How Epic Universe Is Building Its Marketing Blitz Ahead of the Major Theme Park’s Launch

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Approximately a week past, while the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were competing in Super Bowl LIX, Universal Destinations & Experiences unveiled its latest Orlando theme park, Epic Universe, to a staggering 127 million viewers across the United States.

Last year saw the debut of a 30-second advertisement, but it was during a prominent televised event that this commercial for the upcoming first U.S. theme park in two decades truly gained traction. This ad showcased four themed areas: Super Nintendo World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Burke, and the Dark Universe, all destined for a theme park.

According to Alice Norsworthy, President of Global Marketing at Universal Destinations & Experiences, these projects saw contributions from hundreds of individuals. They not only offered insights and research based on our guests’ feedback, but also assisted in the practical aspects such as production and creative work – brainstorming ideas for the ads and deciding where to place them. This team extended to our operational crew who aided us in visualizing these projects. Essentially, it takes a whole community to bring an experience like this to life, and the campaign spans multiple platforms and formats.

This year, advertisers are spending an average of $8 million every 30 seconds. Following a multi-faceted advertising campaign spanning several months, Universal’s commercial now continues this marketing effort, extending beyond catchy ads featuring Michael Bublé music to showcase the new and existing attractions at Universal Orlando Resorts.

Over the past year, I’ve been thrilled to witness the worldwide debut of this extraordinary park, which was announced during the 2024 Olympics and later showcased at New York Comic Con in the fall. Excitement built as preview centers with park models and merchandise appeared simultaneously in Orlando and Los Angeles, coinciding with the launch of exclusive podcast discussions, concept art, animations, and fly-throughs of the lands and new resorts such as the Helios Grand Hotel. Behind-the-scenes glimpses, sneak peeks at new attractions and technological advancements, and first looks at the park’s extensive culinary offerings further fueled my anticipation. What an incredible journey it’s been!

countdown’s on for May 22 – opening day! After the thrilling Super Bowl, I chatted with The Hollywood Reporter about how Universal Destinations & Experiences is crafting a contemporary theme park promotional strategy, and why we chose the Super Bowl to give our campaign a boost.

When did the larger, overall marketing campaign discussions about Epic Universe begin? 

From the very conception of Epic, we recognized its revolutionary potential demanded an exceptional marketing campaign to showcase our most ambitious projects yet and bring this vision to life for our followers and visitors, meeting their high expectations. Thus, we unveiled it in 2019, and since then, we’ve been brainstorming the optimal way to introduce this extraordinary theme park to the world. Our collaboration with international advertising agency Lucky Generals dates back several years, and they’ve been an indispensable partner in this journey, along with numerous other partners who have assisted us in narrating the Epic story to our audience and enthusiasts.

How can we creatively interpret and represent the emotional, visual, and narrative aspects of the park’s brand, which is already associated with grand adventures in cherished realms, when developing a marketing campaign for extraordinary experiences within popular universes?

Our journey started by discussing the park with our visitors, listening to their feedback during construction, which emphasized their admiration for our unique storytelling style, immersive attractions, and experiences. They asked for more of what they cherish, and in return, we’d receive more of their valuable time. Therefore, our task was essentially finding a way to recreate the same emotional resonance that our audience feels towards our properties and experiences, while highlighting this novel offering and its innovative aspects. The heart of Epic Universe lies in transporting people to realms they dared not dream of, allowing them to engage with the tales and characters they adore.

Essentially, the advertisements shown during the Super Bowl were designed to offer a sneak peek into the incredible, multi-sensory journey that awaits visitors at Epic Universe. This destination promises to evoke an entire spectrum of emotions, from fear and joy to excitement and awe. We’re confident that this is the kind of emotional rollercoaster our guests will experience when they visit. Over the course of our campaign, this vision has remained consistent. We simply aim to unveil this extraordinary experience in a way that matches the epic scale of the product we’re offering.

25 years back, there were no video-based social media platforms, live TV streaming services, podcasts, or smartphones functioning like mini-computers. Today, these technologies coexist with radio, traditional television, and both digital and print publishing. Given that the last time a major theme park opened in Orlando or the U.S., such modern media didn’t exist, how would marketing for Epic differ? Moreover, which elements of this current media landscape are you utilizing to target potential visitors?

Over the past decade, marketing has undergone significant transformation, especially in the last five years on certain platforms. This shift has led to increased demands from our customers for more captivating and pertinent content than ever before. Today’s audience seeks highly interactive and entertaining information across all these platforms, constantly, and often simultaneously. Therefore, we understand that it is crucial for us to be present in all the places where our customers seek information. Our audience is diverse, and we have established a presence on multiple platforms with content tailored to what those specific audiences expect from each platform.

We’ve unveiled lengthy videos and exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews, offering an intimate look into our developing worlds, hotels, and entire resort properties for those eager for such insights. We’ve additionally detailed the entire experience on our websites and collaborated with numerous marketing partners to share it widely. On social media platforms – both ours and theirs – we’ve kept fans updated with real-time news, fun facts, sneak peeks at food and other aspects. Additionally, advertising and short content platforms have been used to tantalize potential guests, sparking curiosity about what’s to come during our preview phase. We’re thrilled to give guests the chance to share their own stories about us. All these elements are crucial for being present where guests seek information on us, and we’re actively developing a comprehensive strategy to achieve that.

Wasn’t it approximately two decades back when Super Bowl commercials were quite prominent? What made this occasion seem particularly suitable for amplifying your nationwide video advertising campaign?

The Super Bowl provides us with an ideal platform for engagement, as it captures public interest at a point when people begin contemplating their summer holidays. Therefore, both timing and audience were optimal. Moreover, viewers eagerly anticipate the advertisements during the Super Bowl aside from the sports themselves. We aspired to join this enthusiasm and connect with our guests in a manner that resonates with them.

In your campaign, various aspects such as podcasts, aerial videos, artwork previews, and advertisements serve to immerse viewers and transport them from their everyday lives into something extraordinary – an “epic” experience. For the advertisements in particular, you present different landscapes for each audience. Could you discuss how you decided which elements of these lands – attractions, food, character appearances, environments – to adapt, and who you envisioned within them, to support the park’s storytelling style for those yet to visit?

To spark curiosity and encourage exploration, we aimed to offer guests a sneak peek of what awaits them in an abridged format. These “portals” serve as a means to whisk you away not only geographically, but also into the sights, sounds, and emotions of the stories and characters that resonate with you. We wanted to convey the essence of each realm, so we carefully selected scenes encompassing attractions, entertainment, and the environments themselves to showcase the immersive experience.

At Epic Universe, the vast array of offerings made it challenging to encapsulate our unique experiences in merely 29 seconds or even a minute. However, given our diverse audience, we aimed to present more than just the variety of adventures available in each realm; instead, we wanted to convey the spectrum of emotions that visitors may experience while immersed within these lands. Although we featured distinct groups in each of our four advertisements, it’s important to note that any group could find a rewarding experience at any of these realms.

Have many visual concept arts been unveiled, yet some scenes hint towards attractions that seem to depict actual ride components. Is it that we’re viewing pre-existing parts of Epic Universe in these glimpses, or were these environments just replicas and special effects?

Absolutely, some aspects were inspired by genuine elements of the attractions, entertainment, and surroundings. However, since not everything was finished before guests arrived, we needed to invent certain parts. As a result, we blended what actually exists with imaginative elements to present the experience in a way that truly encapsulates its spirit. Instead of focusing on a direct replication of the experience, we aimed to evoke authentic moments from the attractions, entertainment, and environment that would create a similar feeling for you.

Even though you only have spaces for four theme parks, Epic Universe offers five with Celestial Park included. Could you discuss the reason behind not allocating a space for this additional park at the moment?

In our diverse collection, we aimed to represent fully what our range encompasses across all five realms. However, we prioritized four realms as these are destinations that ignite dreams within people – Super Nintendo World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – the Ministry of Magic, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Burke, and the Dark universe, which brings to life the legacy of Universal’s iconic monsters. It’s worth noting that once visitors experience Celestial Park, our fifth realm, they’ll likely yearn for repeat visits as it offers the same emotional depth and immersive experiences found in the other realms.

Is the Helios Grand Hotel particularly notable because it’s the sole accommodation within Universal Orlando Resort that lies within the actual theme park. Has there been any further news about it, or might park visitors be in for more updates on this hotel?

We’ve given you sneak peeks at our hotels throughout the process with a special behind-the-scenes video, and yes, we will provide another opportunity for you to experience the Helios Grand Hotel, as well as the breathtaking views it offers of the entire Epic Universe project.

Before the debut on May 22nd, what additional elements may the public anticipate from the ongoing unveiling of this campaign, which has previously showcased concept art, Comic-Con panels, previews at exhibition centers, and sneak peeks into attraction development?

We’re committed to unveiling even more creative methods for connecting with and captivating our visitors across all the mentioned platforms. Our aim is to convey a comprehensive and immersive narrative about not just Epic Universe, but the entire Universal Orlando Resort – encompassing four parks, City Walk, and 11 hotels. Our marketing and sales associates will also join us in this tale-telling journey. Along the way, you might encounter some groundbreaking interactive experiences, but what I’m truly thrilled about is welcoming our guests and enthusiasts to Epic Universe, where they can create their own stories and share their experiences. I believe that these personal narratives will be the most powerful marketing tool we could ask for.

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2025-02-19 01:26