I think there’s some important stuff to consider about this year’s spec.
1 - Mike is gone. It’s obvious, but this the first time in 15 years he won’t be involved in the event somehow. His fingerprints may linger, but it’s entirely possible that, without him, the event will take a completely different tact.
2 - Like
@Brian G. has mentioned, the big IPs this year didn’t do what they were supposed to do. Not only were Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, and Us coolly received in Orlando, attendance was down from last year. That tells Marketing and A&D both that, maybe, they don’t need to rely a lot of IPs—only the
right IPs.
3 - It’s, ostensibly, an anniversary year. Regardless of how marketing chooses to approaches, formulas change. Anniversary years tend to rely on IPs. They can go nostalgia heavy, new direction heavy, or ignore it completely.
Now for some intel from last year.
4 - A&D was down a designer last year. One of the their long-time designers moved to Creative to be Project Director for EU. They couldn’t replace them last year. Hopefully this year. New designer, more new ideas.
5 - I was told Us was almost an 11th house. In a tent behind F&F. It was very close. Never mind the early rumor from last year they were considering 12 houses. Don’t be shocked if an 11th house happens. It’s an easy marketing bullet.
Point being, 30 is not a year to just throw stuff at a wall. If that’s all we’re going to do that, we might as well not bother.