Disney Event Marketing Strategy

This assignment examines Disney's event marketing strategy, particularly for open-air movie screenings. It discusses market segmentation, target audience selection, positioning strategies, and the application of the 7Ps of marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence). The assignment also emphasizes risk management and contingency planning essential for successful event execution.

Running head: UNDERSTANDING MARKETING AND EVENT
Understanding Marketing and Event-A case of Walt Disney
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UNDERSTANDING MARKETING AND EVENT
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Findings and Analysis......................................................................................................................2
1) Special Events Definition and Classification..............................................................................2
2.1) The key marketing activities undertaken by Disney are..........................................................3
2.2 ) Role of Events in Marketing Strategy....................................................................................4
3) Role of Marketing Mix and its usage by Disney.....................................................................4
4 a) The open-air screening of one of the films of Disney should target specific audience............5
Segmentation................................................................................................................................5
Targeting and Positioning............................................................................................................6
4b) Consideration of risk management for planning the event........................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference List..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The Walt Disney Company has entertained audience for 75 years. The joint venture of
Walt Disney and his brother Roy led to the formation of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in
the year 1923. The company produced two movies after three years and a studio was purchased
in Hollywood, California by the company. In 1932, the Silly Symphony cartoon of the company
enabled the company to win Academy Award for Best Cartoon. In 1934 Disney started making
films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the year 1955, the first theme park of Disney
was opened in California. Disney organizes tours, events and parades in theme parks (Watts
2013).Disney ventured into merchandising and continued producing films and expanded
construction of theme parks. In the year 1983, the Tokyo Disneyland was opened and this was
the first international venture of the organization. The Disney channel on cable is an example of
the wider market which Disney has served in the past few decades.

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Discussion
Findings and Analysis
1) Special Events Definition and Classification
The elements of special events are fascinating and the memory of the special events
remains indelible in the mind of the audience. The duration of special events may be for few
hours but it might take several months or sometimes a year to organize these events. Special
events require substantial amount of funds and these events should be managed well to add value
to the audience, organizers and stakeholders (Quinn 2013). The special events lead to the
generation of money for community groups and non-for-profit groups. The special events are
categorized on basis of their functions and characteristics. The special events can be categorized
based on their suitability for different groups.
Special events can be
i) Leisure events like sports and recreation,
Figure: Percentage of Revenue of Disney by Category
Source :( Watts 2013)

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UNDERSTANDING MARKETING AND EVENT
ii) Cultural events like art, heritage and ceremonial events,
iii) Organizational events like charitable events, commercial, sales and political events.
iv) Personal events like wedding, anniversaries or birthday (Jones 2014).
Special events can also be organized by private organizations to attract profit, these
events can also be non-profit events organized by voluntary organizations. Public groups or
government agencies can conduct special events too. The special events can be major or minor
events. The major special events can either be mega events or hallmark events.
2.1) The key marketing activities undertaken by Disney are
Disney engages in effective storytelling so that the products of Disney can be given
emotion, context and meaning. Disney has adopted content marketing concept as a tool of
effective story-telling (Mannheim 2016). The brand of Disney enhances because of story-telling.
Disney produces cartoons like the Silly Symphony, full length- feature films like the Snow
White and Seven Dwarfs. The first theme park of Disney was opened in California in the year
1955. Theme parks of Disney showcase several events. Tours and parades are organized by
Disney in theme parks to raise brand awareness. Disney also produces live-action and animated
film and has launched the Disney Channel on cable as a part of its marketing activities.
2.2 ) Role of Events in Marketing Strategy
Events play an important role in the marketing activities of Disney, the organization of
special events help the company to retain loyal customers. Disney ensures to engage customers
and create an indelible experience and memory for them by organizing special events. Also,
events are a platform for Disney by which the organization can use an Integrated Marketing

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Communication Approach to attract its customers (Zarantonello and Schmitt 2013).Disney
makes use of latest technology like the digital platform to inform customers about the events of
the company.
3) Role of Marketing Mix and its usage by Disney
The marketing mix are comprises of the 4Ps of Marketing like Product, Price, Place and
Promotion and the extended P’s of Marketing are process, people and physical evidence. The
marketing mix is tools of marketing that are used by an organization to fulfill their marketing
objectives (Jooste and Strydom 2014).
Product- The products of Disney are its cartoons, movies, theme parks, toys and
merchandize. For instance, the cartoon Silly Symphony or the Disney Channel are products of
Disney.
Price- The price of Disney is designed to attract the mass population. Disney also uses the
strategy of seasonal pricing, for instance, the products of Disney depends on season. Most of the
products of Disney like ticket to theme park are reasonably priced to cater to the needs of middle
class segment.
Place- The stores of Disney and the theme parks are present across the world in popular
cities like Paris and Hong-Kong.
Promotion- Disney uses an aggressive promotional strategy to attract customers. The TV
programs, movie teasers and special events are organized by Disney to promote its brand. The
launch of the Disney Channel on cable is a promotional strategy of Disney to reach its targeted
audience.

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People – The people of Disney are the employees of the organization who are aware
about the culture and values of the organization and create indelible memory for their customers.
Physical Evidence- The ambient conditions, spatial layout, signs and symbols of the
brand Disney are examples of physical evidence. The vibrant color and the fun rides of the
theme park of Disney are instances of its physical evidence of the theme parks.
Process- The element of service which creates incredible for customers is the process. For
instance, Disney organizes special events for customers in theme parks which are a direct
process to engage customers supported by indirect process like back-stage activities to organize
this event (Watts 2013).
4 a) The open-air screening of one of the films of Disney should target specific audience
Segmentation
Disney should first segment the market on basis of demographic variables like age,
gender, educational level, race, family size. The segmentation of the market in terms of
Geographical variables like urban metropolitan cities is also important (Armstrong et al. 2015).
Disney should use psychographic variables like values, attitudes and lifestyle to segment the
market. The behavioral variables like occasions, benefits sought, attitude towards the product
and loyalty status should be used by Disney for market segmentation.
Targeting and Positioning
After segmenting its market, Disney should select its target audience from the segmented
market. The target audience for open-air screening of movies of Disney can be parents with their

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kids, families, children and young adults who are based in urban cities. Disney should market
these events to urban city dwellers that have disposable income to purchase the tickets of the
movies. The theme parks and resorts of Disney are located in popular cities like Hong Kong and
Paris. The screening of the movie can be organized in theme parks and resorts, by doing so;
Disney can attract a huge percentage of tourist populations who visit the theme parks and resorts
of Disney.
Disney should make the target audience aware of the distinctive features of the open-air
movie to position itself in the mind of customers (Keller and Kotler 2016). For instance, the
screening of the outdoor movies of Disney can be organized in the Walt Disney World Resort,
with the catchy tagline “Movies under the Stars”. By this tagline, Disney can attract its targeted
audience for the screening of its movie.
4b) Consideration of risk management for planning the event
There are some risks involved in the screening of open air movies of Disney. These risks
are from adverse weather conditions. The weather forecast should be analyzed before organizing
the open-air screening of movies and the equipments used for screening of the movie should be
protected against harsh weather, for instance, power sockets should be bagged if there is a
rainfall (Glendon, Clark and McKenna 2016).In order to manage risks of this event from public
unrest or violent behavior of public, alcohol consumption should be prohibited and stewards
should be appointed to maintain peace during the event. The screening of the movie should be
protected from flammable materials, for instance, the soft furnishings should have tags for fire
safety and naked flame should allowed near them. The audiences should be prohibited to smoke
or carry candles during the screening of the movie to protect the event from the risk of fire. The

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risk of high noise level should be managed while screening of the open air movie. The audience
should be informed that there will be elevated level of noise during the screening of the movie so
that audiences who can’t bear noise due to special health needs do not attend the movie. There
are risks like terrorist attack and mass shooting which can occur during the screening of the
movie, thus, there should be high level of security during the event to protect the audience from
such disasters. The likelihood of potential risks and their impact should be studied before
organizing the screening of the movie (Wolke 2017).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that special events play a vital role for an entertainment company
like Disney. Disney also used the 7Ps of marketing to achieve its marketing objectives. For any
event like screening of an open-air movie, segmentation variables should be used to segment the
market. The target audience for an event should be carefully chosen from the segmented market
and Disney should use proper positioning strategies to attract audience for the event. The risk
management and contingency planning is of paramount importance for the success of the event
like screening of open-air movie.

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Reference List
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Glendon, A.I., Clarke, S. and McKenna, E., 2016. Human safety and risk management. Crc
Press.
Jones, M., 2014. Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge.
Jooste, C. and Strydom, J.W., 2014. Marketing management.
Keller, K.L. and Kotler, P., 2016. Marketing management. Pearson.
Mannheim, S., 2016. Walt Disney and the quest for community. Routledge.
Quinn, B., 2013. Key concepts in event management. Sage.
Watts, S., 2013. The magic kingdom: Walt Disney and the American way of life. University of
Missouri Press.
Wolke, T., 2017. Risk Management. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Zarantonello, L. and Schmitt, B.H., 2013. The impact of event marketing on brand equity: The
mediating roles of brand experience and brand attitude. International Journal of
Advertising, 32(2), pp.255-280.