This case study provides a detailed Disney Plus Strategy analysis. It contains an overview of the Disney Plus business strategy, products, and different types of market segmentation, including geographic, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic.
Disney Plus Marketing Strategy: Introduction
The purchase and consumption of video content is something that changed significantly within the past two decades. The emergence of the Internet is currently making it possible for many people to watch movies online without having to buy video compact disks (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). The over-the-top (OTT) model of subscription has become common in different parts of the world. This strategy is designed in such a way that viewers can download or watch video content via the Internet. Disney Plus (or Disney+) is a proposed OTT subscription service whereby customers will be able to identify and watch videos on-demand without any form of restriction. The operator and owner of this venture will be The Walt Disney Company and the Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International. The pioneers and leaders behind this business idea are expected to launch the business in November 2019. The purpose of this marketing proposal is to discuss the nature of the OTT industry, existing barriers to entry, potential sources of competition, and justification why the business idea has increased caches of emerging successful.
Organization Profile
After the acquisition of BAMTech in 2016, The Walt Disney Company started a new plan to launch a project aimed at meeting the needs of many users of the Internet. The leaders at this organization indicated that an OTT model would be considered to supplement its linear television activities, offerings, and services (“About,” n.d.). The idea behind Disney+ has been to develop a new band that would deliver high-quality video content to its consumer. This would be launched after Disney ends its agreement with Netflix in 2019. The parent company has appointed Kevin Swint as the general manager for the new concept in order to present his ideas from Samsung and Apple.
Ricky Strauss was later hired and named the leader of marketing and digital content. Since the company has many entertainment studios that produce adequate content, chances of succeeding are quite high. Some of them include Pixar, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox (Barnes & Koblin, 2019). The projected service will focus on entertainment content that targets family members. The existence of Hulu means that the two will operate synergistically to improve service delivery. According to this project’s leading expects, around 500 films and 7,000 television episodes will be available to the targeted customers (Sanders, 2019). The company will have its headquarters at Los Angeles, California (Barnes, 2019). This venture is expected to succeed since more people and children are now able to access the Internet and watch online videos from different platforms, such as YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. This company is yet to develop powerful mission and vision statements that can attract and inform customers about the available services.
Disney Plus Strategy Analysis
Disney+ has higher chances of making profits since it will get the support of the leading parent companies described above. A powerful marketing mix and strategy is critical since there are different firms that have established themselves within the OTT sector. Such companies have understood the diverse needs and expectations of the targeted clients (Muntean, 2018). The discussion below gives a detailed analysis of the anticipated marketing strategy and why it has the potential to deliver positive results.
Disney Plus Products and Services
Disney+ is a new idea that will deliver a powerful core product and a superior service. As described earlier, Disney and its stakeholders have been focusing on the changing needs of different users of the Internet. The availability of studios and videos means that the company will offer high-quality digital content that can become a major source of entertainment for babies, children, and adults (“About,” n.d.). Users or customers will be able to have their needs met. They will not have to buy DVDs while at the same time watching their favourite videos on-demand and downloading them for future user. The existence of established studios, Hulu, and other online platforms means that the targeted product has adequate supportive features. The company’s ability to differentiate its movies for different age groups means that it will offer a differentiated product depending on the expectations of the users.
Product Lifecycle (PLC) and Critical Analysis
The lifecycle of the targeted product can be understood by examining the performance of The Walt Disney Company. From 1923, this organization has been producing and marketing videos that feature cartoons, wildlife, nature, lifestyle, and animations (Alexander, 2015). Over the decades, the company has managed to produce and deliver high-quality videos to many customers. These items or productions are the ones that the targeted customers will be able to download and watch after the launch of Disney+. This information can be obtained from the parent company’s website. However, Disney+ is expected to be a new product or venture with its content available via the Internet. This means that it has to be treated differently in order to get a true image of its PLC.
For each of the phases identified in Figure 1, Disney+ needs to implement adequate objectives that will eventually deliver positive results. During the introduction phase, the company can consider the power of adequate advertisement measures and build awareness (see Figure 1). During the second stage, the company can establish an intensive distribution network. This will be followed by brand improvement measures and diversification to tackle the challenge of competition (Muntean, 2018). During the decline stage, the company can consider powerful initiatives to prolong its brand’s life or identify new measures to become more profitable.
Disney Plus Marketing Mix
The 4Ps model is applicable to this company as it plans to improve its competitiveness in the OTT sector and meet the changing needs of more customers.
Disney Product Mix
The first element of this mix is that of product. The above discussion has indicated that The Disney Company has numerous videos that are available to many people through its leading cable and satellite television programs (“About,” n.d.). Its videos are usually of high-quality and capable of meeting the needs of the targeted individuals. The decision to deliver such content to different people through the Internet is something revolutionary for this organization. This means that the on-demand videos will be accessible to young persons and adults. In order to achieve its goals, Disney+ should consider the other aspects of the marketing described below.
Price
The Walt Disney Company is known for offering competitive prices for its products and videos. Most of the existing television subscribers are usually able to access a wide range of video content. The company has been partnering with different organizations and television channels to achieve its business objectives (Kemper, Hall, & Ballantine, 2019). After terminating its distribution contract with Netflix, Disney+ will have to offer reduced prices for most of its videos and animations due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the sector has several companies that are established and offering competitive prices for their products. Secondly, most of the videos have already delivered huge profits to the company. Thirdly, such a strategy will attract more customers and eventually make this venture successful.
Place
The model for Disney+ requires that the concept of physical place is not taken seriously. However, there is need for those involved to include appropriate links and a user-friendly website that will be attractive to the targeted individuals (Kemper et al., 2019). The company needs to ensure that more people are able to access different videos and digital content with ease.
Promotion
The Walt Disney Company has numerous outlets that can be instrumental and supportive to ensure that the proposed venture remains profitable. Such television channels, business partners, and websites will play a significant role throughout the promotion period. This organization can consider the power social media platforms to inform more people about the proposed new business, such as Twitter and Facebook (Schwarzl & Grabowska, 2015). The company’s website will also become a powerful tool for promoting this idea. Disney+ will share its videos and offerings on Hulu in an attempt to inform more people about its existence (“About,” n.d.). The use of celebrities and brand ambassadors is another powerful strategy that can support this company’s promotion model.
Disney Plus Market Segmentation
The business model for Disney+ has the potential to attract and deliver exemplary services to every potential customer. Currently, the parent company has produced many videos, cartoons, and animations that have entertained for several decades (Sanders, 2019). The current focus on the Internet will create a new opportunity for delivering high-quality experience to many individuals below eighteen of age. Adults will have a new opportunity to sample certain films and movies that are capable of reminding them of their childhood or past experiences. Any person who has access to the Internet will be able to watch and download the on-demand videos. The areas presented below are essential for building a customer persona for this new business idea.
Geographic
North America is a populated region with many urban and rural regions. With the region having over 350 million citizens, chances of starting this business venture successfully are quite high (Grant & Jordan, 2015). Majority of them are able to use handheld devices and the Internet for entertainment and research. Barnes indicates that around 80 percent of the identified population live in suburban or urban areas (2019). This means that the marketing efforts and promotional strategies for Disney+ should target the major towns in the region. This approach will ensure that most of the available services are accessible to the greatest number of citizens.
Disney: Demographic Segmentation
With half of the target population having access to emerging technologies and the Internet, chances of supporting Disney+ and its objectives are high. The users of the Internet and social media platforms should also be taken into consideration. Many people have good jobs and salaries in different parts of this country. Their young ones are supported by modern learning strategies that prepare them for technologically-based career opportunities (Dyllick & Muff, 2016). With many people having grown up during the era of cartoons and animations, chances are high that they will be willing to be part of Disney Plus’ business model.
Psychographic
Entertainment has become a unique demand for many people today. They are currently focusing on the use of social media networks to communicate and share ideas. Citizens in the developed world are considering the power of online shopping to acquire or purchase on-demand videos (Sanders, 2019). These psychographics show that a model aimed at addressing these demands will deliver positive results within a short time. Segmenting the market based on the entertainment and learning needs of the targeted customers will make this company successful.
Behavioural
Human behavior has been changing significantly due to technological proliferation and advancement. Many people prefer online content instead of subscription packages for television programs. This has become the case since individuals are able to purchase and watch whatever they want at the most appropriate time. Some companies have managed to fulfil the needs of such customers in North America, such as Netflix. Brand loyalty is a reality when considering young people below the age of 40 (Dyllick & Muff, 2016). Many American citizens are using social media platforms to follow and watch entertainment videos. The availability of handheld devices with high video resolutions makes such an idea promising and capable of delivering positive results.
Conclusion
The above proposal has revealed that pioneers and leaders behind this business idea can launch it successfully and eventually record positive results. The OTT sector is characterized by competition and availability of online content from different competitors. However, the consideration of the target market and the marketing mix described above will ensure that the business idea has increased caches of emerging successful. A detailed focus on the behavioural, psychographic, demographic and geographic will inform a powerful model that will maximize competitiveness and eventually make Disney+ a profitable brand.
References
About. (n.d.). Web.
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Barnes, B., & Koblin, J. (2019). Disney Plus streaming service is unveiled to Hollywood fanfare. The New York Times. Web.
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Grant, R., M., & Jordan, J. (2015). Foundations of strategy (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Wiley.
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