MCA Recreation Services retained StoneCreek Partners to prepare a business plan and strategic marketing evaluation for rolling-out CityWalk as a new kind of urban "retail-entertainment" project. CityWalk at the time was a new kind of facility dedicated to creating memorable, repeatable "shared" entertainment experiences for Universal's guests to enjoy during their out-of-home leisure time.
Universal Studios planned to develop a series of additional CityWalk urban entertainment centers, at select U.S. and international locations. This UEC product, pioneered as a theme park adjacent retail-entertainment experience, was adapted for better application in non-theme park, central urban settings.
Strategic marketing considerations included examination of the functional guest purpose of a CityWalk - which was understood to be as the "grand facilitator of a great guest experience." A sensibility was developed that CityWalks should morph as placed in their host city / cultural settings - at once American and entertainment but at also with local community signatures. CityWalks were also viewed as having best and enduring value - if based upon real and authentic experience - the unthemed "themed entertainment" venue - a value that could only be delivered by a UEC backed by a major entertainment studio.
The vision that emerged was a place that could showcase best-of-class (i.e. category-killing) Hollywood-style entertainment in authentic "gathering place" settings. A major facet of the CityWalk experience was posited as the promise implicit in a facility backed by a company active in all facets of entertainment, including movie production, music publishing, concert promotions, television programming, and new media.
Such a facility would not be just a place but a state of mind - the emotional and pyschological space that we each have, inhabitated in our dreams and aspirations. Hollywood is a distinctly and uniquely American creation - the world largely defines the American experience through its perception of Hollywood media - particularly movies and music, while Americans increasingly use this same media to re-define their own past and envision a collective future.
The Hollywood experience, and therefore Citywalk's potential, was thought to translate internationally. People everywhere share a desire for storytelling, communication, and shared experiences. Its American roots add international interest to the Hollywood experience, but its tradition as the quintessential storyteller is what drives long-term demand for Hollywood's products. The long-term success for the CityWalk product was thought to tie to packaging immersive and participatory experiences as consumer products. Traditional tangible consumer retail products then serve as the means to commemorate the experience.
Each CityWalk was viewed as being a crossroads of personal and communal experience - the concept of a Main Street common across all cultures and rich with historical significance. Regardless of its name, we all desire at times to be at the common place. Perhaps it is to be with others, to share an experience, to be in the center of things, to to be part of something greater than ourselves. Maybe as well it is to become caught up with "what's happening" - to learn how others are doing, and to compare and constrast our experience with others. For others, the act of being part of the common place legitimizes their acceptance as part of the larger group.
Client: MCA Recreation Services, International Business Dept.
