Overview

The Walt Disney Company has been creating a fun and magical environment for families around the globe to unite over the Happiest place on Earth. They have built an empire through television series, amusement parks, resorts, motion pictures, media networks, and consumer products; making them a very powerful and influential company in the entertainment industry. The “magic kingdom” created and imagined by Walt Disney was started and run by the very well known Mickey Mouse. which has helped make it one of the most powerful brands. [3] The company was ranked 9th in the Top 100 Global Brands ranking of theBusiness Week magazine and Interbrand. a branding consultancy, in 2007(Walt Disney Company SWOT Analysis). [4]

History

Walt Disney World [5]

Business Segments

Media Networks:

Theme Park & resorts:

Consumer Products:

• Licenses the company’s characters and intellectual property to consumer manufacturers, retailers, show promoters and publishers.
• Disney Stores distribution
• Books
• Magazines
• Audio, film and computer software
• Examples:

• Disney Toys
• Disney Apparel
• Disney Press
• Disney Editions
• Jump at the Sun
• Hyperion Books for Children [7]

Growth and Development

Disney has many products and provides the consumer with many choices when it comes to their products due to the variety in products and segments they have expanded internationally. The Walt Disney Company follows three main strategies they call the three pillars that are incorporated in all the business segments:

• 1. Investment in quality (Strongest brands)
• 2. Generate new policies and technologies deliver its product.
• 3. Take advantage of international opportunities. [8]

“The Walt Disney Company’s growth priorities include creativity and innovation, new technologies and international expansion.” [9] .The company maintains a group of workers that focus on generating a five-year plan for acquisitions, new businesses and new technologies.

The Walt Disney has been a very successful and accomplishing company since it was founded because of the constant strategic planning in order to identify new opportunities for the company to become more successful and a better and more valuable brand.

Global Outreach

Since the beginning of The Walt Disney Company, the brothers showed an interest in expanding internationally and creating a magic “WORLD”. “The Walt Disney Company is now the second largest media conglomeration in the world”(Roedl). The different Disney productions are made with common American values in mind, however, Disney products appeal to different cultures around the world. Disney has created a series of princess that appeal to different cultural backgrounds such as:

Disney Princesses [10]

• Jasmine (Arabic background)
• Mulan (Chinese background)
• Pocahontas (Native American background)
• The new Princess Tiana (African American background)
• Belle (French background)
• Cinderella (French background)
• Ariel (Greek mythology background)
• Snow White (American background)
• Sleeping Beauty (British background)

Popular Disney offerings communicate a clear message to the world: the individual quest for self-gratification, adventure, and acquisition is good and just (Artz, 2002). Like in most cultures, Disney emphasizes on the importance of family, which a common value in every culture, helping them unite and relate to Disney movies. [11]

Marketing/ Advertising

The Walt Disney Company was created by the Disney brothers with the simple goal of “To make people Happy”. Usually happiness and the go-lucky attitudes goes along with kids, classifying Disney as a company targeted at kids; however, they realized that children are not the one’s that make the decisions. Parents are the legal guardians of the children and they decide what they do, hear, see or take them places; therefore, they had to make movies adults would enjoy and approve of.

Due to society changes, Disney is now trying to target kids and teens through: advergaming. advergaming. Older kids and teens mostly use Videogames, helping Disney achieve their goal of targeting teenagers. Another way to reach young-adults and their families is the commonly used wireless network, which unites everything around the world.

“The Walt Disney Co.’s decision to launch a wireless service aimed at its best customers — pre-teen children and their families — have focused a spotlight on two significant industry trends: the growing segmentation of services marketing and a fascination with the hottest of those segments, the youth market.”(Lessard)

Technology is a big part of today’s modern world and society, influencing and pushing Disney to expand their market through the cell phone industry in order to spread their brand through ringtones, graphics, games, and text message updates. (Disneymobile.go.com, 2007).

The Walt Disney Company’s Marketing Mix

The Walt Disney Company has been around for over 80-years capturing a good sense of business, strategy, advertising; they know what works and what doesn’t and implement what’s known as the four P’s. They know how to persuade customers and how to appeal to them in their theme parks, resorts and malls in order for the customer to buy their products.

The Ps:

• Promotion. Everything about The Walt Disney Company promotes Disney: the company itself is a constant advertising and promotion. Each affiliated company or business segments contributes and sells “ the brand image and products” between each other.

• Pricing. We all know a very important aspect of business is the price and how many people are going to be able to afford it or willing to pay. Disney wants to attract families that can pay and want to pay their products, theme parks etc. Since prices are in constant change due to the economy or seasons, hence Disney takes advantage of the situations to offer special packages at their resorts, theme parks and airfare at a low price as a pricing strategy.

• People, Process, Presentation: In order to have and organize and effective crew Disney has created a Diseney University to train their employees fro them to represent the image of Disney and to actually work at a Disney themed park. “According to Jim Cunningham the customer service of The Walt Disney Company is known as being the best in the world, and Disney University emphasizes two key points: “The front line is the bottom line,” and, “It’s 10 percent product and 90 percent service,”(Service). [12]. [13]

Brand equity

Along the years Disney has worked hard to create a respectful and recognizable brand equity and image thanks to their success and constant expansion. They have created a brand image based on “core values, a brand essence, and a brand promise emphasizing wholesome, kid-friendly, family-oriented fun and entertainment” (Liaros). [14]