StageFrenzy
Well-Known Member
The way the spot was presented it just pushed the wrong button on me whenever they mentioned Disney Parks
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The Park Formerly Known as Disney's Hollywood Studios? Yep ...
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
It is easier and cheaper than ever to create a Disneyland Resort and a Walt Disney World Resort commercial.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Producing it is not the problem. The problem is that the distribution and confusion that can be caused by multiple commercials floating about the airwaves can be, and I am sure is, problematic. When producing a generic commercial that is aimed at the entire world, how does one decide which ones should go where. How would they know if Canada was interested in Disneyland and not WDW. Take it further away from home and think France or Singapore, etc. What if they want those people to sample every single Disney Park. It only makes sense. If you are thinking about WDW and certain parts of that commercial include pictures of WDW, then it was all accomplished with just one commercial. No distribution problems, no real confusion. We all see what we want to see.
It is a common mega-business practice. You don't see Walmart, J.C. Penney, Sears, Target running regional ads unless there is something that is happening specifically in a local store or location. Disney still does that when promoting Dining plans or special family rates for WDW, for example. It's just not necessary as a general, look at all your choices, advertisement. It is just one more on a huge pile of nothing concerns used to somehow spin Disney as evil and cheap. Why that is necessary to do, I don't know. Every single large chain companies run print ads that always have a disclaimer. That is that not everything in this flyer is available at every store.
FerretAfros
Well-Known Member
The Disney Parks brand was launched in 2006 with the original Year of a Million Dreams campaign (remember all those 'lovely' Disney Parks t-shirts with the cloud motif they were trying to sell?). DL and WDW had previously both celebrated DL's 50th together (Happiest Homecomings on Earth) and the internal OneDisney stuff predates that a little, but the public Disney Parks line isn't quite that old.
It's just so grating that it feels like it's been around forever...
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
It's amazing guess it was not profitable for nearly 50 years to have distinct park branding, I don't go to Disney Parks I go to WDW.
Monorail Mike
Well-Known Member
"Agreed. We also need to align the name with our global brand strategy"
Disney/Pixar Hollywood Adventure Experience+ Park
John
Well-Known Member
And here lies the problem....Disney becoming more like these companies. You are comparing the Disney company with these retailers says a lot.
edit: before you go all Goofyernmost on me, I understand your comparison. I just thought it was very prophetic.
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
It's interesting to note the different commercials in different parts of the world. In western Canada, there are plenty of Disneyland adverts but few for Walt Disney World. In the UK, the adverts are for WDW and Disneyland Paris, but Disneyland is never mentioned. I imagine that South America just gets adverts for WDW, and all based on the average distance they imagine people will be likely to travel.
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
It's really too bad as the DL Cars Land Mater Bells commercial is one of the best they've ever produced.
However, in the UK, our WDW adverts feature Disneyland - I'm pretty sure I've seen "Great Moments with Mr Lincoln" in at least one of our WDW adverts...
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Well, the snarky remark would be... if you go to WDW you are going to a number of Disney Parks. Besides that, there is a huge difference between the 50 years you talk about and now. In those years, for 17 or so years, there was only one park, then for another 11 years there were only two parks, then there were three. Two of them in Florida. That would be a much different marketing strategy then could be used for the current numbers. Not counting France, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong that brought it up to 4 on the East Coast and 2 on the West. (That's not even adding in Water Parks) Now if you are talking about Resorts instead of parks, that makes a little difference, but, if you are trying to flaunt the numbers you go with parks. I like that better then using the words "Disney Resorts" instead of "Disney Parks". Most of us go to a Disney Resort to go to a Disney Park.
Matt_Black
Well-Known Member
Not to mention that both technology and culture have changed significantly in that time.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Oh, I know that I wouldn't go all Goofyernmost on you (whatever that is) because you know as well as I do that I am comparing marketing strategy's of multi-location company's, not what they market or what their morals are or their degree of perceived quality. It's just the way it is done. Yes, it is cheaper then independent ads for every park, but, it is also not what they are aiming for. Why promote one when you can promote all of them for the same dollar. If you are a fan of WDW, for example, when you see a Disney Park ad your mind goes immediately to WDW. That is really what the ads are supposed to do. Disney does a lot of things wrong, I understand that, however, in my opinion, this isn't one of them.
John
Well-Known Member
Again I understand your point. But I also think your without knowledge making the point why this marketing strategy is wrong. All of the Disney parks are unique. There was a time when horse back riding, water sports etc. were a unique feature to WDW. You mention that if we were a fan of WDW when seeing a "Disney Parks" ad we would immediately think of WDW. IMO the "Disney Parks" strategy is the cheapest ( imagine that!) but is it the most effective way? The reason for marketing is not always to reach as many people as possible but to reach as many people possible that will pay for your product. Disney has hardly ever been known for being Generic....until recently. Its a reflection on what they have become. Just because other multi-location companies do it doesn't mean Disney should.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
That might be a valid point if DisneyParks usage was not focused on just the US and only arose about four decades after Disney had two US theme park complexes. Cheap brands run dual commercials, like T. J. Maxx - Marshall's, but you do not see Macy's - Bloomingdales ads. Even Six Flags, who does actually have a national chain of parks, is able to not confuse its audience and include the name of the local park(s).
It is an example of Disney being out of touch and cheap because that is the primary narrative of Jay Rasulo's time at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The man's disdain for theme parks is well established as is his legacy that focused on removing "expensive" distinctions between the parks.
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Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
Agreed, but then your focus would be way to small. If you were just going after, to use your example, horseback riders, you have spent a lot of money for a very limited market. As much as we might not like it they have to target a much larger audience and not shortchange one park for the benefit of another. They do not do it because other companies do, they do it because it is the most effective advertising for the big market that they are attempting to reach.
I understand that you like it to be zeroed to individual likes, but, the picture is too big for that to happen anymore and there are more wide reaching media sources now that will spread their message to places that individual targeting would wasted. In actuality, Disney has more of a reason to do generic advertising then those other companies do. The reason is because they have a much smaller inventory of specific selling points and therefore must try to pull in everyone to wherever it is convenient for them to go.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
To me that falls under the heading of "even a broken clock is right twice a day". Even if his motivation, which BTW, may be true, but, it is only speculation by some that it was, to remove distinctions between parks, it was a good idea, even if for a different reason and certainly doesn't seem to have hurt business at all.
Macy's* and Bloomingdales are not everyplace and although there are people from other countries that shop in either one of those, it is unlikely that they are flying in just to do so. It is an item on a list of to-do items. They are not trying to capture a large, large group of people from all over the world to give them the needed revenue. They are, with certain exceptions, a local establishment whose bread and butter is confined to a certain circumference within their marketing range. Yes, they have become famous due to movies, parades or other side promotions, that part falls under "luck". The world was not their target and still isn't.
*When Macy's started to open stores outside of New York City a couple of decade ago, they then became one of those places that did group store advertising. They didn't have different sales in different places. One ad serves all.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
You keep taking about the world but the world is not seeing the DisneyParks ads. DisneyParks is a Walt Disney Parks and Resorts initiative and they only get absolute say over the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. International markets with strong visitation to either get advertising for the Resort that is heavily visited. The international destinations run their own marketing.
MarkTwain
Well-Known Member
I still blame the DisneyParks campaign as part of the reason for the overcrowding of the Magic Kingdom in recent years. Because Disneyland and Magic Kingdom are the only similar parks between both resorts, the commercials way over-emphasize the Magic Kingdom experience. There's virtually no footage of anywhere else on property, and as a result the WDW = Magic Kingdom mentality is further perpetuated in the minds of guests. First-time guests are very easily impacted by marketing, and should be shown that DAK, Epcot, and DHS are equally valid Disney experiences.