case study :legoland® malaysia resort “built for kids”

MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ARSYAD AYUB GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL

PREPARED BY:

HANI SYAHIRAH BINTI AB HALIM AMILIA HAIDA BINTI AHMAD AMINUDIN NOR HIDAYAH BINTI MOHAMAD SHUKRI

SITI SYAHIDAH BINTI SYED A HASSAN

August 25, 2016

Malaysia Tourism Industry

Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia (2011)

• The LEGOLAND® theme parks are part of Merlin Entertainments Group which rank first in Europe and second in the world in terms of attractions operators (The LEGO Group, 2014).

1968 • The first LEGOLAND® park, Billund, Denmark

2012 • The 1st LEGOLAND in Asia and 1st International

Park in Malaysia, LEGOLAND Malaysia.

The Chain of LEGOLAND (opened)

Source: LEGO Group (2014)

Iskandar Malaysia: A Regional Tourist Destination

Iskandar Malaysia fundamental aim is to be a strong and sustainable metropolis of international standing by the year of 2025 (IRDA, 2016).

Iskandar Malaysia’s development contributed in increasing investors’ interest and visitor arrivals (IRDA, 2016).

Iskandar Malaysia has reached its tipping point when the catalysts projects completed (Ernst & Young Corporate Finance Pte Ltd., 2014).

The new catalyst projects; LEGOLAND Theme Park and Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park made Nusajaya’s as a popular holiday destination (Dzaenis , 2013).

LEGOLAND®

Malaysia Resort

The idea is to have one amazing attraction in Malaysia to boost the tourism industry. At first, Universal Studio was chosen to be opened in Johor but eventually after consideration by the government, they had to decline Universal Studio (US) since the requirements includes casinos and non-halal products (Suhaimee, 2016)

LEGOLAND Park

LEGOLAND Water Park

LEGO Themed

Hotel

Source: The LEGO Group (2014)

BUSINESS MODEL

Tourism numbers up in Johor

• State Tourism, Domestic Trade and Consumerism executive council chairman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said between January and June 2015, Johor recorded 3.2 million tourists compared to 2.8 million within the same period in 2014.

• Domestic tourists made up the majority with 2.16 million arrivals while foreigners numbered 1.1 Million.

Source : Mohd Farhaan Shah (2015)

Top 20 amusement park in Asia according to travel site TripAdvisor announced on Wednesday

(Jun 29, 2015).

Source : Universal Studios Singapore (2015)

Ranked 12th amusement park in Asia for the

third year running.

SWOT

ANALYSIS

• It is a family holiday destination with more than 70 hands-on rides, slides, shows and attractions

• LEGO® is a popular brand worldwide

• The availability of annual tickets and “value passes” for customers

• Good marketing and advertisement such as through Groupon, Amazon and Lazada

• The centrepiece is MINILAND, where Asian landmarks have been recreated using more than 30 million LEGO bricks

STRENGTH

• Lego product portfolio is less diversified

• Limited accommodation selection such as types of rooms available

WEAKNESSES

Source: Shaik Azman (n.d.) ; Lego Bricks and LegoLand Strategic Decision Maker (2015)

• The Lego brand is associated with quality and reliability by positive brand image which can be used by the parks to attract visitors.

• As the brand Lego is fast penetrating in markets outside Europe, USA and Malaysia, is a platform to attract more international visitors.

• Tapping into emerging economies with more advertising and marketing will enable more customers to visit LEGOLAND

OPPORTUNITIES

• Competition from Sunway Lagoon and Universal Studio Singapore.

• Advancement of technology: Online gaming

THREAT

Source: Shaik Azman (n.d.) ; Lego Bricks and LegoLand Strategic Decision Maker (2015)

ISSUES OF LEGOLAND

MALAYSIA RESORT

ISSUE 1 Limitation of Target Market Age Group

Tripadvisor (2016). LEGOLAND Malaysia: Reviews. Retrieved August 22, 2016, from

https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Attraction_Review-g298278-d3491018-Reviews-or10-Legoland_Malaysia-

Johor_Bahru_Johor_Bahru_District_Johor.html#REVIEWS.

Source : HWZ Forums (2014).

ISSUE 2

The Challenge: Using

Mobile to Enhance the

Theme Park Visit

• As the second largest entertainment company in the world after Disney, Merlin Entertainment decides to provide mobiles apps as the company realizes the use-fullness of the apps.

• Merlin already has 13 mobile apps or 6 different park attraction locations and has accumulated 350,000 downloads in the past year (Legoland Group, 2014).

Source: Google Play Store (2016)

ISSUE 3

CRIME

Source : Halim (2015)

Source : Facebook post on child (2015). Facebook post on child drugged at Legoland a hoax. Retrieved August 24, 2016, from http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/06/29/facebook-post-legoland-singapore/

Issue 4:

Pokémon GO for

LEGOLAND Malaysia

Resort: Good or Bad?

LEGOLAND Florida Resort, had to issue guidelines for playing the phone-app game on its premises (White, 2016).

San Diego Tourism has recommended LEGOLAND California as one of the hot

spot to hunt Pokémon

(Gardner, 2016).

Kota Iskandar, Johor has become Pokémon hunting ground resulting to the area as one of the hottest geo-locations for players of the wildly popular augmented reality game Pokémon GO (Yee, 2016)

“Over the weekend I was catching Pokémon at Danga Bay and met some new friends who recommended Legoland”, Sia said.

(Yee, 2016)

Good or Bad?

• The app’s Poke Stops (where you get Poke balls, potions, etc.) and Gyms (where captive Pokémon fight) are a good way to introduce travellers to local parks, historic sights, museums and public art (Gardner, 2016)

• Thus, Pokémon GO can become one of the marketing strategies to promote the LEGOLAND and become one of attraction for the players to visit LEGOLAND.

• By understanding the company core business, it will help LEGO Group to achieve

its vision.

• LEGOLAND Theme Parks brings excitement and fun to their visitors through

rides and various attractions.

• There are several issues encountered by LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort.

LEGOLAND Theme Parks targeted family with young children age from 2 to 12

years old.

• Thus, this has become the major issue as the adults are prone to visit Universal

Studios Singapore and Sunway Lagoon.

1. With reference to the LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort case study, identify and explain the competitive advantages that LEGOLAND posses?

2. How did LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort deal with its target market issue that arose from the case study?

3. The State Tourism, Domestic Trade and Consumerism Executive Council Chairman, Datuk Tee Siew Kiong mentioned that “one of the visitor attractions that boost tourism sector in Johor is LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort”, hence what are LEGOLAND roles that contribute to this success?

4. In future, if LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort implements a LEGOLAND Mobile App, what could the company gain from it?

5. Based on the LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort ‘Built for Kids’ Case Study, how does the LEGOLAND® Malaysia Resort’s business model works?