Disney vs. Universal free essay sample

Every child grows up in the midst of Disney characters, animation movies, and cartoons. It is almost like the first word out of a child’s mouth is Disney. On the other hand, it is not only kids, but also adults who enjoy visiting Disney parks and riding all the rides they offer. So what has Disney done to create such a strong impression in the minds of both adults and kids? Let us take a look at the different approaches and strategies Disney uses not only to gain customer loyalty but also to retain existing customers. To begin with, in the year 1928, Walt Disney gave birth to an unforgettable character with huge black ears, memorable red shorts, and giant white-gloved hands – Mickey Mouse (Robertson, 2008). Mickey is a character people can immediately identify that has invaded our television screens for the past 80 years. Mickey has become one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, thanks to Walt Disney’s branding strategies (Suddath, 2008). Like most companies, Disney uses a variety of integrated marketing communication strategies radio, television, outdoor media, direct mail as well as online advertising and promotions. In order to maintain the magic and fantasy behind the Disney brand, the company believes that direct marketing is essential to maintain a dialogue between themselves and potential customers (Robertson, 2008). Disney has three essential â€Å"pillars† it focuses on to build its branding strategy. â€Å"One, to invest in quality content using your strongest brands; and two, leverage new platforms and technologies to deliver this product; and three, better exploit international opportunities† (Gunelius, 2007). Upon the customer’s request, DVD mail packs are sent to individual households. The DVD arrives in a jewel-incrusted case with bright illustrations stimulating individuals to tune into the wonderful world of Disney. The DVD is directed and designed in such a way that individuals become hyped up about Disneyworld as well as enticing people to watch the DVD over and over again. The clubhouse CD included in this package is a fun and educational game for children. This CD attracts young individuals as well as their parents to the Disney experience at Disney World, this essentially building on the Disney Brand (Negus Viveiros, 2006). In addition, Disney has started using another interesting branding strategy. The Brand Disney already has high consumer awareness and so instead of using characters, they have come out with a line of clothing where â€Å"what you’ll see is a comprehensive line covering everything from outerwear to hosiery and featuring the Disney logo, but no characters† (Castleman, 2004). Moreover, while competing with someone like Universal Studios, it is important for Disney to maintain a strong and dependable entrepreneurial and new product development strategy. This is crucial if they are to remain the market leaders. It is also believed that companies in their industry make up to fifty percent of their revenue due to products developed within the last five years (Robertson, 2008). A great reference for entrepreneurs within Disney is their notorious vault, which holds the company’s video releases on moratorium (Facenda, 2009). In 2007 the Disney vault was accessed and their innovators drew inspiration from some of Disney’s most loved characters, themes, and images to break into the luxury market. The line began with soaps inspired by Alice in Wonderland. After the success, Disney worked with designer Kristie Kelly who helped them create Disney’s Fairy Tale weddings. This includes weddings dresses that look like those of the characters (Facenda, 2009). The focal point behind Disney’s new product developments is that it maintains the fantasy life that comes with reading their books or watching their shows. Disney’s elaboration on their ideas by creating more than just a movie but an experience; has allowed then to create a world where families can become one with their favorite story lines. However, it is important for Disney to constantly pioneer experiences for others in order to maintain a steady following. In addition to creating experiences on screen, Disney has created a sports complex in Orlando where families can enjoy state of the art facilities. Disney also provides transportation from the theme parks to their hotels. Finally, the sporting facility has been a great expansion that has allowed Disney to prove that it is no more just about princesses. 2) Analyze how Disney used merchandising and cross-promotion to achieve success in theme parks. Disney’s brand recognition has allowed the company to effectively use merchandising and cross-promotion as a way of promoting success in other areas of its enterprise. Disney stores and merchandising represent â€Å"10% of Disney sales, but closer to 15% of its operating income† (Business Week, 2002). Even during the 2009 economic downturn, Disney found that consumers were still turning to their products because they were â€Å"looking for brands they trusted that they knew their children would be receptive to† (Retail Merchandiser, 2010). In addition, Disney has been able to instill a particular image of its brand by enabling identification and familiarization with its products and services to children from an early age. Every time a child plays with a toy or watches a Disney show, it is an advertisement for Disneyworld â€Å"The happiest place on Earth† (Robertson 2008). An example of Disney’s incredible cross-promotion and merchandising is Hanna Montana. Once the TV show became popular they came out with toys, clothing, video games and other things that brought people to Disney. ) Discuss the competition between Universal and Disney. As we all know, Disney’s biggest competition is Universal Studios. When Universal decided to build a Harry Potter theme park close to Disney, this created instant trouble for the two companies (The Corporation, 1998). In order to gain more visitors, Disney and Universal are both marketing aggressively. Due to the high costs, they know that visitors will pick either one of the parks. While looking at Disney marketing, we can say that they advertise they discounted multiday passes and resident passes. Even though it is not a huge saving, people get a cheaper price if they purchase 2 or 3 day tickets rather than 1-day tickets. Also Disney offers a discount to Florida residents but only on multiday passes. On the other hand, Universal Studios is striking back through the development and creation of rides. Because Universal is fairly new, they have been able to create rides using latest technology. Disney has now started mimicking Universal and are also constructing and renovating their rides. Finally what differentiates the two is that Disney is targeted towards a more younger audience while Universal is more for teenagers. 4) Analyze the huge success of the â€Å"Harry Potter† phenomenon. A story of a young boy who is taken away to join the wizard world, Harry Potter has become a big phenomenon all around the world taking the 3rd place in the all time bestseller list. The 1st on the list is the Bible (Brown, 2006). Children were crazy about those books and as each new book was released people gathered in hundreds outside bookstores to get their copy and read about the journey of the boy. This was surprising because it has been a very long time since children’s books were successful (Brown 2002). Even though these books were written for children, the story was so engrossing that people of all ages became addicted to it. Therefore, the books were released with two different covers. There was a colorful version for children and a basic one for adults. This was great because it grabbed more adults who felt comfortable reading it (Bloomsbury, 2012). The characters in the book became an immediate hit among the different age groups and the idea of such a different world got people more engrossed in the book. As the addiction grew, so did the Harry Potter business. The books and movies were demanded by all and thus the business was established. Universal’s creation of the Harry Potter ride is not only an extension of the business, but it has also been an amazing new product development strategy for Universal. â€Å"Many people dedicated over seven years of their lives following Harry Potter and this park allows them to be a part of it (Beahm, 2004). 5) Discuss the challenges lying ahead for Universal that takes on the â€Å"Harry Potter† brand further. It is said that Universal Studios spent approximately $265 million developing Harry Potter World (Niles, 2009). Even though Universal felt they could take advantage of the ‘Potter’ phenomenon, they might face some challenges when trying to develop that brand. To begin with, Harry Potter is already very well developed and it could be said that it is in the mature stage in its life cycle. This leaves very less room for Universal to expand their product range. As the new books kept coming out manufacturers developed every possible toy associated with Harry Potter. Now manufacturers have come out with collectible dolls of main characters, magic spell books, and different clothing items depending on your favorite haracter. Moreover, while trying to merchandise Harry Potter, there may be problems because as Harry Potter is already an established brand, people might already have all the collectibles and products. Another roadblock is that now that the Harry Potter story line is complete and all books have been realized, what new things can Universal come up with. The end of the books and movies could also mean the end of the Harry Potter Phenomenon. As the end comes closer, Harry Potter fans may move to something else, for example, Twilight. Even though it is not as big as Harry Potter, it is the next thing after it. Therefore fans may not feel connected to the storyline anymore. Also now that the Potter series has ended, the rides in Universal will become outdated because all the seven books have already been made into rides. This will cause a decline in visitors who specifically come to see Harry Potter World. Finally, as well as know we are all growing. So the fear is that the next generation will not continue the Harry Potter phenomenon. 6) Debate the potential strategies to be used by Universal as against Disney’s. To begin with, because Universal and Disney are in the same industry their marketing strategies are very similar. They both use the same integrated marketing communications, both offer accommodation near their parks, multiday passes, and many more. But, in order to become number one in Florida, Universal will have to find something special about itself that Disney does not have. Only that can make it the number one theme park. Something that Universal can do is to make Harry Potter into a real world experience, where tours are offered and the children or families are divided into four houses and each house get to go on their own adventure. But again, Disney can come back with a same strategy by dividing people into their favorite characters or shows.