KidZania

KidZania
Family Entertainment Center
Website kidzania.com

KidZania is a privately held Mexican chain of indoor family entertainment centers currently operating in 24 locations worldwide, allowing children to role play adult jobs and earn currency.[1][2] KidZania has received more than 68 million visitors since its opening, making it one of the fastest growing global edutainment brands in the world.

Overview

KidZania, Lisbon, 2014
Mock Court, KidZania Bangkok, 2015

Every KidZania is themed as a child-sized replica of a real city, including buildings, shops and theaters, as well as vehicles and pedestrians moving along its streets. In this city, children aged 4 through 14, work in branded activities from bottling Coca-Cola, working in a Crest-sponsored dentist office, working at a McDonald's restaurant,[3] painting with Corporação Industrial do Norte, washing hands with P&G's Safeguard soap, and using airline tickets from American Airlines, Fly Dubai and Saudia.[4]

The children earn kidZos (KidZania's currency) while performing the tasks, and the money is kept in the KidZania bank for children to spend at the gift shop and on KidZania's activities.[3] Inside every KidZania facility around the world, children wear electronic bracelets that allow parents to keep track of their kids remotely.[5]

The blending of marketing has led The Morning News to dub KidZania as "advertainment", stating "there is little that's pretend, and the play revolves around following instructions from the adult Zupervisors."[3] Children also make up the governance of KidZania, with a 14-member group.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan owns a 26% share in KidZania India and helps promote the brand in India.[3]

History

KidZania was created and developed by the Mexican entrepreneur Xavier López Ancona, the current KidZania CEO.[6][7] The first KidZania opened in September 1999 in Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City, and was named La Ciudad de los Niños ("The City of the Children").[6]

Corporate sponsors funded 55% of the initial investment.[3]

In 2007, KidZania hired entertainment strategist Andrew Darrow as executive vice president to expand the operation. Cammie Dunaway joined in late 2010 as the chief marketing officer.[4]

KidZania at Westfield London, cost £20  million to build.[8] In partnership with British Airways, it is operated by Joel Cadbury and Ollie Vigors through their Longshot Ltd company.[8][9][10]

KidZania characters/mascots

The mascots of KidZania are called the Rightz Keepers. They represent the rights that all KidZania patrons have, and together, they share an extra sixth right, the Right to Be.

  • Urbano (Right to Know): A 9-year-old, green-haired kid who is ingenious, inquisitive, and adventurous. He is interested in conducting experiments and making inventions.
  • Vita (Right to Care): Urbano's younger sister, a kind and thoughtful blue-haired girl who loves all living things.
  • Bache (Right to Play): Urbano and Vita's blue pet dog. He loves to play, and will eat anything. His dream is to make sure every kid in the world is as happy as he is.
  • Beebop (Right to Create): Urbano's 10-year-old best friend. He is a huge fan of music and is very artistic. He has orange hair, and wears a yellow shirt and headphones.
  • Chika (Right to Share): The fashionista of KidZania, a sociable and cheerful pink-haired girl who wears fake cat ears. She gets her inspiration from her favorite anime and manga characters.
  • Bekha (Right to Be): An 11-year-old dark blue-haired kid who power to be self-determining, unique and free in harmony among humankind. This Right is grounded in the eternal idea of freedom: the power to act, speak and think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Locations

Awards and recognition

KidZania was voted the World's Top Family Entertainment Center by the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and 2009 Global Leisure Operator of the Year.[14]

From 2011 to 2015, KidZania has been recognized as one of The Best Mexican Companies (Las Mejores Empresas Mexicanas), a recognition promoted by Banamex, Deloitte México and Tecnológico de Monterrey.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Subscribe to read". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  2. ↑ "KidZania and a New Generation of Entrepreneurs in Mexico". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Deri Smith, Mike (11 April 2011). "State of Play". The Morning News (online magazine). Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 Rubinstein, Dana (19 May 2011). "Playing Grown-Up at KidZania". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Nathaniel Parish Flannery, KidZania and a New Generation of Entrepreneurs in Mexico, Forbes, 7/18/2012
  6. 1 2 Rebecca Mead, When I Grow Up: The theme-park chain where children pretend to be adults., The New Yorker, January 19, 2015
  7. ↑ Jude Webber, Lunch with the FT: Xavier López Ancona, Financial Times, August 1, 2014
  8. 1 2 Jonathan Prynn, KidZania: New £20m ‘mini city’ inside Westfield mall will let children 'work' for treats, London Evening Standard, 16 July 2013
  9. ↑ Stuart Jeffries, KidZania: the mini-city where children are in charge, The Guardian, 26 October 2014
  10. ↑ Christopher Thompson, Longshot to back UK KidZania, Financial Times, February 26, 2012
  11. ↑ "KidZania London Harnesses the Power of Role-Play & Fun Learning in 19th Global Location | KidZania Journal". Kzjournal.kidzania.com. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  12. ↑ "Kidzania Manila Homepage". Kidzania.com. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  13. ↑ "Kidzania Moscow Homepage". kidzania.ru. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  14. ↑ "Former Nintendo and Yahoo Executive Recruited to KidZania as U.S. President, Global Marketing Head". Prweb.com. 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  15. ↑ "Empresas Reconocidas - Las Mejores Empresas Mexicanas". Mejoresempresasmexicanas.com. Retrieved 2016-02-03.

Coordinates: 19°21′40″N 99°16′49″W / 19.36106°N 99.2802°W / 19.36106; -99.2802

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.