Theories and Principles of Marketing in Disney Employees - Case Study Example

Hospitality Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction and Background Disney is a brand that has attained enormous growth and worldwide recognition because of its ability to connect with its audience. Walt and Roy Disney established the firm in 1923. The firm has grown to be recognised for its quality entertainment for people of all ages. Walt Disney Company offers a wide range of products and services that include consumer products, feature films, theme parks, theatre production and television networks. In the first two decades of its establishment, Disney was a struggling cartoon studio that introduced people to Mickey Mouse. During this time, very few persons believed in the firm’s vision but its expansion into theme parks, film, consumer products and television years later won the heart of many consumers. Amid 1980s and 2000s, the company ‘s vision for growth materialised with its release of groundbreaking animated films such the 1991 Beauty and the Beast, the 1994, Lion King and 1998 Mulan to mention but a few. The firm diversified its product and service offerings through developing creative and novel means to target both the young and the older audience. The firm established the Touchstone Pictures and Television, and Disney Channel besides featuring classic films. Disney sells its classic films at consumer-friendly prices. Its diversification of products and services functions to reach diverse audiences. However, keeping its brand pertinent has been the greatest challenge that Disney faces today. While the firm requires showing regard for its heritage, it has to maintain its pertinence through creativity and innovation in order to fit in the modern competitive business environment. The firm has attained recognition and quality through its product differentiation strategy that has helped it attain a competitive edge. It focuses on offering the best to its consumers an aspect that helps it retain and attract an extensive market share. The firm has established feasible strategies of connecting with its customers on different levels. Its marketing strategies have helped it to remain relevant in the entertainment industry. This report explores how Disney employs theories and principles of marketing The Current Marketing Conditions Marketing conditions refers to the attributes of a market where a firm operates. Market conditions include the number of competitors and the intensity or level of competitiveness as well as the growth rate of a market. With the advancement in technology, competition in the entertainment and media industry is expected to increase in future an aspect that requires firms to employ aggressive marketing strategies in order to remain relevant in the industry. The industry is expected to expand with new entrants given the increased advancements in technology. However, Disney experiences limited competitive pressures. Although Disney faces several competitors across its diverse markets such as the Viacom, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox, Comcast and CBS, the firm has remained exceptionally popular. However, given its diversification in the entertainment industry, the firm encounters numerous competitors in its different segments. Particularly, the firm’s first theme park in the United States and its great success triggered more people to invest in the theme parks. One of its major competitors in this market segment is the Universal Studios theme parks (Clarke & Chen 2009). Firms such as Six Flags Corporation also compete with Disney in offering educational experiences and entertainment (Clarke & Chen 2009). However, Disney has remained at the top because of its ability to offer consumers a combination of features and prices that are consistent with consumer needs. The firm’s differentiation strategy provides value that consumers are willing to pay for. In this regard, Disney operates various theme parks that include the Epcot Center, the Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom where each theme park provides educational and entertainment prospects (Kotler, Bowen, Makens & Baloglu, 2017). The firm constantly ensures customer value by reinvesting in differentiating its products from those of its rivals. Although there are number of firms that compete with Disney, the firm is unbeatable and continues to grow. The Marketing Position of the Organization Currently, Disney is the Queen and King of entertainment. The firm enjoys a largely monopolistic than oligopolistic market condition as it has dominated the entertainment industry. Disney has a dynamic marketing environment that makes it remain relevant in the entertainment industry. According to Mukherjee (2002), Disney has been enjoying a virtual monopoly in the entertainment world. The company uses its market power to retain and win an extensive market share. Disney is engaged in a huge amount of business ventures in the world of entertainment and technology. Given its dominance in the entertainment industry, Disney has continued grow even in the recent years. The continuous growth is also linked to a massive response to the steps it has implemented from cartoons to the multi billion diversified global corporation besides increased consumer demand. Given its monopolistic market position, Disney has taken media options by storm with establishment of live productions, television, film, music and theme parks to mention but a few. As a result, the company has dominated numerous markets such as the Children’s television. Besides its domination in the Children’s television, the company hold a monopoly over the general ratings for United States television. According to Cheyenne (2016), a review of the most watched channels in the United States indicated that Disney channel has the most viewers. Besides the world of television media, Disney plays a crucial role in film release and production. The firm has affiliated with other corporations to develop their films. These corporations include Pixar and Touchstone. Devashish (2011) asserts that Walt Disney has become a world leader in family entertainment. Currently, the firm operates on a multinational level and employs of 66, 000 employees across the globe (Devashish, 2011). The Walt Disney World Resort is one of frequently visited and biggest recreational resort in the globe. In this regard, Walt Disney has been able to establish a very distinctive position in the entertainment industry. The firm has product attributes that are complicated, unique and not easy to imitate. It would not be possible for someone other than Disney to duplicate a Disney World, thereby giving the firm considerable market power particularly in the theme park and entertainment industry. Drawing on the case study, Disney is among the top 15 powerful brand in the world with its revenues topping to 45billion dollars in 2013 (Kotler, Bowen, Makens & Baloglu, 2017). Its Target Market and the Bases of Segmentation The primary target consumers for Disney have been children. However, the Disney brand has been tantamount to quality entertainment for the whole family including children, teenagers and adults. Through innovative ways, Disney established new ways to target its family-oriented consumers and expanded to include the older audience. The firm launched, Disney Channel and Touchstone television and pictures to include the older audience As such, the target consumers for the firm include both children and adults. Currently, Walt Disney Company comprises of four business segments. These segments include Studio entertainment tasked with creating films, theatrical performances and label recording. It is important to note that Studio Entertainment has always been the bases on which Walt Disney was developed. The Studio Entertainment brings quality music, stage plays and movies to consumers throughout the world. Parks and Resorts is major segments of the company. This segment focuses on Disney’s 11 theme parks, travel related facilities and cruise lines. Parks and Resorts entail one of the globe’s providers of family leisure experiences and travel. This business segment gives guests a chance to spend time with their friends and families. The third segment includes the Consumer Products and Interactive Media, which focuses on selling the firm,’s branded products. This segment brings Disney’s characters and stories to life via engaging and innovative digital experiences and physical products that inspires the imaginations of people. The fourth segment entails media network that includes Disney’s television networks such as the Disney Channel. The Media Network segment includes a wide variety of radio, publishing, broadcast, cable and digital business that are divided into Group and ESPN Inc. and Disney/ABC. Nava (2016) confirms that Disney is a world-leading large media and entertainment corporation with different services that include television networks, internet distribution, studios, theme parks and consumer products. The company alongside its affiliates and subsidiaries is a leading diversified global media enterprise and family entertainment with four business segments. Key Issuet With Respect To Marketing Principles and Practices. Walt Disney Company is well known for its marketing strategy and channel development. The two are principal reasons behind the success of the Disney brand. Drawing from the case study, Disney is known as the most aggressive pricier in the entertainment industry. The case study indicates that the greatest challenge facing Disney is keeping its brand relevant while stilling maintaining its core brand values ( Kotler, Bowen, Makens & Baloglu, 2017). The firm tries to connect with its clients on different levels. For instance, the firm’s employees are trained to be friendly to their customers. They are required to greet visitors by waving and hand out stickers to kids and maps to adults besides cleaning up the park meticulously. Every detail counts with workers required to ensure that they connect well with the firm’s customers. The firm also allows consumers to play with some of the Disney characters. Besides direct marketing, the firm uses the technology to promote customer experience. Evidently, the firm connects with its consumers through its website, blogs and emails. The firm also began to provide regular podcasts of the television shows and posts news about its products. The firm’s websites plays a crucial role in promoting its products and services. The website offers insights into its television clips, virtue theme park experiences, broadways shows and movie trailers. The firm’s marketing campaigns focuses on promoting memorable customer experience. The campaign features real guest and magical experiences. Theories and principles of marketing are invoked to successfully persuade people to use products or services of a given firm. Drawing on the Disney case study, the firms offers a wide range of products and services to its extensive customer base. The firm employs a product differentiation strategy that distinguishes its products and services from those of its major competitors. The firm use of differentiation strategy has helped it gain a competitive advantage. The differentiation strategy has helped the firm to attract more customers. With respect to the Product in the 4Ps, Disney has managed to provide a wide assortment of world class products such as movies and theme parks that leave consumers with memorable experience. The firm has endeavoured to ensure perfection in its product offerings. Particularly, the Disney difference stresses on the need for perfection “Whatever you do, do it well”, a strategy that helps the firm to retain and attract more customers. With respect to price, Disney offers its products and services at affordable prices. The firm pricing strategy is favourable to its diverse customers. The pricing strategy is flexible as it depends on the type of service and product being offered. For instance, its classic films on video are sold at extremely low prices (Kotler, Bowen, Makens & Baloglu, 2017). With respect to place, the firm has ensured that its stores are well established across the world. The theme parks are presents in various regions. These theme parks and resorts provide flexibility to customers who need to buy the firm’s merchandise. With respect to promotion, it is evident that Disney uses both direct and indirect marketing. The firm employs aggressive promotional strategies that are focused on different target groups. For instance, the firm employs hand out stickers to children and handouts to adults. The firm also used podcasts, emails, blogs and its websites to create and promote awareness of its products. Its products and services are also promoted through its own media channels. Disney campaign features real guest an aspect that attracts more customers. Drawing on the case study, the firm’s marketing practices are realistic and effective and they are the reason behind the success of the firm. It is evident that Disney’s marketing strategies focuses on creating entertainment experiences that cherished locally and internationally. Conclusion and Recommendations Marketing entails a wide range of procedures and processes that are concerned with establishing what consumers want and then offering them their needs and wants. Marketing entails four components known as the 4Ps. Disney has attained continuous growth because of its practical application of the principles of marketing. The Company constantly establishes what its consumers require in relation to product, price, place and promotion. The company has established and upheld one of the most successful examples of international brand identity. The firm has created awareness of its brand through effective marketing. It has also implemented practical brand management that has fostered strong relationships with its customers. Drawing on the case study of Disney, the firm should collaborate with advertising agencies and companies to market its products and services. Collaborating with advertising agencies can help in increasing its market share particularly in today’s competitive business environment. In addition, the firm should make use of the widespread social media platforms to market their products and services. Social platforms are good marketing tools that promote interactions with consumers. Through these platforms, the firm can get feedback that needs improvements. The firm should also ensure that it constantly monitors the performance of its marketing mix and make changes to enhance positive results. Disney should ensure that its marketing and growth strategies are consistent with its core values of entertainment and imagination. References Cheyenne, N.(2016). Disney special subject investigation. Word Press.com. Retrieved from https://disneyssinct.wordpress.com/disney-current-situation-and-future-plans/ Clarke A., & Chen, W.(2009). International hospitality management. UK: Routledge. Devashish, D.(20110. Tourism marketing. India: Pearson Education. Kotler, P., Bowen, J.T., Makens, J.C. and Baloglu, S. (2017). Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism. Global Ed. (7th edn.) Prentice Hall. Paperback.) Mukherjee, S.(2002). Modern economic theory. UK New Age International. Nava, S.(2016). Exploring the benefits of creativity in education, media, and the arts. UK: IGI Global. Read More