Chapter 5 Developing a Global Vision



Disney's Global Marketing

The Walt Disney company ranks as the 10th position of the Best Global Brands. The company was able to achieve such global success through strategies of     foreign outsourcing, licensing and foreign direct investment. Disney has been outsourcing an increasing amount of their animation to other countries such as; Asia and India. It is an advantage for Disney to outsource to these foreign places because of its vast English speaking workforce and low cost of supply and wages as oppose to the higher American rates. Licensing is the legal process where a licensor gives permission for another firm to use their manufacturing process trademarks, patents, trade secrets or any other proprietary knowledge. In order to obtain a Walt Disney Company license to sell their licensed characters you need to submit a written proposal and meet their minimum guidelines. Their minimum guidelines includes, having at least five years of manufacturing and distribution trade experience directly engaging in manufacturing or distributing as a direct merchandiser of licensed products. The Disney licensing is now responsible for more than 3,000 contracts and for 16,000 products with top manufactures worldwide. Their last strategy towards their global success is foreign direct investment. This investment is the active ownership of a foreign company or of overseas manufacturing or marketing facilities. Recently in August, India approved Walt Disney's proposal to invest 180 million dollars in the country. Disney is considered one of India's leading media companies. The Disney company wants to continue bringing entertainment to as many countries as possible.

Chapter 4 The Marketing Environment

The Disney Company not only targets young children, they target the whole family as Walt Disney believed we all have an inner kid in us. Their target market focuses on the median income family who enjoys having fun. In the Disney theme parks their rides offer enjoyment for all age groups ranging from fun for the little ones to thrill rides for the older age groups. Aside from their theme parks, Disney has also showed a range of entertainment for their audience on television. Their Disney Junior channel focuses on programs for the toddler age group and the Disney channel programs focuses primarily on pre-teens and teenagers. While watching the Disney channel with my younger family members I find myself enjoying the programs as well even though I am older, which proves Walt Disney's point of all of us having an inner child in ourselves.

 

The Disney Company has taken notice to their growing ethnic market and has made changes to the products and media they produce. An example of Disney diversifying their company is the change of how the princesses look in their movies. The princesses are not just caucasian's, they are now all races with different looks making them more relatable. In one of their recent movies, "The Princess and the Frog" the main character Tiana was Disney's first African-American princess.

Chapter 3 Ethics & Social Responsibility

Ethical Behavior in the Disney Company
Morals are important rules for people to develop, as well as in a company. These rules separate what is right from wrong in society, it is the foundation of ethical behavior. The Disney company has enforced ethical behavior within their company by training their employers appropriately. The company's standard of business conduct and ethics is provided to all the employees so they have the knowledge to always act ethically and legally. The context in the company's business conduct include; integrity, trust, teamwork, honesty, play by the rules and respect. All of these values are important to maintain a company that shows ethical behavior. I think it is important that Disney enforces ethical behavior to be used by their employers because they are the people that represent the company to consumers and visitors which determine whether or not they will come back.


Ethics in Other Countries

The Disney company has stated they support the ethical production of their merchandise through programs that focus on safety, labor and the environment. Since 1996 Disney has had a Code of Conduct for Manufactures which is designed to be consistent with the core conventions of the International Labour Organization. The organization is a specialized agency that seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. As Disney expands their theme parks to other countries their challenge will be to maintain their strong ethical value while dealing with different cultures and people.

Disney's Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is the business's concern for society's welfare. The long range best interest of the company and the company's relationship to the society within it operates is what the managers consider. The Disney company has been taking steps to better the world through their business practices. They have made an Eco friendly lifestyle commerical promoting greener lifestyles to help the environment.

As side from their commercial promotion to promote a more Eco friendly lifestyle for the environment, they have also took other measures in their cooperation. The company has  committed to minimize it's overall impact on the environment through various ways such as conserving water, energy and econ systems, minimizing waste and inspiring the public consciousness in the support of environmental sustainability.

Chapter 2- Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

The Company's Strategy
Disney's company strategy has been based on delighting their consumers and providing entertainment that gives them an unforgettable experience. The company caters to children as well as the "inner child" of adults. They consistently improve and modernize their services and products to keep their consumers while attracting new ones.



Marketing Strategy
Disney believes in constant advertising both on and offline. As technology became more popular the Disney company took notice and began to advertise on the Internet as well. The company has gained more than 38 million likes on facebook, over one million followers on twitter and well over one million views on YouTube. The Disney company has used the social media platform as a way to connect with their consumers introducing them to new aspects of the company. The company has continuously done intensive research to learn more about their target market in order to grow on a global level. Disney has been committed in staying current with their consumers, providing them with a magical experience.



Competitive Advantage
The Disney company has maintained a product/service differentiation competitive advantage. This company has managed to continually give their consumers a magical experience by either visiting their numerous theme parks or watching their shows and movies. These ventures are not only in the states, Disney has recognized they need to provide their service worldwide so people around the globe can be able to experience the magical experience. This magical experience they have been known to provide has been their competitive advantage.

Chapter 1. Disney Brief History and Mission Statement

The Walt Disney Company that began as a cartoon studio in 1923, has branched out over their 80 years  into a well known company in the entertainment industry. This well known company began on October 26, 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio with Walt Disney and his brother Roy. Like all companies Disney has had their downfalls but the creation of the well known mickey mouse character changed it all. Not only has the Walt Disney Company provided great attributes to the animation film industries, it has expanded into different fields such as, theme parks, products, several entertainment studios and other media productions. Disney has created a reputation of giving a magical experience to their audience and the mission of the Disney company has always been to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.