Strategic Organizational Communication in Walt Disney - Report Example

Disney’s Disney’s Walt Disney is a Company established in the year 1923 as an entertainment zone for animated characters. The company anticipated providing all round entertainment for the whole family, so it incorporated related businesses for home entertainment. It started by producing animated films that cut across all ages, and, as a result, the films were the favorite of many family members. Later on, Disneyland started operations in 1955 as a theme park where parents take young ones to indulge in different kinds of games with others. In 1983 Disney’s opted to provide different entertainment programs for children during the day and general family viewing content in the night with purely adult content in the late night, and as a result, Disney’s Channel was born. Later on, the company ventured into the hotel business and the more profitable cable television networks (Smith & Clark, 1999). Most of the company’s profits come from its businesses in Canada and USA. Outlets in the Asian continent have experienced challenged due to lack of suitable places where the company can develop suitable theme parks. Disney’s Vision and Mission Statement An achievable vision and mission statement should be realistic, and each is complementing the other. The mission statement gives a picture of the current managerial decisions aimed at guaranteeing success in the company’s operating environment (Canals, 2000). Vision “To make people happy” This vision shows that Disney will prioritize offering entertainment to the whole population as the main reason for it to succeed in the future. For a company to be stable, it must have a well-communicated, goal oriented and a forceful vision, which all stakeholders can easily memorize (Canals, 2000). Mission Disney’s mission is to be the worlds’ leading producer and provider of all entertainment information. As per the mission, the company aspires to engage its group of brands to project its content, services and products as the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences worldwide (Canals, 2000). For a mission statement to stand out as great, it will outline what the company wants to do currently as it aspires to achieve its long-term goals. Disney’s has a well-established research department whose main duty is to gather information about customer tastes and preferences. Using this information, Disney’s has always delivered the best products and services in entertainment and hotel industries to its ever-growing users. As a result, Disney’s products are a representation of all cultures but tailored and focused on different age groups (Canals, 2000). Branding Walt Disney intended Disneyland to be the place for an ultimate experience that has incomparable theme park features worldwide. The company made good this vision by making park designs and decorations unique for every park. Its artwork comprised of glowing colors, many different kinds and shapes of trees and decorations that matched the theme of the place each park is situated. Disney made this possible by using “Imagineers” from his film studio to perceive how each theme should look like then he hired architects, engineers, sculptors, and designers to put everything into place. As a result, the brand stood out strongly, and management of each park has maintained the wonderful work of Walt Disney (Smith & Clark, 1999). Disney’s branding does not end at the structural modifications alone but also it refers to staff as ‘cast members’, a name aimed at recognizing the crucial role they have played to make the company move forward. Media relation Disney’s has made it part of its agenda to involve the media in all its activities. This is partly because it belongs to the media industry, and Walt Disney understood too well importance of good media coverage in public relations. Up to now, Disney’s still rallies behind media coverage to remain publicly visible. The company does this by inviting news reporters and the press to each major event it holds, which includes launching new products or services, anniversaries. As a result, each event Disney’s hold has been unique and memorable with a large number of current and potential clientele in attendance (Belles & Queens, 2000). Managing an organization’s image and reputation In any business, there are times when things go wrong leading to injuries and in some cases death to participants and staff. Disney’s has had a number of such accidents in its theme parks, some arising from children falling from playing places to people drowning. Some accidents arise from the failure by the park management to foresee them coming and plan well to counter them while others are beyond Disney’s control where a client initiates and activity that leads to an accident (Belles & Queens, 2000). The company has handled all accidents internally without divulging details to the public, with the main aim of safeguarding company reputation. In 1998, a major accident occurred when Disney’s staff tried to anchor a ship before it had fully stopped. A huge part of steel broke off the ship and hit a couple who were standing nearby, killing the husband, and injuring the wife and the staff who tried to dock it. The company prevented media coverage of the accident, quickly cleaned blood, and then called in police officers four hours after the incident took place. The company held a media briefing two days later where management told the public what had transpired but did not apologize or accept liability for this accident. As a result, Disney’s attracted media criticism in the casual nature it handled this accident among many others, accusations that the company did not respond to. Marketing Disney’s is one company that has believed in excellence as its best marketing tool. It markets its products through social media, cable TV, and by featuring free tickets when launching new products or movies as a way to have a wide coverage. In addition, the company gives discounts for one who frequently enjoys its products and services as a way of encouraging more consumption. To increase sales, the company has all along involved many big retail stores like Wal-Mart and terminals such as resorts and parks to offer its new and existing products. In addition, Disney’s gives special entrance fee discounts on selected days for all kids entering theme parks as a way of bringing on board new entrants with the belief that this kid will always want to visit again (Canals, 2000). Assessment and Recommendation Disney’s has been particularly successful on how it employs strategic communication to the market. The company appreciates the importance of creating and maintaining a good brand and in that respect; it offers promotions as a way of getting public approval. Its media relations tactic has worked to its advantage by demonstrating how comfortable and wild its theme parks are, by that, arousing curiosity among other people who have never visited the parks. The company, however, needs to improve on how it handles accidents and other crises that occur in the course of business. It should devise better means and ways of communication to the public, informing them what has happened and detailing steps taken to avert such incidents in the future. Management should appreciate the fact that despite its efforts to protect the company’s brand, some actions like not reporting an accident can cost the company much more. Reporting an accident is one way of recognizing what happened; showing efforts to prevent similar accidents from taking place matters a lot especially to those affected and the entire clientele. The company should also avail its products like cartoons and games online since this is the way of technology. Failure to avail them, other players in the industry will slowly eat into its film and studio industry. References Belles, T., & Queens, E. (2000). The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out. New York, NY: New York University Press. Canals, J. (2000). Managing Corporate Growth. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smith, D., & Clark, S. (1999). Disney: The First 100 years. California: Disney Editions Read More