Dossier de Presse_UK.indd

Walibi, major new European entertainment brand
Walibi opens up the doors to a new universe for you. The brand is calling on its 35 years of experience
and aiming to become a landmark brand in European family entertainment.
Walibi is writing another chapter in its already rich history as a major player in family leisure in Europe.
Part of the ‘Compagnie des Alpes’ group since 2006, the Walibi brand is renowned across its four leisure
parks: Walibi Aquitaine and Walibi Rhône-Alpes (France), Walibi World (the Netherlands) and Walibi
Belgium, which welcome between them 2.8 million visitors every year. The Belgian park, located at
Wavre, is the historic birthplace of this brand with its kangaroo logo, and has been delighting families for
35 years. With the benefit of this long experience and its unique recognition across several generations
of visitors, Walibi now opens up the doors to a new universe. A universe which goes far beyond the
limits of a leisure park and which turns the ambitions of the Compagnie des Alpes group into reality,
benefiting from its brand and its experience to increase its growth potential and multiply its capacity
for expansion. The ambition is to make Walibi a landmark brand in European family entertainment.
Music as the central theme
This new universe is the result of a thought process which began three years ago and whose objective
was precisely to modernise the Walibi brand and extend its horizons beyond the limits of a leisure park.
Today, the brand revolves around a series of characters which were created in the minds of a project
team from the CDA group, and which brought in the best talent from the worlds of scriptwriters, design,
cinema, sculpture and costumes from all across the world. The famous kangaroo has been given a new
more modern look, closer to that of the 8 to 12 year old group (The “Tweens”), and is surrounded by a
group of friends all with strong personalities: Haaz the cheetah, Zenko the gorilla and Fibi the beautiful
water sprite. Together, they decide to form a rock group, W.A.B (Walibi’s Adventures Band) to bring a
bit of adventure and fun into the monotonous life of Monotowny. But all sorts of obstacles are to spring
up along their road to success, in particular the jealousy of Squad, Walibi’s twin brother who forms a
rival band, The SkunX.
In their search for creativity and fantasy, the two groups also enrich themselves through contact with
fantasy creatures from the fairy-tale world of Shimmeria…
This rich world, with which children and young teenagers can easily identify, uses music as its central
theme. The two rival rock bands, W.A.B and The SkunX, are to launch themselves into merciless musical
jousts, The Music Battle, about which the public will certainly have something to say. Everybody is
going to have to choose which side they’re on between the title song ‘Hello World’ from the Walibi
group and ‘We are The SkunX’, a completely eccentric punk rock song from Squad and his buddies –
discover them for yourself on www.walibi.com right now.
Walibi – for all the family
From the end of January 2011, ‘tweens’ can experience this battle for glory between the two music
groups W.A.B and The SkunX all through the year, via the audiovisual media. Their musical jousts and
their adventures will be turned into comic strips, games, music and video clips, all available on the new
Walibi site www.walibi.com now. And from April 9th 2011, tweens and their parents, will of course be
able to see these new heroes in the flesh in the four parks, hear their performances live in stunning
shows, and rock with Walibi and his group in a 4D adventure.
8-12 year-olds give their approval
The new Walibi universe has been the subject of a wide-ranging approval survey with the primary target
group – 8 to 12 year-old, or ‘tweens’. The result was a very great degree of immediate attachment by
these young people to the new personalities. A majority of them also easily understood the ‘different’
nature of this new fantasy world and appreciated the important role music had to play in it. The musical
creations of the W.A.B and The SkunX groups were extremely popular, whichever group they came
from.
2011, a major year for Walibi
« The creative work we set out to do three years ago went much further than simply re-inventing our
mascot. We wanted to create a major European brand in family entertainment, personalities and a
universe which people would want to take home with them, and with whom they would want to live,
even outside the parks. Today, Walibi is ready to set out on a new ambitious and thrilling journey »
declares Serge Naïm Deputy Director General and Marketing, Development and Products Director at
the Compagnie des Alpes, responsible for the Walibi project.
A landmark project for the Compagnie des Alpes group
« Great parks, Great brands’ » : the new Walibi universe demonstrates the ambition that the
Compagnie des Alpes group has in terms of making the most of its brands and its expertise, in order
to increase its growth potential and multiply its capacity for expansion. By 2012, 15 million Euros will
have been invested (of which 11 million up to now) in order to bolster the Walibi brand and enable
it to come to life with ambition in the parks, whilst also opening up new development opportunities.
About Walibi :
A pioneer in the leisure park sector, Walibi came into being thirty five years ago in Wavre. The four
parks are owned by the Compagnie des Alpes.
www.walibi.com
a brand of the
Compagnie des Alpes, a major player in the production of active leisure in Europe. It is present on
36 sites, including 15 major ski resorts in the Alps (including Tignes, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs, La Plagne,
Les Menuires, Les 2 Alpes, Meribel, Chamonix) and 21 leisure parks (including the Asterix park, Grévin,
Walibi…), in six European countries: France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the
UK. During the financial year which ended on September 30th 2010, it welcomed almost 23 million
visitors and achieved consolidated turnover of 597 million Euros, producing divisional net profits of
42 million Euros.
www.compagniedesalpes.com
Press contact :
Origami PR Consultant
Fabienne Smets – [email protected]
Lucia Sanchez – [email protected]
Tel : +32 2 539 07 04
Walibi : history and characters
History
Walibi and Squad are two kangaroo brothers who differ in everything. The first wears his heart on his
sleeve and has his head full of dreams. The second only wants to attract attention and make a name
for himself. Both live in Monotowny, a world which will have nothing to do with fantasy and humour.
Each inhabitant’s destiny is laid out from birth, according to which species he belongs to: the parrots
are journalists, the dogs policemen, the bears taxi drivers… As for the birds, they are the only ones who
have the right to sing.
And woe betide anybody who tries to break away from the path that has been laid out for them!
Walibi and Squad thus seemed condemned to a life of monotony… until the day when they get hold of
a cart which will drive them to Shimmeria, a mysterious world peopled by fabulous creatures.
In this parallel world where magic is king, the two brothers get a taste of the freedom to play music.
For them, this is a real revelation: from now on, nothing can stop them from living their own musical
adventures!
Walibi forms his own group, W.A.B In reaction to this, Squad forms The SkunX, a much more ‘dark rock’
trio.
W.A.B on one side, The SkunX on the other. Two groups led by two rival brothers. The musical battle
has only just begun…
Walibi
Age : 15
Species : kangaroo
Qualities : courage, energy, humour and a gift for composing
Faults : impatience and naivety
Convinced that music and enjoying life can change the world, Walibi dreams of bringing something of
the colour of Shimmeria to the cold, grey universe of Monotowny. The energy he communicates and
his overflowing imagination make him an exceptional group leader. But his habit of only seeing the
good side of things sometimes works to his disadvantage…
Squad
Age : 15
Species : kangaroo
Qualities : minuscule
Faults : innumerable
Squad is not just Walibi’s twin brother. He is also a millstone around his neck! Although he possesses
the worst imaginable faults, he is nevertheless a guitarist without equal, capable of taking on Haaz.
Fiercely egotistical, all he wants is to be in the spotlight. To achieve this objective, he will stop at
nothing, even if it means one disgrace and betrayal after another.
Sara Fox
Age : 24
Species : fox
Qualities : organisation, business sense, ambition
Faults : organisation, business sense, ambition
With a diploma from the most prestigious business school in Monotowny, Sara Fox has built herself a
reputation as a redoubtable businesswoman. Having immediately understood the immense potential
of W.A.B, she resolutely imposed herself as their impresario. And if she sometimes finds it difficult to
share the blind ideals which motivate them, Sara is always there to defend their interests.
Linaa
Age : 7
Species : sparrow
Qualities : audacity, independence, tenacity
Faults : stubbornness, indiscretion, scheming
A young and still immature little bird, Linaa is the most fervent admirer of W.A.B and would not miss
one of their concerts for anything in the world. Having learned all the songs of her fetish group off by
heart, she has started to nurture the dream of replacing Fibi as the singer! But to Linaa’s disadvantage
is the fact that her voice is nothing like as tuneful…
Fibi
Age : unknown
Species : water sprite (goddess of the water)
Qualities : beauty, generosity, intelligence, courage
Faults : sometimes capricious, curious, obstinate
Born in Shimmeria where she grew up, Fibi is a fantasy creature and, in this capacity, possesses a certain
number of powers which she uses when some disaster looms. She is the singer in W.A.B and has
nothing to envy of the voices of her aunts, the Sirens. Though a natural gossip, she remains absolutely
discreet where her origins and her parents are concerned.
Haaz
Age : 14
Species : cheetah
Qualities : a virtuoso with the guitar
Défaut : only son!
A young cheetah protesting against the strict system of Monotowny, Haaz is also an exceptional
guitarist. Especially when Fibi is there with whom he is hopelessly in love… As is often the case with his
species, he tends to favour the law of the strongest and individualism. But thanks to his contact with
Walibi, Haaz gradually starts to learn that strength lies in numbers.
Zenko
Age : 16
Species : gorilla
Qualities : integrity, permanent good humour, a genius on the drums
Défaut : desperately shy
Jovial by nature, Zenko has difficulty in accepting the draconian regulations of Monotowny, which in
particular prevent the inhabitants from laughing if they want to. Despite his considerable strength,
he shows himself to be desperately shy, especially when it comes to girls. He protects himself by an
armoury of received ideas, which have the effect of plunging Fibi into great fits of anger…
Vita Drakovitz
Age : 145 679
Species : dragon
Qualité : a heart of gold beneath a boiling character
Défaut : avaricious
An old asthmatic female dragon, Vita Drakovitz is riddled with rheumatism, though this doesn’t stop
her from boiling over at the slightest annoyance… As the runner of the most popular bar in Shimmeria,
Le Psyke, she regularly holds W.A.B concerts. Both tight-fisted and a tender mother, Vita Drakovitz is a
monster of paradox.
Loco
Age : 15
Species : bull
Qualité : devoted to Motiv
Faults : narcissist, coquettish, foolish
Incapable of taking the slightest personal decision, Loco spends his time imitating Motiv, whom he
admires limitlessly. Totally under the influence of him, the bull drummer goes into contortions to carry
out the desires of his mentor. What few brain cells he possesses only really come to the fore when he
has to choose clothes and make sure he looks good.
Motiv
Age : 13
Species : crow
Qualities : bold, free speaker
Faults : nervous, malicious, hypocritical, cynical
A past master in the art of picking quarrels, Moti v takes a wicked pleasure in stirring up trouble
wherever he goes. Selfish through and through, he will not hesitate to betray The SkunX, in which he
is the organist, if this serves his purpose. Heartless and without scruples, Moti v has made Loco his
scapegoat, and he doesn’t hesitate to humiliate him in public.
The men behind the project
Serge Naïm (54 ans), with a degree from the HEC, was financial director and then
deputy director general finance at EuroDisney until 2003, a group within which
for 11 years he occupied several operational posts before joining the Executive
Committee. In 2005 he joined the Compagnie des Alpes group as a member of the
Board and director of the leisure parks branch. In March 2009 he became deputy
director general of the Compagnie des Alpes and since October 2009 he has also been
head of marketing, development and products for the whole of the group. Within this
context, his principal missions are to improve the attractiveness and commercial performance of the
sites, and to identify all development opportunities for the group.
Rascal Udo Hüppe (45 ans) joined the project team responsible for re-branding Walibi
in July 2009, as director of content and creation. He carried out this role in parallel
with his function as director general of Fort Fun Abenteuerland, the German site of the
Compagnie des Alpes, before devoting himself 100% to the Walibi project since March
2010. With a degree in marketing and communications, as well as in psychology, Rascal
Udo Hüppe began his management career in the music industry at the beginning of
the 90’s with Rough Trade Records/ Zomba Records. He is also behind Popkomm, an unmissable event
in the music industry across the entire world and which takes place in Berlin. A musician himself, Rascal
Udo Hüppe has had a number of successes and still continues both to record and to give concerts with
his group ‘Rotersand’.
Oliver Snyers (40 ans) has been marketing director of Walibi Belgium (Walibi, Aqualibi
and Bellewaerde) since November 2006. In parallel with this, he was named marketing
manager of the Walibi brand in July 2009, and as such he supervises all the marketing
aspects of the re-branding of the four Walibi parks in Europe. Oliver Snyers joined the
Compagnie des Alpes group in 2002 as sales and marketing director of Bellewaerde
(Starparks Group at the time). Before that, this commercial engineer worked at Scoot.
The new Walibi universe: the deployment of multi-disciplinary teams and the
efficiency of a project formula
A team of a dozen persons from the Compagnie des Alpes (CDA) has been working for almost three
years, within the context of a pilot committee, on creating this new Walibi universe. This internal multidisciplinary studio has been the kingpin of a major work-site, because it wasn’t only re-branding which
was involved, but the conception and realisation of new content, requiring new mascots and a rich new
musical universe. This new content also had to be translated in its turn at a marketing level. Putting it
into operation in the parks will also require the involvement of all the operational teams.
To carry out this substantial task, the Walibi project team has brought in a number of external service
providers, adding up to a total of almost 200 persons. Cube for the audiovisual aspects, Chris Creatures
and Stagemark for the shows and mascots, and for the manga we work with the ‘World Wide’ studio
in Hong Kong with Wuye Changjie taking care of the design and Jean-David Morvan in charge of the
scenery. Mudpie for retail, FigTree for the logo and Armando Testa Brussels/Hémisphère Droit Paris
for strategy and marketing communications. Joravision & Upsilon are responsible for implementing
the new concepts in the parks.
The investment for the creation of this new universe which aims to make Walibi into a major reference
in terms of entertainment in Europe amounts to 15 million Euros over two years.
The WALIBI parks
WALIBI BELGIUM
Location: Wavre, 14 km to the south of Brussels
Year of opening: 1975 (Walibi Wavre) – 2001 (Six Flags Belgium) – 2005 (Walibi Belgium)
Surface area: 62 hectares
Characteristics: Walibi Belgium, the historic birthplace of the brand, is the most wide-ranging leisure
park in Belgium. It has 40 attractions, including 5 big dippers, 1 4D cinema, 1 giant drop, 2 aquatic
attractions, 16 attractions for children and 1aquatic paradise: Aqualibi. Walibi is also known for its
exclusive shows.
Internet site: www.walibi.com
WALIBI HOLLAND
Location: in the Province of Flevoland, at Biddinghuizen (to the north west of Amsterdam)
Year of opening: 1971 (Flevohof), 1994 (Walibi Flevo), 2000 (Six Flags Holland), 2005 (Walibi)
Surface area: 120 hectares, of which 40 for the theme park, 20 for the holiday park and 60 for the
events zone.
Characteristics: The park numbers 41 attractions, with a good mix of attractions and sensations and
more family-oriented attractions, along with shows. Aquatic pleasures are also to be found everywhere.
Walibi Holland has developed a whole range of know-how in the organisation of private parties and
company events, and is able to accommodate up to 20,000 persons. The park also stands out for
its holiday park, including camping facilities and bungalows, as well as for its events zone, which in
particular hosts rock festivals.
Internet site: www.walibi.com
WALIBI RHONE-ALPES
Location: Les Avenières, around 50 km to the west of Chambéry
Year of opening: 1979 (SAS Avenir Land)
Surface area: 30 hectares
Characteristics: Walibi Rhône-Alpes is a theme park offering 21 land-based attractions, a 13,000 m²
aquatic zone with the famous Pirates Island, slides, a swimming pool with waves, themed areas, shows,
a mini-farm, restaurants and shops.
Internet site: www.walibi.com
WALIBI SUD-OUEST
Location: Roquefort near Agen, close to the A62, Bordeaux-Toulouse motorway
Year of opening: 1992
Surface area : 30 hectares
Characteristics: The Walibi Sud-Ouest leisure park is set within a zone of luxuriant greenery across
30 hectares, and is dominated by an authentic 18th century chateau. Catering for all the pleasures,
Walibi Sud-Ouest with its 19 attractions, its spectacular shows and its events, guarantees that everyone
will experience an unforgettable day full of thrills, emotion and laughter!
Internet site: www.walibi.com