Since The Walt Disney Company first began in the early 1920’s (Bryman, Disney and His Worlds, p. 14), its iconic emblem of the mouse can be recognised by families all around the globe as the symbol of all that Disney denotes: its animated feature films, its Establishments, merchandise and purely the idea of an affordable and accessible family escape (Ward, p. 31).
After Eisner took over Disney, the company had started to lose integrity, as people saw it become more profit focused through excessive merchandising and promotion. It can be seen as a way of commercialising children, as the traditional values of Disney had disappeared. It has been quoted by Eisner himself that the family value has disappeared, and the Disney icon is being manipulated for profits.
“We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.” (Nicolosi and Lewerenz, n.p.)
As Disney is so powerful and already sustains a reputation, it is hard to ignore what is the good name of Disney – a name that represents a dream and a family friendly world. Since Eisner’s direction, Disney’s films have become less a focus and are instead used as the driving force behind merchandising. The reliance behind this idea is that customer loyalty must prevail, and be caught, through its reputation, to continue to consume Disney as a media culture (Budd and Kirsch, 262). It was Disney’s already powerful reputation that had been the benefit to Eisner’s plans of expansion, which due to Disney’s advancements into all aspects of entertainment and media, from radio to television and internet (Budd and Kirsch, p. 262), there is no surprise that Eisner relied on Synergy to further his progress (Budd and Kirsch, p. 263).
In particular it was the availability to cross-promote with itself through different sectors that allowed Disney to gain profit two fold and decrease the marketing costs (Hardy, 116). To cross-promote outside their own grounds however was particularly strategized in order to not only gain profit but reach out for future consumers. In particular it was the cross-promotions between McDonalds and Disney that are most memorable, and were very successful. The alliance extended the sales by 23% for McDonalds Happy Meals and which led to a rise of 7% in sales and overall interest in Disney (Bryman, The Disneyization of Society, p. 69).
References:
Bryman, Alan. Disney and His Worlds. London: Routledge. 1995.
Bryman, Alan. The Disneyization of Society. London: Sage. 2004.
Budd, Mike. and Kirsch, Max.H. Rethinking Disney: Private Control, Public Dimensions. USA: Wesleyan University Press. 2005.
Hardy, Jonathan. Cross-Media Promotion. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. 2010
Nicolosi, Barbara. and Lewerenz, Spencer. Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film and Culture. USA: Baker Books. 2005. 16-17
Ward, Brett.M. Bulletproof: A Cop’s Guide to Financial Success. Indiana: AuthorHouse. 2007.
Image: 'The Fox and the Hound' copyrighted Disney Enterprises Inc.
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