David Snook discovers why innovation is key in keeping up with children's demands for the kiddie ride manufacturers
My four-year-old grand-daughters had hand-held Nintendo games for Christmas. Nothing unusual. There are probably hundreds of thousands of four-year-olds all over the world, who had them…And their ability to understand them, play them and enjoy them within minutes, spoke volumes.
So how would they react to sitting on a character kiddie ride and rocking backwards and forwards to canned music? Last time we offered them that opportunity, they scorned it. The problem for the industry, therefore, is how to offer something stimulating and exciting with that ‘wannado’ impact. Once, those same manufacturers were making for the two-to-seven year olds; now the same products appeal to the two-to-three year olds.
There is a necessity, therefore, to inject something else into a kiddie ride in order to make it appeal to the same wider age groups.
The prize is not insubstantial. No one knows accurately how many kiddie rides are in operation in the world. I advanced the ‘guess-timate’ of 500,000 to someone recently who had spent a lifetime working that sector. They didn’t argue, but it could have been 50 per cent out either way.
The problem is that there are many thousands of rides in operation in remote parts of the world which are built by little workshop businesses and sold though local suppliers. South-east Asia, in particular, has innumerable local builders of kiddie rides. I remember looking at machines in a shopping mall FEC in the Philippines a few years ago and asked who had supplied the kiddie rides.
"A small, local manufacturer, because they are half the price of the established makes," was the response. Shipping costs, I reasoned, must be the cause of that… "No, they’re half the cost before shipping costs."
Are European and American makes therefore too expensive? Not if you talk to the European and American manufacturers. They cite the research and development costs, the necessity to build to EC standards, to build in safety measures and durability. And in addition, they cite, angrily, so many of the cheap rides coming out of south- east Asia and China, in particular, are copies, sometimes right down to the logo.
It is fair to establish here that not all of the rides coming out of south-east Asia and latterly from eastern Europe, are cheap copies or built down to a price rather than up to a quality. But there is no question that many of them are.
The UK producers, like Northern Leisure Kiddie Rides, have a temporary advantage in the current state of the pound sterling, which, according to Gareth Jones, production manager, has meant significant increase in sales to the Euro Zone this year.
But to get back to the main, initial point. Talking with Jose Saus, who runs Spanish producer Recreativos Falgas, one of Europe’s prime producers of kiddie rides, the necessity to make rides which are going to appeal to the new cool and sophisticated toddlers of today, is of primary concern.
"The age range for our customers is getting thinner. No self-respecting seven-year-old is gong to look at a kiddie ride. Our job is to hold their attention up to that age - and that’s not easy. Kids want something more than a character ride that goes up and down or left-to-right. They need something that they cannot play at home. The industry has tried embedded screens with proactive games, but our company is now moving away from that - the kids have screens at home. We are developing new concepts which they don’t have at home but which at the same time are attractive to kids."
At Zamperla in Italy, Dario Ferrari doesn’t necessarily agree that at seven children are ‘gone’ from kiddie rides, but accepts that it has become more important to inject that ‘wow’ factor into ride design. Another of the great ride makers, Automatic Toys of Modena, however concludes the same way as Saus at Falgas. "Yes, it’s true," said Serena Fornaciari.
"The age group is narrowing. That’s why we think it is more important to develop and issue new interactive models every year. Kids are no longer satisfied with just swinging about on a ride. They need more ‘control’ of the movement and other ‘bells and whistles’."
At SB Machines in the UK, Paolo Sidoli feels that as they advance in years, children become more interested in older games. This is how it has always been, of course, except that now the trend begins earlier. "How do we counteract this? Make rides that are more exciting; if you like mini-fairground rides. We have one called Miami which has a medium-sized footprint, strobe lighting and bi-directional movement. Children up to nine years are using it."
But ‘bells and whistles’? "You can write this on my epitaph! The crux of a good ride is an engaging movement. If the ride goes up in the air, comes down, rotates, spins, gyrates, jumps and judders, it will perform. Have a look at some of our front-line rides for this year and everyone of them has a totally different yet individual and intriguing movement. Obviously Hello Kitty is an exception to the rule. Here the brand itself dominates everything else - so the brand may be bigger and more important than the actual ride."
That brings in licensing of course, which is a new issue, but perhaps the point that Sidoli is making is that it is all right for a ride to offer movement, but the range of movement is important, so that the ‘effects’ become an issue. It is a little like video games had to depend upon movement (simulators) to appeal once the quality of home games overcame the attraction of the arcade game.
Back to Italy - perhaps Europe’s traditional home of the kiddie ride as it has a longer and wider history of making them than any other European country. At MP Group, Filippo Cabassi reckons that the age group argument is dependent more upon the type of location but the matter of appealing to a wider range of children is well-found logic. "Even at four or five, children need to be interactive with the ride - to feel a part of it."
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Jolly Roger’s Liz Padgett agrees with the shrinking age-group philosophy, which is why the company is launching a new simulator ride. "It seems that pre-school children are still happy to sit with their favourite character and rock backwards and forwards, but older children prefer more interactivity."
The conclusion then, must be that the age parameters of the target audience are contracting and to counter that, the industry is generally finding new and innovative ways to keep them interested. Sidoli at SB Machines made an interesting point in passing, that the Hello Kitty brand was actually more important that the movement of the ride.
The appeal there is unquestionably the interaction between rider and the brand. That has been for a long time the crux of the philosophy which motivates Merkur in Germany, which acquired the major EMT brand some years ago, which brought with it the Disney rights for Europe. The company has built a succession of traditional rides but encompassing Disney characters ever since with great success.
UK-based company Jolly Roger specialised in licensing games for years, along with its own designs. Liz Padgett told us that the trends in ‘09 had been for strong second-hand sales and an uplift in refurbishing rides, but that ‘10 is already looking stronger. Padgett’s views on the current licensing situation are that generic rides and carousels are holding up well in revenues, but the top licensed ride from Jolly Roger remains the Iggle Piggle boat ride from the In the Night Garden TV show.
Gareth Jones at Northern Leisure Kiddie Rides thinks that there has been a slowing in the impetus of licensed rides this year. "If a generic ride is well produced, with attractive colours, good sounds, and interaction, then it can deliver high incomes as well or even better than licensed rides." He agrees that it is not enough just to rock and roll on rides.
"This is why everyone is looking to technology and the reason for some rides now having monitor screens and video games. A good mix of sounds, music that children can relate to, interactive push-buttons and attractive design and colours are the key."
In addition to the industry’s growing ‘age concern’, it has of course suffered like the rest of the coin machine industry during the global recession. The figure of between 20 and 30 per cent which has been applied to the general industry is thought to be about right for kiddie rides too, although in the US market some feel it might even be more.
As usual, the application of a downturn has not been universal. Paolo Sidoli, at SB Machines, for example, insists that the manufacturing sector might have suffered due to lower demand, but incomes had not been affected, at least in the UK and Ireland among operators with the latest equipment. "What has become increasingly apparent is that older, poorly maintained rides, not rotated on a realistic basis, are suffering sharp declines in income."
But the problems for operators may come from other quarters. Jose Saus at Falgas: "Many shopping centres are now owned by banks and they are increasing their rental fees per square metre. Cash boxes are indeed 20-30 per cent down in most European countries and the mix of these two trends may be fatal in the short term for some operators."
Saus is another who feels the US has its own special problems. "Reinvestment is not happening there as it should be and this is emphasising the recessionary trends. In a Las Vegas outlet I saw dirty, ugly, 25-year-old rides operating at two quarters! They are still dreaming of a $1 or $2 coin." Price of play can affect income of course. In the UK the average is 50p or £1 for three rides and those which are larger or have video and touchscreen effects can be £1 or three for £2. A similar pattern in Europe is reported.
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Jose Saus’ business plan during what will be a hard year, is to concentrate in Europe, Russia and the former Soviet countries, but with the dollar at 1.5 euros, he is forgetting the North American market - and for the same reason the Middle East. The ‘concentrate locally’ policy is one which nearly all of the suppliers will follow in 2010.
Paolo Sidoli will stick with the UK and Ireland: "It is a sophisticated, established and mature market for kiddie rides. All equipment we supply is on £1 for one ride and there is no price resistance. Good quality, high-end equipment commands a high price of play. In fact, certain rides such as carousels can command a £2 ride in certain locations. In Ireland, nearly 50 per cent of the rides we supply are on €2."
Not quite as high as that, but other European markets are holding up well at €1, says Serena Fornaciari at ATM. "Many kiddie rides still work on €0.50, but they are mainly small or old models. The newer equipment, especially the interactive ones, play on €1."
In Asia, says Dario Ferrari at Zamperla Asia Pacific, price of play tends to be lower, depending upon the status of the local economy.
So what are our contributors launching in 2010 to fight off the effects of the recession, battle against the age/technology culture and boost price of play? Zamperla is coming with Quad, a quad-bike ride; ATM will bring two new hydraulic rides, Blue Arrow and Challenger and a new interactive ride, Zattera Parrot; SB Machines will launch Hello Kitty, the Smiley Train, Happy Farm an interactive and educational ride and Apollo, the classic lifting ride. MP Group in Italy will have a new version of Marathon Runner and a range of other rides include large interactive animals, flying machines and new footboard concepts for malls. At LAI Games, one of the most prolific of amusement games producers, there are two new products for the kiddie ride sector.
Carousel is a three-horse roundabout in the traditional manner with sound effects but fits into standard room ceiling height. And while it may not be a ‘ride’ as such, the company’s Little Masterpiece is a sit-down novelty colouring game on a monitor with the ability to add the photograph of the child to their painting efforts on-screen.
Northern Leisure Kiddie Rides will have one licensed ride at the EAG show, Peppa Pig, a two-seater fitted with screen and video. There will also be a three-seater Carousel toy train with two carriages. Jolly Roger will have the Boat Carousel and a three-seater Plane Carousel and Horse Carousel.
Will all these ideas arrest the trends? No-one knows, but above all, the industry needs a strict observation of realism.
As Paolo Sidoli said: "We all admit that we have to adjust to a world order of restrained demand and customers are less ‘gung-ho’ when it comes to investing in new equipment. Their decisions are more informed and more careful. However, we - and this includes our manufacturers - have not put the brakes on R&D. We want to produce rides that get better every year in terms of reliability, performance and appeal. If there is a continued downturn, we will still continue to create and innovate."
First published January, 2010
