Disney

Brand Analysis

GRADUATE BUSINES SCHOOL OF CLERMONT-FERRAND - STRATEGIC MARKETING

Disney Brand Analysis

Group Project - Strategic Marketing

Rémy Borello, Thomas Jullière, Jean-Emmanuel Lamarche, Antoine Mortellier,
Steeve Saladin
Instructor: Balázs Siklós
10/01/2014

Table of contents

I- Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2
II- Analysis of Disney Brand Strategy ................................................................................................... 3
A. Brand Identity ............................................................................................................................. 3
1. Brand Elements ....................................................................................................................... 3
2. STP Analysis (Segmentation, Target, Positioning) ................................................................... 4
B. Brand Development Strategy ...................................................................................................... 5
1. Brand Promise ......................................................................................................................... 5
2. Brand Message ........................................................................................................................ 6
C. Brand Mantra .............................................................................................................................. 7
III- Consumers’ perception of the Disney brand .............................................................................. 8
A. Brand Image ................................................................................................................................ 8
B. Brand Knowledge ........................................................................................................................ 9
C. Type of Brand for consumers .................................................................................................... 10
IV- Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 12

Disney Brand Analysis Page 1

I- Introduction

The Walt Disney Company has been created in 1923 in Los Angeles (California –
United States) by two brothers Roy O. Disney and Walter Elias Disney. Nowadays, the
company is worth more than £42 billion in 2012 even if Disney faced downturns after Walt
Disney’s death in 1966. The businessman Robert A. “Bob” Iger became the new CEO of
Disney in 2005. Originally oriented towards producing short animated movies (Walt Disney
Studio produced successful movies such as Cinderella, Bambi or Snow White), the company
had quickly diversified its activities by implementing theme park all around the world, by
selling derived products from its movies to consumers and by becoming a huge actor in mass
media, media networks and studio entertainment over time. Currently, the Walt Disney
Company holds an important portfolio of activities ranging from television programs (Disney
television channels), books and up to recently magazines (Disney magazine’s publication
stopped in 2005)1 to musical productions while continuing the production of movies.

The Disney brand can be associated with the term “Global Brand” since its activities
spread worldwide and more than 160.000 employees work for the company around the world.
But Disney is not the only one to compete within the media industry. The market of the media
industry is also made up with several companies such as NBC Universal Media, News Corp.,
or Time Warner Inc. fighting for their own market share. But Disney’s strength lies in
acquiring new companies such as Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in
2009 or Lucasfilm in 2012 in order to enhance its stranglehold upon mass Medias and to
expend their market further. Disney brand is especially well known for its originally-drawn
characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Pluto the dog.

In the brand analysis, our research problem is first to focus on the brand promise
delivered by the Walt Disney Company to its customers. By so doing, we will identify what
makes the brand so unique and which message the company wants its consumer to remind. In
this part, we will detail furthermore the brand development strategy carried out by the
company. In a second part, our analysis will be centered on the brand perception of consumers.
How do consumers actually perceive the Disney brand: what is the brand image of the
company? Did this brand image change over time? This study will also lead us to talk about
the brand knowledge of Disney’s customers. Eventually, we will wrap up this analysis by
giving a clear statement of the Disney brand image.

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_The_Walt_Disney_Company

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II- Analysis of Disney Brand Strategy

A. Brand Identity
1. Brand Elements
First of all, we can start this analysis by describing a little bit what the brand identity
of the Walt Disney Company consists in and we will then detail further what is exactly the
brand promise that Disney delivers to its consumers worldwide. The brand identity of any
brand consists in the way the company identify itself through the product or service sold.
More specifically, a brand is characterized by several elements such as a brand name, a logo,
a symbol, a specific design or a combination of them in order to intend to identify goods or
services that a company willing to differentiate from competitors.2 As we know, a brand name
must be made up with several criteria such as memorability, likeability (from consumers),
transferability (is it transferable into another language?), meaning (has the brand name the
same meaning in every location?), adaptability (Can it be adapted to local marketplaces?) and
protection (trademark, copyright, patents).

In the case of Disney, the well-known company is for instance named after Walter
Ellias Disney’s proper name: we call such a brand name a “Blanket Family Name”;
memorability of the brand name is therefore assured. Furthermore, he inspired the logo of the
company through his handwritten signature which is totally part of the brand identity of
Disney ever since. That reinforces how he was convinced about the success of the Disney
brand and also shows to what extent he was truly devoted and passionate about his work. The
logo also contains a castle with a blue background referring to fairy-tale and storytelling for
kids (The Prince and the Princess used to live in a castle). Besides, almost everybody in the
world has already heard of “Disney”. All sub-brands of Disney are protected by copyrights in
order to avoid legal issues. The company has been practicing licensing for decades so as to
have a global impact for its products worldwide. Even if Disney is a global brand, it
successfully adapts to Asian market by implementing a Disneyland Park in Hong Kong and in
2015 in Shanghai (first theme park opened in 1971)3. The intellectual property of Disney has
been given to other companies in exchange of fees. Those elements enabled Disney to garner
a competitive advantage regarding its brand equity compared to competitors. We will detail

2
Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman and Hansen, Marketing Management, 1ère Edition © Pearson Education
Limited 2009
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Parks_and_Resorts

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what is exactly the brand equity (the “added value” of the brand) of Disney in the second part
of this analysis.

2. STP Analysis (Segmentation, Target, Positioning)

The Walt Disney Company started producing short animated movies for kids before
beginning to extend and scale up its activities. Disney segmented the media market by
gathering its different owned companies under specific and distinctive branches4. The first
segment corresponds to the “Walt Disney Studios” handling movies’ production. Then comes
“Parks and Resorts” which takes care of all Disney’s theme parks (Disneyland Paris, The
Disney World in Miami…). The third division is focused on “Disney Consumers Products”
producing toys, clothes and all Disney owned-properties. The fourth segment is called
“Disney Media Networks” handling all television programs of the company and the latter
“Disney Interactive” referring to virtual activities of the company (website, mobile app, social
media…).

Regarding its target, Disney not only targets young child but also adults because the
company wants to bring entertainment to the entire family (movies, theme parks or sold
products). The main target concerns young child from 4 years-old to 12 years-old and the
second target mainly consists of men and women between 35 and 55 years old.5 That is the
theory. As a matter of fact, their target is everyone who wants to go back in childhood to live
again candor of fairy-tales. Walt Disney himself used to say “You’re dead if you aim only for
kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway”.6

About the positioning, original founders of the Walt Disney Company always wanted to
stay ahead from the competition in terms of technology, quality of products and services and
employees. As we can see when going to theme parks, everything is to be perfect whatever it
can be (employees has to smile all the time for instance). The marketing mix of the company
is therefore affected by those rules. Indeed, the physical environment of Disney is so

4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company
5
http://advergators2.weebly.com/consumer-analysis.html
6
http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/quotes/

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important that it could be integrated to the product itself as much as the price! One of the
slogan “Where the magic lives” refers directly to mysterious world where the impossible is
possible, both magic and unforgettable experiences for consumers alike. Disney has always
been listening to its consumers in order to enhance its range of activities. Disney is to produce
great movies for kids approved by their parents beforehand. It always contains moral
principles and lessons of life for kids. Even if Disney holds a mass target, prices can be high
since products and services are unique. The tendency of the company is to increase the price
of its different activities (theme park cost at least $95 at Disney World in 2013)7 and even
more to tend towards a more “luxury” brand as we will see in the second part of this analysis.

B. Brand Development Strategy

1. Brand Promise

Simply put, a brand is a promise to your customer. When describing a brand, it’s tempting to
simply list the attributes for your business, describe your product line or point to your logo
and tagline. But a brand is more than that – it is a unique benefit for your customers. The Walt
Disney Company is more than just a business, is an authentic American icon. The Walt
Disney Company’s promise has always been to be bringers of joy, as Walt as said “We need
to create joy not for children but for the child in each of us”.

The Walt Disney Company is linked to several promises.

First of all, you can be sure that in Disney World Resort you will enjoy your time. Each
Disney World resort has been made to produce joy. It’s one of the most important promises of
its Company, “Come here and enjoy”. Disney World brings the deal to enjoy your kids, and as
parents, seeing your child happy is a wonderful thing. All the resorts are organizes to satisfy
Children, to make dream…

Children are happy and parents too, because they feel their kids happy. Furthermore, Disney
world allows parents to share joy with their children. The Walt Disney Company’s promise is:
“Only Disney can deliver a fantasy experience to families to share”.

The Disney resorts promise to have a fun experience with all your family. In fact, Disney
World resort allows you to enjoy together. It’s a perfect deal that both children and parents
enjoy. Furthermore, it’s a place where parents can see their children enjoying the same things
they did when they were younger.

7
http://blog.priceintelligently.com/blog/bid/183927/A-Midyear-Review-3-Monumental-Pricing-Strategies-of-
2013

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Because, going to Disney World is a lifetime experience. That’s why Disney world is the
most visited recreational resort in the world. To bring your children in Disney world is the
security to make your family happy. That’s the Walt Disney Company’s message through its
TV commercial. In all TV advertisements you see exciting reaction of children, discovering
tickets for Walt Disney resort. Disney World is a magic world of dream; it’s a unique
experience. Tickets costs a lot but you are sure to have good time. It’s the famous formula,
high price/high quality.

Finally, the last Disney Company’s promise is to convey memories. The message is the
following thanks to a Disney world experience you will have family memories, and memories
don’t have any price.

2. Brand Message

The brand message is very clear.

Actually the Walt Disney Company is very distinguished. As we said before, Walt Disney
Company is more than a brand; it’s an American Icon. We can analyse the logo. Through its
logo, the Walt Disney Company communicates. Its logo is traditional, decent, fun and
represents magical experience. It’s linked to the brand promise, but it deals with
communication. The Walt Disney’s slogan is a good example, “make the dream come true”.
Disney is clearly a core brand, which deals with the emotion of past Disney movie. To quote
the Disney founder, Walt “We need to create joy not your children but for the child in each of
us”.

8
http://www.famouslogos.us/walt-disney-logo/

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 C. Brand Mantra

We can wrap up this analysis by featuring Disney Brand Mantra. What is a brand mantra?
Few words associated with a specific brand which characterizes it and that makes the brand
unique and attractive for consumers. Marketers have to explain in thirty second and in the best
way as possible to consumers what their brand consists in. In the case of Disney, those three
words are: Fun (Magical) - Family & Entertainment. This subset consists in the brand essence
of Disney. The first “Fun/Magical” consists of giving to consumers a great moment of
happiness by skyrocketing them into a magical and fancy world (Disney characters taking
photos with kids or adults in theme parks). Family is also obvious since it refers to the main
target of Disney. Any family who wants to live a marvelous experience has definitely to see a
Disney movie or to buy a Disney toy to remind this unforgettable moment. The last one
“entertainment” is the essence of Disney, the core-value and what makes the company
fighting against competitors. Disney is the best in delivering quality entertainment to mass
consumers and wants to remain it.

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III- Consumers’ perception of the Disney brand

A. Brand Image

To study the Disney brand image, we chose to focus on the digital face of the brand: its
website. Because there are too many examples to mention, we find that the website is more
relevant and interesting so as to lead a marketing study nowadays.

One organization leading the way in brand image development and projection via the World
Wide Web is the Walt Disney Corporation. The massive popularity of past Disney movies and
related products attests Disney’s successful brand image. To better reach large audiences,
Disney has chosen to launch its newest invention (the “Magical Gatherings” vacation
planning service through its website (in addition to TV and magazines). The Walt Disney
Corporation began with cartoonist Walt Disney. On July 17th 1955, after having worked many
years in animation business, Walt opened Disneyland (a place where “age relives fond
memories of the past and youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future”. In 1971,
Disney opened an even larger theme park in Florida (Walt Disney World). Today, the park
spreads across 30000 acres.

Within the Magical Gatherings website, Disney has not only met but exceeded Haedrich’s
three criteria of a successful brand image.

In meeting Haedrich’s first criteria of outstanding product quality, a high degree of

innovation, an exceptionally efficient sales force, highly attractive advertising, or a
particularly favorable price, Disney presented the Magical Gatherings vacation planning
service in a beautifully designed website that showcased the product’s ability to design a
vacation for any preference.

To meet the second criteria of controlling disturbing factors such as simulative, economic, and
social factors that could inhibit audiences from actually purchasing/supporting a product or
brand, Disney emphasized the inclusiveness and all-encompassing characteristics of a
Magical Gatherings vacation. A Disney vacation offers something for every age and taste all
in a safe, fairy tale environment.

Thirdly, the Magical Gatherings website meets the criteria of referring to a strong corporate
image by prominently displaying the Disney name on every page, showing many pictures of
Disney World, and using words made famous by Disney, including “magic”, “fairy tale”, and
“dreams”. This tie-in to the corporate Disney image puts the Magical Gatherings vacation
planning service head-and–shoulders above its competition before visitors could even have
realized what an amazing product it was in its own right.

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 B. Brand Knowledge

“The brand knowledge represents all the different things that become linked to the brand in
the minds of consumers.” (Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman and Hansen: Marketing Management, 1st
edition)

The brand knowledge covers all the experiences, feelings, images, thoughts, and beliefs that
consumers associate to the brand.

In the case of the Walt Disney Company we can say that this brand knowledge is very
diversify because of the age of the brand, it’s experience and those numerous activities such
as the movies, theme parks etc…

• First of all, about the brand elements perception (Name, logo, colors and music):

I think that the majority of people in the earth heard about Disney. This is one of the most
famous brands in the world. And I think also that everybody remembers the logo of Disney
with its Castle, the blue background and this nice music “When you wish upon a star”.
Everything in this introduction of the Disney movies refers to the dream and makes us smiling
because it refers to good memories. First, the castle is the most important because it is the one
of Cinderella, the princess that each little girl dreamed to be. Then the blue background makes
consumers comfortable because it refers to the sky and the ocean at the same time. It
represents harmony and dream. Then the classical music of Disney “When you wish upon a
star” which is very calm and easy to memorize and talk about making your dreams come true.
Then, the name Walt Disney appears. This is the name of the company and also the name of
the founder of the company. The way of writing is also very recognizable with the famous
capital letters “W” and “D”; in fact it is the signature of the founder and it was kept as logo.

So when a child or even an adult and an old person see this historic logo, he always
remembers to the movies with whom he grew up. So it can just be associated to happiness,
magic, dream, entertainment and fun.

• The experiences for consumers (movies, characters and theme parks):

When you think about Disney, the first images that come in your mind are generally the
legendary characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Cinderella or Pinocchio. Almost all
the Disney movies and their character became famous because they are kind of heroes who
are fighting against villains. Child identifies to them like Robin Hood, Aladdin or Peter Pan.
There is a clear moral to each movie and it’s clearly the good against the evil, and at the end
the hero wins all the time. This is a simple way which doesn’t really represent the life because
life is not as easy and beautiful as in movies but they represent an ideal and people would love
to live in those movies, that is why they represent the magic and the dream. That is why
people love them, because they represent the perfect dreaming life which is often very
different from their everyday real life.

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The other activity which is very important for the company is the existence of the theme parks.
They are kind of myth which become reality. They allow to people to enter in the universe of
the heroes of their youth. For child it’s very funny because they can see and meet their
favorite stars and for adults it’s also an amazing experience because they remember good
memories. It’s also a good family experience because there are activities for each ones with
spectacles, roller coaster, carousel etc… The atmosphere and the sceneries are also excellent
and allow to the “guests” a total immersion in the Disney world.

To conclude, Disney is maybe old fashioned for some persons but the power to sell dreams
and magic to every generation of people allow to the company to stay in the memory and in
the heart of millions of people all over the world.

C. Type of Brand for consumers

According to a recent study held by “APCO Worldwide” (Independent Communications

Consultancy) of 70000 people located in fifteen different countries9, Disney brand name
appeared to be the most be-loved brand name of all as you can see in the array below. This
rank is based on the “Emotional Linking Index”

9 th
ALLEN K. (2013) ; « Survey names Disney the world’s most beloved brand », PR Daily, October 15 2013
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Survey_names_Disney_the_worlds_most_beloved_brand_15396.aspx

Disney Brand Analysis Page 10

The Walt Disney Company is therefore purely what we can call an emotional brand since
Disney succeeded in creating curiosity, admiration identification, pride and approachability
for its consumers.

The promise and the message of the brand clearly prove the call to emotion like the child part
of the adult, the happiness of the parent through memories and through the happiness of the
child.
This emotional appeal is displayed in every advertisement: The belief in a magical world and
the happiness it provides come first, only after this appeal you have the economic aspect that
concerns more the parent.

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 IV- Conclusion

Disney started with short animated movies in 1923 and rapidly gained success that spread him
the idea to build an empire, a whole industry of dreams and evasions. Its diversification took
place through the expansion int television programs, musical production, books, magazine
and all derivate products to engender this machine of dream: The emotion is clearly the core
business of Disney.

The brand has been known more than 90 years and includes several generations; both parent
and their children can be met in the theme park. This is the reason, the message and the
promise of the brand get so well deep rooted in the mind of the consumer. The marketers
succeed in satisfying consumer needs, in this case the need to have family shared experiences
through entertainment and amusement.

However the brand and the idea it conveys would not reached its goals without its managing
policies. Indeed Disney has widen its product portfolio by acquiring broadcast cable network
such as Disney Channel or Pixar Animation Studios and have extended the theme park
outside America like in Paris or in Tokyo. Disney has also driven a high value chain network
policies, for instance by providing an innovative Magical Gathering vacation planning service
or by inciting employees to smile in order to deliver high added value to the customer.
So if the brand Disney has been so well carried on it is due to a controlled marketing
management and an adequate management.

We could conclude that the brand stands for the effort the company puts into marketing and
management but the recent diversification and expansion of the company may be hindered by
its brand. In fact, as mentioned above the brand is deep rooted with value such as fairy tale,
magic, dream, family etc… so these value seems to be old fashioned when Disney announced
it develop product line in home furnishes, jewelry and haute couture. So we wonder if the
market of fairy entertainment becomes mature or if new markets are available for a brand like
Disney.

It is clear that Disney want to expand the bridge between dream and reality Disneyland theme
park afford, through another way like home furnishes. The adult could still dream through his
home design, the need clearly exist but childish entertainment image of the brand turn these
new businesses more ridiculous than professional at a point that Disney reduced the size of
the logo or even turn it differently.

It turns that a strong brand can compromise the reputation of a product even if considerable
effort has been deployed. So the brand is not only a matter of good marketing management
and management strategies but also a matter of time, of how far is the brand mind rooted and
foremost how does the society perceive it.

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