Research on the Marketing Strategy of Disney Movies in the Digital Era

1 A Brief Introduction of the Disney Brand

1.1 The Origin of the Walt Disney Company

In 1928, a lovely little mouse was created by Mr. Walt Disney, the great pioneer in the realm of animation. This lovely character got the adoration of people all over the world. With decades of cartoon films, Disney has achieved considerable success. After a hundred years of development, it has gradually become a famous brand for its well-known cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

1.2 Disney’s Core Brand Values

Innovation: Disney has always been dedicated to innovative products themselves.

Quality: Disney strives to meet high standards of quality.

Community: Disney has always maintained a positive and inclusive attitude toward family values.

Storytelling: Disney products are always entertaining and inspiring.

Optimism: Disney always embodies its products with elements such as hope, optimism and unwavering determination.

Decency: Disney respects every customer and avoids delivering messages that are against customer expectations.

l  1926, Mr. Walt Disney set up The Walt Disney Company（TWDC）with his brother.

l  1928, Steamboat Willie was released in New York with a huge praise from the audience. It was released two weeks later at the Roxy Theatre in the USA--the world's largest theatre at the time.

l  1928, Mickey Mouse: Plane Crazy was released and Mr. Walt Disney was given the title "Father of Mickey Mouse".

l  1955, Disney added cartoon elements to amusement parks and launched the world's first modern theme park--Los Angeles Disneyland.

l  1993, Disney acquired Miramax Films, one of the country's leading independent film companies.

l  1996, Disney acquired American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for $19 billion.

l  2006, Disney acquired Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion, cementing animation technology's power in the children's market.

l  2009, Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4.24 billion, taking ownership of the vast majority of comic book characters and taking over the boy market. (Through the acquisition, Disney took marvel characters into its intangible assets).

l  2012, Disney acquired Lucas Company (including Star Wars and other famous brands), expanding the science fiction market.

l 2013, Disney launched the "Oh My Disney" website, which includes TV shows, movies, theme parks, as well as official announcements, Q&A, and behind-the-scenes. Same year, Frozen was released. The popularity of the film heated up the revenue of “Frozen” products in Disney stores across the globe. Although it was pulled off the shelves in 2013, its revenue grew throughout 2014, with ad spending rising by 7.4 percent to $2.1 billion. Disney also started online ticket booking service for the convenience of customers, which saved time and costs, and effectively improved customer satisfaction.

l  2017, Disney completed its acquisition of Fox for $52.4 billion, declaring its battle for Hollywood supremacy. Disney joined social media app Instagram. Disney's official Instagram account had 23.8 million followers at the time of writing. Same year, Disney created the Disneyland Blog, another Disney platform for super fans to leave their comments and for tourists to share their experiences.

l  2018, Disney launched streaming media and named it Disney+.

l  2019, Disney+ was launched online.

2 Marketing Principles of the Walt Disney Company

For marketing in China, Disney puts its emphasis on the needs of consumers and audiences. Two hypotheses are used here to analyze the marketing strategies of Disney.

2.1 SIVA Model

Here we use a customer-focused marketing strategy known as “SIVA” to analyze Disney’s marketing strategy. The strategy, developed by Don E. Schultz, includes four main segments: Solution, Information, Value and Access.

S: In the digital era, Disney changes its "products" into "solutions". Companies ought to define their products by the needs they meet, not by their feature, functions, or technological superiority. Disney produces a wealth of useful solutions by utilizing many digital data, acquiring information and gaining people's potential needs.

I: The prevalence of the Internet makes it possible for people to change their way of communication. The traditional media, such as television, newspaper, and radio, which are one-direction and passive, are giving way to emerging digital media that allow people to actively search for information and become one of mass communication members. Disney gets into people’s view again via digital marketing campaigns and PR events. Apart from the official website, Disney has set up its official account on YouTube, Twitter, etc., regaining attention from the audiences in the digital era.

V: The development of the Internet creates an environment where the company could make consumers stay longer with it. By developing a long-term and stable relationship with consumers, Disney could gain a satisfactory effect in return. A typical way of maintaining old customers is creating the Disneyland Park.

A: Access is the channel that helps consumers to acquire products more conveniently. The channel has an irresistible trend of becoming more diversified and multiple-used. Disney aims to develop an integrated cross-channel presence that considers customers’ entire purchase journey instead of focusing on individual purchase locations and channels.

2.2 AISAS Model

Here we use the AISAS model to analyze attention, interest, search, action, and share, giving priority to the initiatives of audiences in the digital era.

Disney releases ground-breaking movie trailers on YouTube, Twitter, and Weibo (one of the most popular social network apps in China), thus attracting audiences' attention (Attention) in the process that celebrities produce and share copywriting. As a result, would-be audiences begin to take an interest in such a film (Interest), and then search for movie information through movie websites (Search). As audiences make settlements to watch the film and accomplish it (Action), they tend to share their experiences and feelings about the film through YouTube, Twitter, and Weibo again (Share), which extends the movie's popularity and encourages other people to watch it.

3 Film Content Marketing

3.1 Animation Theme Song Marketing

The Internet also provides a dynamic platform for the theme songs of Disney’s animated movies.

First of all, songs can awaken audiences’ memories of the movie plots and become a bridge that maintains the good relationship between the Disney brand and audiences.

Secondly, nowadays, relying on the social media platform and professional music streaming platform, these theme songs can spread quickly and widely, and become popular songs.

As a result, the spread is not limited to fans of Disney. The purpose of marketing communication is to establish a long-term and continuous communication relationship with the audience.

Take Frozen as an example. Disney made the music video Let It Go in 25 different languages. The worldwide popularity of the song has fueled people’s interest in the animated movie. Audiences are willing to go to theaters to see it.

3.2 Animated Character Emoticon Marketing          

In the digital age, emoticons have become a necessary tool for people to communicate when using new media. Emoticons can supplement the inadequacy of texts in a vivid form and ease the atmosphere of communication. In this context, Disney made emojis of the protagonists in its animated films. These characters could be widely spread on various social platforms in the form of humorous emojis. In this way, they can expand the popularity of animated films.

Take Lightning, a character in Zootopia as an example. The sloth Lightning, described as "the most scene-stealing supporting role", impresses the audience with its dramatically slow motion and prolonged laughter. Therefore, it played a significant role in promoting the animated movie.

3.3 Movie Quote Marketing

At the beginning of the 20th century, as the film entered the sound age, dialogues have become the essential medium for the film to convey its message. The dialogue makes the virtual actors more expressive for animated movies and leaves audiences a more profound impression.

For decades, funny dialogues from Disney's animated movies have brought laughter to audiences of all ages. The company also consciously quotes the dialogue from the classic animated movies, which profoundly impact the audience, in its marketing campaigns, thus expanding the popularity and influence of Disney films.

3.4 Movie Scene Marketing

The animated scenes can enrich the movie plot and show the personality of the animated characters in different scenarios. Therefore, the movie scene is the basis of the success of an animated film. In the digital era, to better attract the audience, it is necessary to start from the perspective of the audience, meet their needs, and provide them with memorable movie scenes.

4 Marketing on New Media Channels

Disney establishes various online platforms for audiences. Disney has an official website - Disney.com - for the younger audience to exchange information. When it comes to families, Disney also has Disney Family network. com to convey parenting information. Different websites are intended for various market segments in terms of age, gender, country, etc.

4.1 Movie Database and Review Websites

The prosperity of the Internet boosts the emergence of movie database and review websites. Such websites effectively integrate essential information about films, such as cast and crew, movie release date, and ticket-booking information. Besides, audiences could rate the movie on such websites, motivating many people to watch and share them.

4.2 Opinion Leaders

Opinion leaders are people whose opinions on products and services have a significant and positive influence upon the public. Whether a person is considered an opinion leader relies solidly on whether he or she has a charismatic personality and is "loved" by the followers. On the Internet, messages don’t always flow to the masses directly, but are often interpreted firstly by opinion leaders, and then reach the common people.

Disney considers real-life celebrities as optional opinion leaders and invites them to promote the animated movies. Before and during the release of Disney movies, Disney releases theme songs that famous actors sing, dub the songs into different languages and release them on YouTube, Twitter, and other well-known social media.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference, the author states that a few, selected, special people could create tipping points, and make them spread like viruses, and thus cause “epidemics”. The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the hit of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. In the digital era, everyone can become senders, and the cost of encoding（the process of turning thoughts into communication) and transmission of information keeps very low for receivers, which lays a foundation for widespread mass communication.

Many opinion leaders publish news and articles about upcoming Disney movies on social media platforms (such as Google and Twitter), where thousands of users will click, view, and share the content. Both Disney fans and the general audience who are not passionate about movies will be "infected" in such a situation, developing a viral transmission process.

For instance, Disney released the first teaser trailer of the film Frozen 2 on February 13, 2019. The teaser trailer was viewed 116.4 million times on the day of release, becoming the second most-viewed animated film trailer at the time.

5 Advertisement Strategies for Marketing

5.1 Diversified Topics

In the digital era, catching the audience's eyes and attracting the attention of the masses has become the primary concern of film and television companies when they produce trailers.

Apart from displaying the most attractive scenes of the movie in trailers, Disney also creates various foreign-language versions, special effects, and characters in the movie, which are continuously published on the media platform before the release.

For instance, before the release of Frozen 2 in 2019, Disney issued three trailers. In the second trailer version of Frozen 2, Disney revealed that Elsa (the protagonist in this film）encountered the mystical water spirit Nokk, which effectively induced masses' curiosity. The trailer was viewed 116.4 million times on the day of release, and as a result, Frozen 2 became the 10th highest-grossing film of all time and the second highest-grossing animated film of all time.

5.2 Multi-Channel

The development of the Internet has provided more channels for Disney to release trailers rather than TV or in cinemas. Disney carries out the strategy of releasing trailers on multiple platforms, significantly leveraging the number of viewers and convincing more people to go to the cinema.

In addition, interpersonal communication and mass communication on major social platforms play the role of catalysts spreading trailers widely. Disney’s official accounts can send related articles and news accurately to subscribers. Individuals accept the information actively and are willing to share them with their friends, which improves the dissemination of information.

For instance, Coco, a famous Disney animated movie, became available for high-definition online streaming and digital download on February 13, 2018, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 27, 2018, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Coco was released on Netflix in the United States on May 29. And then it was released on Disney+ on November 29, 2019.

5.3 Trivertising

Experienced consumers give less attention to ads, banners and other fancy copywriting and imagery around them, and as a result, the new way of marketing named "trivertising" emerges.

A trivertising campaign is a process that consumers can participate personally or indirectly to form feelings in a particular situation. This kind of feeling involves human senses, emotion, and other perceptual factors. In the digital era, Disney uses new technologies to put new elements into advertising, improve consumers' experience as the goal of advertisement, and impresses consumers in an interactive process.

6 Integrated Multi-Channel Derivative for Marketing

Hollywood has a world-famous theory called “locomotion theory”, which means that a film can make no money unless it develops derivative products. An excellent movie needs to impress the audience and make the audience keen on the characters. The derivatives provide a channel for the brand and the film, which complement each other. Disney has been focusing on developing derivatives since the early stage. The original derivative was a Mickey Mouse pencil case. Later, more derivatives appeared, became known and were loved by the public. Today, the derivative products made by Disney are plentiful.

6.1 The Expansion of Disneyland Parks

Mr. Walt Disney wished that his parks could reconstruct all the scenes from the film, and he achieved that when the first Disneyland opened. Los Angeles Disneyland attracted men, women and children worldwide, making a huge success. With the success of the first theme park, the company established many other theme parks. Disney is good at integrating different cultures, and when it expands its business in other countries, it incorporates local cultural elements to attract more local tourists.

Simultaneously, the way Disney uses to combine theme park and animated movie brings tourists a better entertainment experience and increases the movies’ popularity. In addition, Disney conforms to the digital era's communication trend and establishes social media accounts and ticket booking apps. They also deliver some useful functions such as real-time map and queue time prediction. These methods have a linkage effect and achieve efficient communication.

6.2 Retail Platform

Every Disney animated movie has vivid characters. Therefore, getting people familiar with the characters (or the derivatives of characters) is a great way to stimulate the audience to watch the movie. In 2015, the night before the movie Big Hero 6 was released, more than 10 Baymax (the main character of Big Hero 6) interacted with people in a shopping mall, and drew a crowd of onlookers. This approach let the audience meet the characters and learn about the movie intuitively.

In 1987, the first Disney store was open for business, with countless products branded with cartoon characters on sale. Now, there are over 300 Disney stores all around the world. The largest store opened in Shanghai in 2015, where designers combined the shopping experience and Disney animation elements, creating a fairytale experience for consumers.

6.3 Multi-Channel Marketing

Relying on the Internet, especially the merits of propagation velocity and comprehensive range, derivatives of Disney animation films spread out more conveniently. On the Disney website, audiences can see film news and previews which are up-to-date. People can also download correlation games and buy sundry productions. Apart from the website, Disney also uses social media to promote its derivatives. Furthermore, Disney spends a lot of money and effort on adapting their products to the overseas audience. For example, Frozen, which won the first place in the global box office, got enough eyeballs long before it was released in the cinema. Disney translated the theme song into 25 different languages for better regional marketing. This approach led to the success of Frozen directly.

6.4 Product Placement of Television Programs

In the United States, a special Disney channel has been broadcasting Disney movies and TV series for many years. Teenagers and children love to see their beloved movie characters in the form of TV series. Disney has also been cooperating with Chinese TV channels in recent years. For example, Disney promotes its characters in the popular variety shows of some Chinese TV channels before releasing a Disney movie in the Chinese cinema. In 2016, some days before Shanghai Disneyland opened its gate, Shanghai Dragon TV (a giant TV station in China) put on "Magic Trip to Disney”, and the channel broadcasted two classic Disney films in the afternoon. As Shanghai Disneyland opened, Dragon TV also live broadcasted the opening ceremony worldwide.

7 Cross-Industry for Marketing

Cross-industry marketing communication in movies has become an inevitable phenomenon. It plays an essential role in business cooperation and promotes both partners’ fame and influence. For example, after The Lion King's success in 1994, Disney had a marketing collaboration with McDonald’s, giving McDonald’s the permission to showcase its cartoon images on McDonald’s outer packing in order to advertise its cartoon movie. With the expansion of the Disney empire, Disney's cross-industry marketing extends further. With the Internet and new media still rising, Disney starts looking for cooperation with tech firms.

7.1 E-commerce Platforms

In June 2016, Tmall (a Chinese e-commerce platform) became the only e-commerce partner of Disney because of its massive users. Tmall has more than 500 million active users in China, and its users tend to be of the same age range as the age range of Disney audiences. As a result of the cooperation, All Disney's official stores have joined Tmall. Chinese consumers can browse their favorite characters, stream Disney cartoon movies and book tickets in the stores.

7.2 Mobile Apps

As online technology develops, mobile apps have become a part of our life. Disney seizes this opportunity, initiates cross-industry marketing communication with mobile apps, and takes this occasion to publicize its products. Take Finding Dory for example. Before the movie's release in China, Disney cooperated with WeChat (a social media app in China) and made a series of memes with Finding Dory characters. With the aid of interpersonal communication, the movie gained a lot of attention from the public.

7.3 Other Branding Methods

Disney's early commercial partners were companies whose primary target audience were children and teenagers. However, after Disney started its cooperation with Marvel, its target audience extends to adults gradually. Meanwhile, its range of cross-industry marketing communication also expands. Disney is no longer merely a brand for children, but also a brand for adults. Furthermore, in 2015, Disney collaborated with the Chinese consumer electronics company Haier, giving Haier the right to use its cartoon images on Haier’s products in China.

With the cross-industry marketing strategy, classical characters from Disney cartoon movies gain more attention, allowing more consumers to remember them. Disney expands its target audience's range in terms of age, gender, and region. The Disney brand continuously influences audiences young and old.

8 Conclusion

Overall, Disney's marketing strategy keeps pace with the Internet age. We have taken SIVA theory and AISAS model to study its marketing principles and its ways of bringing core values to its consumers worldwide.

From the song "Let It Go" in Frozen to the emoji of Lightning in Zootopia spreading across the Internet, Disney markets its movies to attract audience worldwide. In the digital era, Disney uses new media channels such as official websites, movie database websites, movie apps and social media for marketing. At the same time, Disney cleverly distributed its movie trailers in different languages to attract audiences around the world. Plus, in spreading their derivatives, Disney establishes its brand well around the world. Through these marketing methods, Disney films have successfully taken an essential place in people’s minds worldwide.

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