How RWS Global approaches the creation of globally successful destination experiences
IPM exclusive interview by Becci Knowles
As RWS Global continues its international expansion into location-based entertainment (LBE) experiences in Asia, marked by the November 2024 launch of its new Shanghai headquarters, the leadership of both Veronica Hart, Chief Growth Officer, and Mark Amos, EVP, Creative Design & Client Relations, is proving instrumental. Their combined vision is driving the company’s growth, which also includes new offices in Orlando and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This expansion builds upon RWS Global’s established presence in New York City, Cincinnati, London, and Sydney, supported by dedicated full-service rehearsal spaces at RWS Studios in New York City and the United Kingdom.
With their award-winning global talent, RWS Global integrates intellectual property (IP) partnerships with world-class brands to produce unique immersive entertainment. Here, we delve into the core of RWS Global’s approach to destination design, guided by Veronica’s strategic growth initiatives and Mark’s creative expertise.
What emerging trends are you seeing in the global market, and how is RWS adapting and innovating to meet these new demands?
Veronica Hart (VH): We see a rising demand to have turnkey offerings across fully integrated entertainment and sports experiences, including in fast-growing markets such as China and KSA. To meet this demand, we’re laser focused on delivering an unmatched, guest-first journey through ideation, creative design and operational execution on a global scale. As we grow, we can thoughtfully leverage our headquarters and divisional expertise and drive partnerships across destination design, live entertainment, immersive experiences and retail and merchandise. It’s critical to have offices and key RWS Global team members where our clients and projects are. We have also invested in proprietary technology like PV4, our content playback system that we developed for venues, attractions and events as well as Harmony Helper, a tool for our performers.
What unique advantages does your company’s international network provide to your clients when approaching destination design projects?
Mark Amos (MA): The RWS Global destination design division (formerly JRA) has been a prominent force for projects in the Middle East and Asia for well over a decade, and it continues to expand. This growth, supported by the opening of our new office in Shanghai, reflects our ongoing commitment to create, design and produce entertainment projects globally. This coverage isn’t exclusive to destination design, as our integrated live entertainment, sports and operations teams are also represented around the world.
Our company’s international growth translates to great strategic benefits for our clients and project teams. For starters, someone is always online, providing 24-hour accessibility in nearly any department. With our resources being closer geographically, we can often accommodate the differences in time zones, be available quicker for in-person connections and save money on travel costs. This also extends to the relationship with our clients and the project output, as our local teams can support comprehensive cultural and demographic sensitivities, ensuring we always align with the guest and client expectations.
As noted, your global destination design division grew out of JRA, which RWS Global acquired in 2021. Tell us more about how you’re building on JRA’s substantial legacy within the industry.
MA: Keith James (former JRA President and current RWS Global Chairman, destination design) has been a pioneer for the industry and for JRA in expanding into the global markets we now service as RWS Global. With a robust portfolio of projects and great client teams, it’s a legacy we’ve advanced with pride. Not all conversations are project specific. Sometimes we’re just a resource to guide and connect with other teams. It’s critical that we are stewards of the industry with our legacy and experience.
For our clients and projects, it’s the experience we’ve gained in these regions regarding processes, code requirements, design standards, etc. Our investment in pursuing this knowledge and our ability to leverage it on behalf of our clients for their projects are why we’ve been successful in these markets. Listening first, learning and adapting set us apart and have contributed to our growth and stability in foreign markets around the globe, especially in the Middle East and Asia markets.
Could you elaborate on the key principles and philosophies that guide RWS Global’s approach to creating compelling guest experiences?
MA: It breaks down into three major categories: the client and IP relationships, creative excellence and creative delivery. Our client and brand relationships are critical for clear communication, exceeding expectations and being able to understand how to deliver success. We’re partners with their interests in mind, focused on delivering their vision, using our experience and processes. We custom build each of our project teams so that they can best support our client team and their project(s).
Creative excellence starts with the story. The story is key, and we have committed to deliver storytelling content and experiences for projects regardless of scale, budget and complexity. It’s what drives success and repeat visitation. Creative delivery supports the execution of all the previous communications and creative development. Creativity extends to all facets of our work, including design production, creative problem solving in project management and implementation. We ensure the vision for each project is executed in space, with the right people and the right scheme for successful operations.
The company works across a variety of sectors. How does experience in
one inform and enrich your approach to the others?
MA: The range of projects we serve benefits our clients who work across multiple sectors, but also our team and their growth and development. All creative and design RWS Global team members work on a variety of projects even if they have a specialization. This allows them to learn the unique attributes that are core to those individual project types and carry them forward to enhance and grow the capabilities of others. For example, in children’s museums, ASTM requirements and channeling the guest vantage point of a child are critical for alignment of accessibility, safety, education and repeatability. These learned attributes can carry in and serve our clients with more opportunities when working on FECs or theme parks – providing more enrichment and a broader accessible range of compliance. In our cruise ship projects, we’re often limited in space, having to support various programming capabilities. This leads to challenges with facility limitations like power usage and Wi-Fi. Taking these lessons into our work on temporary and pop-up experiences allows us to support more metric-driven throughput and lower facility impacts, which saves on budget, making for more successful ventures.
Please tell us about some exemplary recent or upcoming projects.
MA: I’m excited to say that we have several projects in our current pipeline that showcase our global nature and cross-utilization of our amazing team around the globe. Unfortunately, most of these are confidential until the projects are announced. That said, our ability to bring live entertainment, gamification systems and state-of-the-art ride systems will showcase the collaboration between disciplines and departments while maintaining the creative continuity, highlighting the benefit of having all these services within one agency.
The recently reopened Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is a good example of the beginnings of this type of cross-utilization effort. Scriptwriters and AVC (Audio Video Control) designers in our U.K. office collaborated with our lighting designers and creative team members in our U.S. headquarters to provide seamless integration of creative and technical services. The more of these projects we deliver, the better we get at developing the right balance to support our local clients, anywhere.
How do you ensure that projects involving IP and branding are engaging across various cultural contexts?
VH: We specialize in adapting global brands thoughtfully for local audiences, respecting cultural nuances while delivering emotional resonance. RWS Global partners with the world’s biggest brands and entertainment providers to vision and execute IP-driven attractions, stage shows, exhibits and immersive experiences.
Our in-house creative and production teams collaborate seamlessly with IP owners to extend their brand narratives into fully immersive destinations, combining storytelling, theatricality and technical excellence customized for each market appropriate for the scale of the project. Across our sports business, we work to ensure we are celebrating fandom and elevating the experience.
On a personal note, having worked on world-renowned entertainment brands throughout my career and as Chair of the Board for Licensing International, I am passionate about developing experiences that put the guest first and bring brands to life.
As Chief Growth Officer, you have a keen eye on the future. What are RWS Global’s strategic priorities for the continued growth and expansion in the global market?
VH: Across the board, I prioritize strategic partnerships and turnkey delivery where it’s efficient and our divisional expertise on projects big and small, from ideation through operations, helping clients diversify revenue and drive guest engagement.
Our expansion across key markets has been a massive priority for me and RWS Global, as illustrated by the opening of our Orlando office, as well as our strategic partnership with Max Matching in China and the office in Shanghai we opened last year. Now that we’re also opening an office in Riyadh, we can continue to mature and build our destination design, live entertainment, immersive experiences and retail and merchandise business.
In the U.S. and Europe, strategic priorities include expanding our presence across more attractions and sports sectors and continuing to expand live entertainment and sports in Asia. •
