brand licensing

London, Tuesday, 30 September 2025.
Paramount is accelerating its family-park licensing strategy in 2025 by striking partnerships with Merlin Entertainments and Parques Reunidos to deploy compact, IP-led family lands across Europe. The most immediate outcome: the UK’s first dedicated PAW Patrol land at Chessington, opening in 2026, while Parques Reunidos will roll Paramount-branded experiences across its park network beginning this year. For operators, these deals offer faster differentiation, new character-driven retail and F&B revenue, and seasonal programming to drive repeat visits. Operationally expect condensed design and installation timelines, higher throughput planning for preschool attractions, and stricter brand technical standards plus accessibility and sustainability requirements. Financial models favour lower upfront studio costs offset by royalties and marketing co-investment, creating scalable on-site revenue for partners. For retail leaders, the shift signals growing demand for tightly themed, IP-curated merchandise assortments, coordinated seasonal activations, and hotel/secondary-market tie-ins — all opportunities to lift per-capita spend and secure loyal family audiences.

London, Thursday, 4 September 2025.
Merlin Entertainments and Sony Pictures unveiled plans on Wednesday to roll Jumanji‑branded rides, resort hotels and waterpark elements across Europe, starting project planning in 2025. For retail operators this signals a deliberate IP‑licensing strategy: recognizable studio IP will be deployed as a multi‑asset, integrated guest ecosystem designed to lift attendance and per‑capita spend. The most intriguing fact is Merlin’s intent to couple ride engineering, themed hospitality and waterpark operations under one commercially linked product—forcing operators to rethink licensing fee structures, revenue‑share models and cross‑inventory distribution. Expect sharper demand for immersive dark‑ride and trackless suppliers, tighter integration between park and hotel reservation and POS systems, and operational complexity at launch. Competitors may respond with similar studio deals or local experiences. Practical takeaways for retail teams: model revised spend profiles, negotiate lockstep commercial terms for in‑resort retail, and prepare tech stacks for unified booking, inventory and F&B upsell flows for upcoming openings.