclusion of "retailtainment" as being much more than just capital investment.

It was interesting, in numerous conversations, to find that the reality of the available space in retail was under pressure not just from leisure entertainment, but there was also the harbinger of space being gobbled up by the likes of Amazon, as the global giant looks at this space as valuable real estate.

The MAPIC'20 virtual conference focused heavily on the new thinking in the landlord and mall owners' sector. Much of this, fueled by the "Retail Apocalypse," decimated the tenants that are the backbone of many establishments.

Retail continues to struggle

During the week of the conference, news broke that just in the U.K. alone, Jaeger (with some 76 stores), and Peacocks (with some 423 stores) were closing, owned by the Edinburgh Woollen Group. Soon after this news, the U.K. saw a slew of retail collapses, first with the announcement that Arcadia retail empire, including Burton, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, and comprising some 500 shops, was to fall into administration after failing to raise money from lenders.

This was followed by the news that department store chain Debenhams and its 124 stores would be closing. The operation has been going through several failed restructuring deals after falling into administration, but was seen to have been living on borrowed time (even with its 242-year-old history) long before the global health crisis.

The loss of this level of tenants' business within the shopping malls has to be addressed, and the deployment of high foot traffic concerns, such as entertainment venues, has proven incredibly attractive, as was reflected in the virtual meetings taking place both on and off line.

(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by KWP and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)

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About Kevin Williams

Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.

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