Case Study: Disney's Tent Pole Strategy and Multi-Brand Approach

This case study analyzes the Walt Disney Studios' marketing strategies, focusing on its tent pole approach and multi-brand strategy. It examines the film industry's financial performance, the significance of moviegoers, and Disney's contribution to the global film market. The study delves into Disney's production process, particularly the release windows for films, and evaluates the tent pole strategy, discussing its advantages such as earning huge profits and leveraging existing properties, as well as its disadvantages including high risks and potential losses. Furthermore, it explores Disney's multi-brand strategy, detailing the benefits of gaining market share and introducing diverse branding, while also acknowledging potential drawbacks like audience confusion and internal competition. References from various sources support the analysis of Disney's strategic decisions.

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Case study
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Case study
The film industry of the United States produced about thirty billion dollars of profit in the
year of 2015. About seventy percent of the population of the country are moviegoers. They
would watch about five to six movies every year. The country accounted for a huge contribution
to the film industry. The big labels and production conglomerates produced huge films for the
audiences. These films were released globally and in local areas too (Elberse, 2016).
The production studios of the United States comprise of huge production companies
along with some small production groups. The conglomerates include the twentieth-century fox
studios, the universal studios, Disney, and Sony entertainment. Some mini production companies
also produced films. However, these small production companies produced films to be released
in the domestic and local areas. The production companies, altogether, produced about six
hundred films in the year. About four hundred of them go unnoticed since they are produced for
small areas and regions. These small films would screen for no more than a week (Han, 2011).
At Disney studios, a movie has to go through several release windows. At first, the ideas
are generated the creative department comes up with an idea against which a movie could have
been made. Scripts and related ideas are collected once the main idea is determined. If the idea
receives the green light, the idea goes to the production department. The production department
chooses the director who could make the film based on the idea generated by the creative
department. The production department makes the film. It can take about four to six years to
animate a cartoon film. Once the film is fully made and animated, it goes through the release
window. The movie is released in theatres first. The theaters and the studio determine the profits
that can be shared among each other. Most of the time the studios keep more than half of the
profits earned. After the movie has been screened through theaters, the movie is then released to

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the home-based platforms. DVD’s, CD’s, and television premieres are among the few home-
based platforms. Consumer products including games and toys are some other sources of
revenues for the producers of the film.
Answer 1: The tent pole strategy of the Disney:
The tent pole strategy is based on receiving no co-financing from the partners, using
existing and new properties for producing a film which is contributed by the five labels of
Disney. The production company produces huge budget movies. These movies have a budget
exceeding about two hundred million dollars. The huge budgeted movies create a huge risk for
the company if they fail. However, the high risk always comes with a high return. The company,
in the year of 2015, has produced about eight huge budget movies. The production company
does not always focus on new ideas. The company leverages ideas from its existing properties.
For instance, the movie looking through the glass has been adopted from Alice in Wonderland.
In this way, the company keeps the audiences well interested in its productions. The new movies
come up with new ideas that attract audiences. However, leveraging on existing properties helps
the company to keep its legacy alive and to remind the audiences of the great movies and
characters it has introduced in the past (Staff, 2011).
The company, unlike its competitors, do not co-finance with its partners. The company
has partners all around the world. The actors, directors and many others are linked with the
Disney movies across the globe. The company believes in keeping its partners on the upside.
However, there are instances when partners can also be the downside. The Disney Company
would pay its partners up to forty percent of the share if the movie succeeds in the market. If the
movie does not comes out to be successful, the partners might suffer from losses since they
won’t be paid a high share. The competitors of Disney on the other side give their partners about

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twenty-five percent of the return. The return is quite less than what the partners of the Disney
Company receive. The production company believes in staying ahead of its competitors in any
way (Mancini, 2014).
Some advantages and disadvantages of the tent pole strategy are mentioned below:
Advantages:
 Disney is able to earn huge profits
 The company uses all of its five labels to produce a firm, consequently making,
and huge revenues
 Leveraging on existing properties keep the legacy of the company alive
 Earning huge profits from the tent pole strategy enbavbl4es the company to pay
huge returns to their partners (Bullard, 2018).
Disadvantages:
 Involving all five labels will impact the financial return of all labels if a movie
does not succeed.
 High risks are associated with the strategy
 Huge losses if a movie fails
 Partners might suffer due to losses (Buell, 2018).
Thus, the tent pole strategy has enabled the company to make huge profits. Yet the
company might have to suffer from huge loses if a movie fails to attract an audience, the tent
pole strategy is an aggressive strategy with a no way in between.

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Question no 2
The company has five labels that make up the Disney studios. Two of the labels represent
the original studios owned by the company. The Walt Disney studios motion pictures and Walt
Disney animation studios are among the pioneers. The three labels have been acquired through
acquisitions. These are a marvel, Lucas film, and Pixar. These five labels create the Disney
studios. The original labels of the company create animated films. The acquired labels are
creative and are more focused on producing creative content and ideas. The labels produced
different films under their names. Some advantages and disadvantages of using multiple labels
are discussed below:
Advantages:
 Multiple brands allow the company to gain a huge market share
 The multiple brands allow the company to try different brandings to come up with
different ideas regarding making movies. This helps to stay ahead of competitors.
 More ideas can be introduced and implemented (White, 2019)
Disadvantages:
 Audiences may be confused about which brand belongs to Disney
 Internal competitions may increase
 Huge budget is required to keep all the brands to work at their best (Bhasin,
2018).
References

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Bhasin, H., 2018. What is a Multi-Brand Strategy? Types and Examples. [Online]
Available at: https://www.marketing91.com/multi-brand-strategy/
[Accessed 12 April 2019].
Buell, G., 2018. Why we need to rethink the Tent pole Strategy. [Online]
Available at: https://medium.com/vaultcontentai/why-we-need-to-rethink-tentpole-strategy-
d852f334940f
[Accessed 12 April 2019].
Bullard, B., 2018. Disney’s Next Step Into A Post-Fox World: More Tent pole Releases, But
Fewer Movies?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/disneys-next-step-into-a-post-fox-world-more-
tentpole-releases-but-fewer-movies
[Accessed 12 April 2019].
Elberse, A., 2016. The Walt Disney Studios. Harvard Business Review, 28 April.pp. 1-30.
Han, A., 2011. Disney Exec Says Tentpole Movies are About Spectacle, Not Story. Is He Right?.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.slashfilm.com/disney-exec-tentpole-movies-spectacle-story/
[Accessed 12 April 2019].
Mancini, V., 2014. Studios Are Churning Out More Blockbusters Than Ever And Losing More
Money Than Ever. But Why?. [Online]

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Available at: https://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/tentpole-strategy-explained-blockbusters-losing-
money/
[Accessed 12 April 2019].
Staff, V., 2011. Disney exec: Studios should lean on tentpoles. [Online]
Available at: https://variety.com/2011/digital/markets-festivals/disney-exec-studios-
should-lean-on-tentpoles-1118041020/
[Accessed 12 April 2019].
White, W., 2019. Multi-Brand Strategy: Examples & Pros and Cons. [Online]
Available at: http://inevitablesteps.com/marketing/multi-brand-strategy/
[Accessed 12 April 2019].