Monthly Archives: February 2013

Disney World’s Magical Marketing Strategies

Linking to: http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2013/02/7-magical-marketing-lessons-from-disney-world.html

“Disney World isn’t just a magical place for families or kids.  It’s also pretty magical for marketers too”

Recently, I found an interesting blog post by Rohit Bhargava about various marketing strategies used by Disney. In the post, Bhargava mentioned 7 marketing lessons he learned from visiting the Disney World. I’d like to comment on a few of those strategies:

Dream Builders with Walt’s Philosophies and Motivations. Sponsored by Stanley

1. Brand everything: Disney has branding all over the parks which reinforces its company objectives and values. By providing services that match its values, Disney is able to generate positive word of mouth and strong brand reputation.

2. Let your customers be crazy: By providing stroller parking and having a “stroller guy” whose job is to pick up after strollers, Disney definitely has done a great job on targeting families with small children. Also, I think Disney has positioned itself among those families with “Just have fun all you want, we will look after you” in which customer loyalty could be generated.

 

FastPass gives customers a specific time to return in order to board a ride without a wait. Also, you might also get the unexpected surprise of a bonus ticket to a nearby ride. Source: Influencial Marketing Blog

3. Offer everyday surprises: The FastPass system gives Disney operational excellence through the efficient operations with the rides. The system enabled operation faster in a cost-optimizing way. By offering surprise bonus ticket, Disney is able to attain customer excellence by creating values for customers through balancing benefits with costs. Customers will  feel less time wasted or money not well-spent.

4. Don’t prevent the inevitable: Many photos taken during the ride are sold to riders afterwards, however, many customers might just take photos with their cellphones. In order to maximize profits while considering the political environment, Disney hires a person working under the photos to make it socially awkward to take a photo with the cellphone. Disney has well analyzed the macro-environment such as social trends, and come up with the PhotoPass+ to provide access to digital files of all photos on attraction photos and dining photos taken within a 14 day visit, along with print packages at some restaurants.  The PhotoPass+ could be another upselling technique targeting people who value easy access to both the quality and variety of photos.

Source: http://www.insidethemagic.net/2012/04/walt-disney-world-debuts-photopass-adding-attractions-and-dining-in-new-photo-package/

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Watch the Super Bowl or the Super Bowl Ads?

Super Bowl 2013 might not happen until Feb. 3, but that cannot stop advertisers from putting out their commercials in advance online in order to generate viewership for the expensive spots.

Beyonce is invited to perform at the halftime show for Super Bowl 2013

The Super Bowl, championship game of the NFL in the United States, is famous for the high-profile advertisements that air during its television broadcast in the U.S. The broadcast typically reaches more than 90 million viewers while the advertising spot can typically cost millions of dollars. Due to the popularity of the Super Bowl, the commercials are  highly anticipated, generating viewers through posting ads on Internet even before the game is played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ANhmS6QLd5Q
A teenager is insecured about going to the Senior Prom without a date. But when the father lets him borrow the new Audi S6 for the night, he gains confident, arriving at the Prom a powerful young man. Viewers are expected to watch this Super Bowl spot to see if his newly found bravery pays off.

The link above is an Audi ad teaser for the Super Bowl. Like Audi, Mercedes Benz is also trying to make money from the  well-established younger viewers by featuring Kate Upton, a popular model, in its Super Bowl ad. Baby boomer is usually the population that purchases luxury cars. However, by positioning themselves with younger audience who watch Super Bowl, luxury automakers could possibly expand their market and generate more revenues. 

Mercedes Benz ad featuring Kate Upton

Why are companies like Audi willing to spend almost $4 million per 30 seconds for an advertising spot during Super Bowl? Despite the enthusiasm of the viewers on the day of the game, the entertaining and creative advertisements might just provoke people’s affective attitude and not initiate any buying behaviors. Most viewers might be checking out other things while watching the game. As a result, companies who profit from the Super Bowl might not be the ones with the most creative ideas, but the ones who integrate creativity with their market mix in order to reinforce their sustainable advantages.

 

Sources:                                                                                                                                                       http://business.financialpost.com/2013/02/01/luxury-automakers-target-younger-hipper-audience-with-super-bowl-ads/

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