How long will it take to build 50 IP theme indoor parks?

Aofei Entertainment’s answer is 3 years。September this year，Aofei Entertainment, which owns many well-known IPs such as "Pleasant Goat", "Beacon Bear" and "Balala Little Fairy", announced that，Planned within 36 months，Construct 50 Aofei Happy Worlds in three batches。

This is not the first time that Aofei Entertainment has proposed this plan。When the first Aofei Happy World store opened three years ago，He Dehua, then senior vice president of Aofei Entertainment, revealed，Plan to open 10 more stores in 2018，Opened more than 50 stores in three years，Business scale will reach 300 million。This is the Executive Director of Disney Derivatives Licensing、Local IP operation、Corporate executives who hold multiple positions including vice president of digital media distribution and operations，Now he is fully responsible for all businesses in the transformation process of Aofei Entertainment into "New Generation Disney"。

Latest data display，As of the first half of 2020，Aofei World has opened a total of 18 indoor theme park stores，The revenue scale has not been disclosed，This progress obviously cannot match the plan two years ago。

A city business center that is seeking transformation and upgrading、The commercial center in the sinking market has expanded in size，It is relied upon for the expansion of Aofei Entertainment Indoor Theme Park。But this also tests the strength of the content IP、Offline scene construction and product creation capabilities，And operational systematization、Standardization and off-site differentiated "replication" capabilities，Is Aofei Entertainment OK?？

Transforming from the shrinking “Toy Kingdom” to the “New Generation Disney”，Benchmarking the Disney model，Aofei Entertainment is not without purpose，It may be inevitable。But many companies are seeing the rolling dividends of the Disney model，But it’s hard to bear its weight。Aofei Entertainment is currently doing the same。

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Summer 2006，A TV series called "The King of Firepower" has landed on major TV stations across the country，Sparking a "Yo-Yo craze"。

That year，Various tour shows、Product promotion meetings are held in turn，The annual sales of Firepower Boy King Yo-Yo are as high as 8397.480,000 yuan。From original animation to related toys，The “behind-the-scenes driving force” Aofei Animation made its first attempt to connect the upstream and downstream of the IP industry chain，Realized initial IP monetization。

2016，Aofei Animation, ushering in the "seven-year itch" of listing, officially changed its name to Aofei Entertainment，Announced that it will create a pan-entertainment ecosystem with the entire IP industry chain as its core。“Creating a ‘new generation Disney’ 188bet app with Chinese characteristics and global vision” has become the next goal of Aofei Entertainment。

Refer to the “pyramid” structure of the IP industry chain，Combined with the year-on-year changes in the proportion of main business and revenue after the name change，Maybe we can see the logic behind the transformation of Aofei Entertainment。

2016，Aofei Entertainment’s main business is content creation、Animation Film and Television、Game Research and Operation、Four parts of consumer goods manufacturing and marketing。where，Content creation including comics、Animation Film and Television、Series、Research and development and promotion of film content，These original IP resources constitute the upstream content of the industry chain，Media management and game research and operation are the middle reaches of the IP industry chain，Enlarge IP coverage and influence。

What really realizes IP monetization is consumer product manufacturing and marketing，In 2016, this business only included animation toys、Non-animation toys and baby products。Although toy sales this year accounted for 57% of the total annual revenue.5%，But over-reliance on a single business also means weak liquidity。2016 to present，Aofei Entertainment’s toy revenue share has been declining year by year due to business structure adjustments，The value of original IP cannot be developed to a greater extent。

From a revenue perspective，Baby and child products may be regarded as complementary to the toy sales business。But analysis from the perspective of corporate development strategy and IP industry chain，If you only rely on sales of toys and baby products，It is almost difficult for Aofei Entertainment to achieve the goal of "New Generation Disney"。

This point，The comparison will be more intuitive if combined with Disney’s business structure。

Take the 2018 data as an example，Of its annual revenue of approximately $59.4 billion，Media Network Department contributed 41.22% of revenue，The Parks and Resorts Department contributed 34.15%，16 remaining.8% and 7.83% of revenue comes from the film and television entertainment department and the consumer products and interactive entertainment department。The film and television entertainment and park resort departments account for more than 50% of the revenue，It is also regarded as Disney’s “perpetual motion machine”。

How does this "perpetual motion machine" work？Disney’s marketing strategy diagram drawn in 1957 shows，Movies (original IP) are the core of all businesses，Theme parks can not only reproduce scenes from classic IPs in real scenes，Also attracts catering、Accommodation、The best place for shopping and other consumer activities。A steady stream of movie IP provides inspiration for the park’s continuous updates，Theme parks realize IP monetization by covering a huge consumer base，And continue to consolidate the influence of existing IP among tourists，Feed back IP creation and film and television development，Form a complete IP industry chain closed loop。

Looking back at Aofei Entertainment，The revenue ratio of its business structure is almost opposite to that of Disney。Aofei Entertainment Annual Report Data Display，188bet online sports betting The revenue proportion of "other businesses" where the theme park business is located has been less than 1% in the past 5 years，IP monetization methods still mainly focus on toys、Authorization of baby and child products and related derivative consumer products。In the huge market downstream of the IP industry chain，If you want to benchmark the Disney model，The importance of theme parks to Aofei Entertainment is self-evident。

Theme park business is still struggling

2016 is regarded as the first year of tourism IP。This year，Shanghai Disneyland officially opens，"Today's film and television entertainment IP is the tomorrow of tourism IP" has become a consensus。

The industry pays more and more attention to cultural tourism IP，Our own business model still needs to be broken through，Under the influence of internal and external factors，Aofei Entertainment sets its sights on theme parks，It stated in 2016 that “it has entered indoor parks、Specialty Catering、Theme hotels and many other fields，Open the market space for the new business format of “content + experience””。

One of the new businesses is “Aofei Happy World”，It adopts the model of "parent-child interaction + IP scene experience + drama and performance + theme catering + shopping" to create an indoor park，As of the first half of this year, 18 stores have been opened nationwide。

Other theme park projects launched at almost the same time，The progress is not as smooth as that of "Aofei Happy World"。

Outdoor theme park，In July 2018, Aofei Entertainment and Shanshui Wenyuan Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement，will join forces with Six Flags Group in an asset-light model to build an immersive theme park entertainment area with the theme of "Super Wings" animation image in Haiyan, Zhejiang。However，With the crisis in Shanshui Cultural Park’s capital chain and the suspension of Six Flags Entertainment’s Haiyan Park project，Aofei Entertainment’s first outdoor park project failed halfway。

March 2019，Aofei Entertainment has reached strategic cooperation with Chongqing Happy Valley，Work together to create China’s first real-life Super Wings theme area，Originally expected to be officially completed by the end of 2020。However，Under the influence of the epidemic，The opening of the project has been postponed to May 2021，This also means that Aofei Entertainment currently most likely does not have an outdoor theme park that has been built and put into operation。

Data display，Aofei Entertainment’s project in Chongqing Happy Valley covers an area of ​​over 40,000 square meters，Total investment 600 million yuan，Will be based on "Super Wings"，To amusement items、Theme Performing Arts、Theme Landscape、Themed products、Upgrade parent-child interaction, etc.，Create a collection of "tours"、Entertainment、act、A children's fun world integrating shopping and other multiple entertainment。

It is not difficult to see from the project planning，The Super Wings real-life theme area is a relatively small project in terms of area and investment scale，For Aofei Entertainment, this is its first attempt at an outdoor amusement project，As for Chongqing Happy Valley, it can update and upgrade the park and increase its popularity by introducing IP。Happy 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino Valley as a long-established theme park，Obvious dynamic attributes，IP project experience attributes are weak，Aofei Entertainment IP entry，It can be regarded as a supplement or reinforcement to the park experience format。

On another level，Aofei Entertainment’s head IP is more attached to a large theme park，Not an independent IP paradise for the time being，It also shows that its IP is rich in content、The feasibility of the storyline、The degree of creation of scene experience products, etc.，May be relatively restricted，It is still difficult to directly expand the scale。

The "2019 Theme Park Research Report" released by MobData shows， China’s theme park retail sales will reach US$12 billion in 2020，The average number of tourists per day will exceed 3.300 million visitors，China is expected to surpass the United States to become the world’s largest theme park market。However，The current domestic theme park presents OCT、Huaqiang Fantawild、Chimelong’s three-legged pattern，At the same time，Disney、Universal Studios、Merlin Entertainment and other well-known overseas IPs have entered the market strongly。

Conceivable，For Aofei Entertainment，Even if a large-scale investment layout is made in the outdoor theme park business，It is not easy to break through in the huge domestic theme park market。

Also，In the theme carnival business，Aofei Entertainment has planned to operate more than 10 large-scale theme carnivals across the country in 2019，Target to cover 100 million people。actually，Only 4 mobile cultural tourism carnival projects were completed in 2019，In Beijing、Dalian、Arrived in Harbin and other cities，Despite receiving 10 million yuan，But the project progress has not been completed as planned last year。

Currently，In view of the rapid expansion of "Aofei Happy World"，And theme carnival projects are often implemented in large shopping malls，Aofei Entertainment’s theme park layout depends more on whether indoor parks can make breakthroughs。

The expansion wave and dilemma of indoor parks

50 new “Aofei Happy World” indoor park stores will be built in the next three years，is the latest plan of Aofei Entertainment。

According to store classification standards，The 50 Aofei Happy Worlds will be divided into 10 flagship stores (2000 square meters)、20 standard stores (1500 square meters) and 20 single IP stores (1000 square meters)。According to relevant announcement，Aofei Entertainment has signed 10 lease contracts and intention agreements，Lessors include 7 Wanda Plazas、2 Longhu Tianjie and 1 Intime Department Store，Inferred based on the lease area，The project will involve 1 flagship store、2 standard stores and 7 single-IP stores。

Screenshot source: Aofei Entertainment Announcement

Compared with outdoor theme parks，Indoor parks have lower requirements for site area，Mainly small and medium-sized amusement equipment，The investment volume is relatively small，And not subject to weather restrictions。At the same time，As an important link window between online IP and offline consumers，Indoor parks can directly reach a large number of children aged 3-8 years old and the family consumption units behind them。For Aofei Entertainment, which has a large number of well-known IPs in the K12 field，This group happens to be the core audience group。

At the same time，Transformation and Upgrading of Urban Business Center、Business update iteration，Towards an urban leisure and entertainment complex，Indoor theme parks with parent-child entertainment attributes have become one of the important business formats introduced，The demand is relatively strong，Outside first and second tier cities，Upgrading traditional shopping malls in the “sinking” markets of the third, fourth and fifth tiers、New business center construction, etc.，Naturally, it is also an important potential market。Wanda Plaza’s continuous expansion in the sinking market，This is an example。Aofei Entertainment has the right time to make the cut。

As a partner of Aofei Entertainment，Real estate developers include Longfor、Kade、AEON is waiting among them，They are all important players in commercial real estate。

2019，Aofei Entertainment and Country Garden Group、New Hope Cultural Tourism Group、Poly Culture and Tourism、Jiangxi Tourism Group and other well-known domestic cultural and tourism companies have reached a strategic partnership，Announced that they will jointly promote the development of theme cultural tourism business。Public information，Except Aofei Paradise as the first store of Tianjin parent-child theme park located in Heping Poly Plaza，Other forms of cooperation and projects involved are not yet clear。

Predictably，Such cultural tourism groups usually have relatively abundant development funds、Site resources and projects to be built or updated，But there is a relative lack of mature content IP and derivative project products，Aofei Entertainment’s original IP resources、Paradise products, etc. can play a filling role。Compared to outdoor theme parks，If the cooperation project between the two parties still mainly involves indoor parks，Funds、With a small amount of resource investment and strong IP support，Hopefully achieve 1+1>2 effect。This brings more possibilities for Aofei Entertainment to leverage the theme park market。

However，The indoor park market with seemingly unlimited opportunities，There are also many hidden challenges。

On the one hand, competition in the indoor park industry is intensifying。There is Wanda Baby King in front、Suning Hongbaizi and other leading commercial real estate companies share the market，This type of company owns a large number of shopping malls，Provides inherent advantages for the expansion of indoor parks。Later, IP giants represented by the Lego Discovery Center attacked，In comparison，Aofei’s market share、The advantages in terms of brand awareness and other aspects are not obvious。

On the other hand, the profit prospects are not yet clear。Aofei Entertainment pointed out in the 2019 annual report，Aofei Paradise’s store expansion plans in the next year will be more focused on the west.、Central、Tier 2~4 cities in northwest and other regions。The layout of the sinking market may be able to stay away from the fierce competition under the attack of giants，But and the first line、Comparison of new first-tier cities，Shopping malls in second-, third- and fourth-tier cities have different requirements for business quality，The price per customer in the store is also relatively 188bet app download low，In this case，Store planning and operation charging models in different cities also need to be adjusted according to local consumption levels。

Based on the financial data of Aofei Entertainment in 2019，Including Aofei Happy World、The annual revenue of other businesses including theme carnivals is 3008.380,000 yuan，The proportion of annual revenue is 1.1%，Gross profit margin is -6.83%。This revenue level is equivalent to just covering the venue rent of Aofei Entertainment’s offices and on-site amusement parks in 2020，Under the impact of the epidemic in 2020, this business revenue will also be affected，Achieving profitability may require a long recovery period。

Screenshot source: Aofei Entertainment 2019 Financial Report

Otherwise，The "City Partner" program launched by Aofei Entertainment，Seeking support for the expansion of "Aofei Happy World"，But there are still uncertainties。As of the end of 2019，Aofei Happy World has 10 direct stores and 7 franchise stores。Introducing franchisees can indeed accelerate store expansion，But how to uniformly control product quality and service quality has become a new test。

The expansion option of Aofei Entertainment Indoor Theme Park is a small-scale super chain。But its IP is the core of whether it can do this。Continuously strengthen the innovation capabilities of IP content、Competitiveness、Communication power、Influence and iteration capabilities，Is the foundation for enterprises to realize IP monetization。

Aofei Entertainment content production mainly focuses on animation，In addition to the head IP "Super Flying Man" and the national IP "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf"，The communication power and popularity of other IPs still need to be improved。Similarly，The "Aofei Happy World" single-IP store mentioned above will also rely heavily on the scalability of a single animation IP。

But for now，Aofei Entertainment’s innovative operation capabilities for a single IP are not stable。The "Super Wings" series has been produced to the 9th volume，The first outdoor theme amusement area will also be built in half a year；After the popularity of "Fire Power Boy King" mentioned at the beginning of the article，The sales and development of its licensing and derivative consumer products have faded a lot。

Of course，In addition to improving one’s own content production capabilities in IP creation，It also needs time to settle。Disney was founded in 1923，The first Disneyland in California did not officially open until 1955，During this period, a large amount of high-quality content and far-reaching influence have been accumulated。Until now，Including Shanghai Disneyland，There are only 6 Disney resorts built in the world。

In today’s fierce competition，In content production、Business layout、Profitability and other aspects still need to be improved，27-year-old Aofei Entertainment wants to become the “New Generation Disney”，At least the theme park will go through a long and protracted war。