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/