Analysis of the Situation: Customers, Competitors, & Environmental Factors

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1 Executive Summary The objective of this plan is to create a new area of service (or expand upon a current area) that will include a number of restaurants, nightclubs, and stores targeted at adults, especially young adults. This new service will cater to those visiting WDW who want to continue their fun after park hours. The marketing mix will include heavy advertising inside the parks and online, making sure it stays in areas mainly targeting adults. Another key part of the marketing mix will include press kits, special events, and speaking engagements that assure families that the Disney image will stay true and family friendly. This plan has plenty of potential. There are people of all ages visiting Disney and making sure that adults get recognized as important customers just as families are. Summary of Learning Analysis of the Situation: Customers, Competitors, & Environmental Factors a. 3 Things Learned about the Industry Learned The Legoland company has found ways to go green in their theme parks, by using recycled water, environmentally-friendly pest control, and encouraging employees to recycle. Disney has found ways to be more environmentally friendly in their theme parks, but also stress that they do not want to do anything that will take away from the guests enjoyment. Busch Gardens Tampa is making the change to go green by using biodegradable dinnerware, recycled water for their rides, and reusing animal waste for composts. Source New trend in theme parks: going green? David Wilkening. Edge Dallas, TX. Disney tests the limits of going green Jane Wells. MSNBC. Trends: Theme Parks Go Green Unknown. First Coast News. Price Implication for Marketing Price and Target Market Price b. 3 Things Learned about Strengths and Weaknesses of the Client Learned Disney has many strengths, including the very own company name, their characters, and an ability to innovate and invent. Disney has expanded their parks to other countries, they are always advertising, and regularly provide improvements to their Source 10 Reasons Why DCA is a Bad Idea Alex Stroup. Mouse Planet. 5 Secrets to Walt Disney World s Success Abbie Drew. DEMC.com. Implication for Marketing Target Market, Promotion, and Product Target Market, Promotion, and Product

2 theme parks. Even though Disney is the largest media and entertainment company in the world, it does have weaknesses with high operating costs, high investment with high risk, and the pressure of continuous innovative ideas to retain the attention of customers.making the change to go green by using biodegradable dinnerware, recycled water for their rides, and reusing animal waste for composts. Walt Disney SWOT Analysis Adam. MBA Tutorials. Product, Price, and Promotion c. 3 Things Learned about the Customers Learned Walt Disney World theme parks and hotels have a variety of entertainment that will appeal to many age groups. Walt Disney World has many accommodations available for guests with physical and hearing disabilities. Walt Disney World is not just for families, but for singles and couples too. They make sure to offer a variety of hotels, parks, rides, restaurants, and more. d. 3 Things Learned about the Competition Learned Disney is a larger theme park than Universal Studios, with a variety of rides for all ages and also has an animal theme park, with Universal does not. Disney has many incentives for their customers to stay with Disney for the whole of their vacation by offering cheaper ticket prices for the more days you visit and the Disney Magical Express, shuttling customers to and from hotels to theme parks. Universal has a load of pressure on them to get the park right due to the loads of Harry Potter fans who can be very critical if Source Walt Disney World: Imagination Has No Age Requirement Melanie Theresa. Associated Content. Disney Offers Wide Welcome For Guests With Disabilities Joan Leotta. Solutions Marketing Group. Disney World Not Just For Kids Anymore Kingston Amandan. Buzzle.com. Source Walt Disney World versus Universal Studios, what one? Unknown. Orlando Inside. When Worlds Collide: How will Walt Disney World compete with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010? Werner Weiss. Yesterland.com. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theresa Plowright. About.com Implication for Marketing Product and Target Market Product and Target Market Target Market, Product, and Distribution Implication for Marketing Target Market and Product Product, Price, Promotion, and Distribution Target Market and Product

3 they feel Universal cheapened the wizarding world. References (attached as Appendix A) # Citation Key Learning Industry Trends 1 New trend in theme parks: going green? David Wilkening. Edge Dallas, TX. The Legoland company has found ways to go green in their theme parks, by using recycled water, environmentally-friendly pest control, and encouraging employees to recycle. 2 Disney tests the limits of going green Jane Wells. MSNBC. 3 Trends: Theme Parks Go Green Unknown. First Coast News. Company Strengths and Weaknesses 1 10 Reasons Why DCA is a Bad Idea Alex Stroup. Mouse Planet. 2 5 Secrets to Walt Disney World s Success Abbie Drew. DEMC.com. 3 Walt Disney SWOT Analysis Adam. MBA Tutorials. Customers 1 Walt Disney World: Imagination Has No Age Requirement Melanie Theresa. Associated Content. 2 Disney Offers Wide Welcome For Guests With Disabilities Joan Leotta. Solutions Marketing Group. 3 Disney World Not Just For Kids Anymore Kingston Amandan. Buzzle.com. Competitors Disney has found ways to be more environmentally friendly in their theme parks, but also stress that they do not want to do anything that will take away from the guests enjoyment. Busch Gardens Tampa is making the change to go green by using biodegradable dinnerware, recycled water for their rides, and reusing animal waste for composts. Disney has many strengths, including the very own company name, their characters, and an ability to innovate and invent. Disney has expanded their parks to other countries, they are always advertising, and regularly provide improvements to their theme parks. Even though Disney is the largest media and entertainment company in the world, it does have weaknesses with high operating costs, high investment with high risk, and the pressure of continuous innovative ideas to retain the attention of customers. Walt Disney World theme parks and hotels have a variety of entertainment that will appeal to many age groups. Walt Disney World has many accommodations available for guests with physical and hearing disabilities. Walt Disney World is not just for families, but for singles and couples too. They make sure to offer a variety of hotels, parks, rides, restaurants, and more.

4 1 Walt Disney World versus Universal Studios, what one? Unknown. Orlando Inside. 2 When Worlds Collide: How will Walt Disney World compete with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010? Werner Weiss. Yesterland.com. 3 Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theresa Plowright. About.com Disney is a larger theme park than Universal Studios, with a variety of rides for all ages and also has an animal theme park, with Universal does not. Disney has many incentives for their customers to stay with Disney for the whole of their vacation by offering cheaper ticket prices for the more days you visit and the Disney Magical Express, shuttling customers to and from hotels to theme parks. Universal has a load of pressure on them to get the park right due to the loads of Harry Potter fans who can be very critical if they feel Universal cheapened the wizarding world. The Target/Product Decision: The Target Market (Customers) and Product Offering I. Segmentation/Targeting/Positioning a. As stated through my research, Disneyworld is for all ages. Many think Disney is just for families with children but it is so much more. Disney appeals to children, adults, singles, young couples, couples without children, and even older adults. What is so great about Disney is that it offers activities for everyone to enjoy. The theme park has rides suitable for young kids and more thrilling/scarier rides for an older segment. So for segmenting the market, I had to approach it many ways. b. I have chosen to target young adult singles (ages 20 28) as the target market. The size of this group is quite large. Many of these young adults have grown up watching Disney on TV and therefore can relate it to childhood memories. Also, many of these young adults may have families of their own, where they can come back to Disneyworld to create new memories with their children and families. But now being older, they want to do more adult things than just ride rides. This gives Disney the opportunity to open new clubs and restaurants geared towards this age group that will bring in profits.

5 c. Perceptual map Kid-friendly, Kid-friendly, family-oriented family-oriented Walt Disney World Sea World Universal Studios Orlando Affordable Expensive Young adult related Thorough Description of the Target Market d. Profile i. Demographically 1. Sex a. Both male and females frequently attend Disneyworld. I would say this is about even on both ends. 2. Age a. All ages attend Disneyworld, due to the fact that young children attend but need to be accompanied by an adult/guardian. So this ranges the ages from infants to adults. 3. Race a. All races attend Disneyworld. Many are Caucasian but it is not a huge difference in the races in attendance. 4. Income a. People attending Disneyworld usually have a higher income to spend. This is not always the case but many have the money to splurge on this luxury vacation. ii. Psychographically 1. Those visiting Disneyworld have many different attitudes, beliefs, and opinions. But they do have one thing in common, they want to

6 experience the magic and fun that Disneyworld has to offer. People visit Disneyworld to get away and put themselves in a world different from everyday life. iii. Behaviorally 1. Tourists/Vacationers/Visitors a. Those visiting Disneyworld at a one time basis and buy tickets by a day-to-day basis or weekly packages are going to Disneyworld to get away. Many of these purchasers do not live in the Orlando area and are just visiting. They will chose a package that is best for them, whether it be to visit just one park, or buy a 5-day park-hopper pass allowing them to visit the multiple parks over a number of days. They realize they will not need an annual pass and only want to visit a certain amount of days. 2. Annual Pass a. Those purchasing an annual pass obviously frequent Disneyworld. The price of the annual pass is not cheap ($431 - $489 depending on age) so it is an investment piece. Those who visit Disney frequently realize they will save money with the annual pass, which is a one time investment. Obviously they live close enough or frequent the area to make this purchase a good consumer decision. e. Persona i. The average 21-year-old that visit Disney goes with either family/friends. Many of them do not visit alone. They visit Disney during the day, riding the rides they loved as kids (or for the first time ever) and most likely enjoy the more thrilling rides (such as Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster). They usually stray from the kiddie areas (such as Toon Town) which many young children frequent as an opportunity to visit Disney characters. They may take a picture with a character or two, but don t find the hours of standing in a line for a photo something they feel they want to do. After a fun day at Disney, unlike young children and their parents who have to watch them, they are not ready for the fun to end. Disney parks (depend on which one) close as early at 6 p.m. or as late at 11 p.m. (depending on the month, day, etc.) By now, they are still ready to continue their fun. Disney s Pleasure Island (which unfortunately closed in 2008 to make room for more family friendly experiences ) was a place adults could visit. It stayed open later for the night crowd and included shopping, restaurants, comedy clubs, and night clubs. Unfortunately there does not seem to be anything Disney club related for young adults to frequent anymore since the closing of Pleasure Island. Disneyworld should open Pleasure Island back up or open a new type of place similar to it. It should have the clubs, shopping, and restaurants like Pleasure Island. This allows young adults to have fun, still

7 continuing their Disney experience, but just on a different level than the younger children do. II. Thorough Description of the Product Offering a. Description of the Total Product CORE A fun experience for young-adults to continue their day at Disney, with a twist more suitable to them and what they are interested in. IMAGERY SECONDARY Features would include clubs, restaurants, and shopping that stayed open later to suit the target SECONDARY markets needs. It would be placed away from the parks, but still close enough they would be able to take the Disney Express transportation (if visiting and staying at a Disney hotel) to and from the parks/hotel. It would be a more adult CORE environment, featuring drinks, clubs, and more adult themes than the regular offerings in the Disneyworld parks. IMAGERY This place would offer incentive for young adults to frequent the parks more. An offering for those who buy park tickets may allow them to get special rates at the latenight place. This would give incentive to visit the parks and then visit the late-night place. Disney does a great job for kids but tends to overlook their older audiences and what they would enjoy. Marketing Strategy Document: Parts III, IV, & V III. Pricing Strategy a. The pricing strategy for my service (a strip of restaurants, clubs, and stores name to be announced) would be price skimming. b. The customers that we are targeting (young adult singles) that are visiting Disney (either with an annual pass or on a vacation) are expecting to spend money. While many young adults may not have a lot of money, many will splurge for a fun night out. The advantage of having a group of clubs, stores, and restaurants on Disney property will make the cost understandable. The competition is slight, owning that there are not many other clubs, stores, and restaurants open late, all conveniently located in one area that is on Disney property. Those seeking places like that will have to venture off Disney property and go further into Orlando. For those who are staying on Disney property, this might be problematic, especially if they did not rent cars. The cost structure would

8 include the costs for land and building the area. Disney will own it and can allow stores and restaurants to be on the property. c. The demographics for those who visit Disneyworld are vast. They vary in age, race, and gender. While many may think Disneyworld is for children and their parents, they really have fun for everyone, no matter the age. But since Pleasure Island was closed in 2008, they have no opened a new place similar to it, targeting the young adult age. Universal Studios and Sea World offer places to eat, drink, and socialize, but only inside the parks where admission would be charged for entrance. d. The product that young adults will be receiving by visiting this service (a strip of restaurants, clubs, and stores name to be announced) would be entertainment and fun after hours. Continuing your fun from a great day at the parks, young adults can mingle together, away from kids and strollers, and basically eat, drink, and be merry. The place is the one of the most important aspects of this service. Instead of driving into Orlando (especially for those who are only vacationing and don t have a rental car) for a night of fun, visitors can go to one specific place for all that entertainment. One great promotion idea for this service would be to offer an incentive program for visitors. For example, proof of their ticket and visit in the park could get them a discount on admission to clubs, drinks, food, or things bought in stores. This will give visitors extra reason to visit and have fun. IV. Distribution Strategy a. The distribution strategy for my service will be 2-tier. It really does depend on the restaurant/store/club though. But many of these will be 2-tier. The food, merchandise, and drinks will start at the manufacturer; go through a wholesaler, before making it to the retailer (the specific restaurant, store, or club) that sells to the consumers. The intensity strategy will be selective. There will be this one area for visitors to come to; it will not be widely available. b. Those visiting Disneyworld are putting themselves into a whole different world. The magic of Disney is that you can literally spend days there, surrounded only by Disney themes. Allowing those who are looking to go out late at night and have a bit of fun, they can continue their Disney experience by not having to go off the property to find these restaurants, stores, and clubs. c. The product we are selling, the fun of continuing the Disney experience in a more adult way, is not something you can get everywhere. So by making this product selective, they can only get this experience at one place in the world. They have to visit a certain place to have this fun. The price may be a little higher, but most will be willing to pay for this experience that cannot be found anywhere else. V. Promotion Strategy a. Create a table to outline the highlights of the Promotion Mix Strategy for your proposed product or service.

9 Element of Promotion Mix Advertising Public Relations Sales Promotion Personal Selling Objective for Element Advertise throughout the Disney parks and online about the new area for adults to continue their Disney fun late into the night. Press kit discussing the launch of the new area along with information about the company and its history. Also put together special events and speaking engagements. Good amount of promotion for this new area opening, but making sure it stays true to the target market. Personal selling will mainly involve only selling to franchises to be allowed in this area. Strategy for Element Growing awareness of this new area, especially to the target market. Get the public aware that this will be a positive change and not take away from Disney s family friendly image and assure it will be a positive to the surrounding area. Keeping advertising mainly to young adults and up since the area will include adult themes. Allows the area to be specific to what is allowed in. Disney will have the say in what restaurants, clubs, and stores are allowed into this area. b. These strategies of my promotional mix allow for a variety of advertising for this area, but also keeping an eye on the fact that many visitors to Disneyworld are young children and their parents. Keeping this in their mind, they are making sure they don t lose their loyal visitors by opening up this new area that includes adult themes and areas. c. Develop a hypothetical print ad for your product or service. Annotate the ad by calling out rationale for execution style and appeal. The following ad has a fantasy type execution and mysterious appeal. It obviously has a Disney theme, but does not give a lot of information away as to exactly what is coming, drawing the reader in to visit online what is to come. Using the iconic Cinderella s castle, the reader knows it will relate to Disney. But intrigues the reader since it is darker than most Disney ads, focusing on the night life aspect the new area will bring. I think this is a good advertisement to run to gain interest but not give too much away too early.

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11 d. The focus of our PR efforts will be to the general public and specifically those who are against drinking at Disneyworld. PR efforts need to be nationwide, if not worldwide, because it will not just be Orlando residents visiting Disneyworld. PR efforts will include making people aware of a new area that includes restaurants, stores, and clubs that will be targeted at adults. And making sure that PR efforts heavily include those who are against such drinking and places at Disneyworld and surrounding property, which will most likely be unhappy about the new area. The PR efforts will heavily rely on making sure that this new area will not take away from Disney having a family friendly image. The new area is not targeted to families and will NOT be heavily advertised in childfriendly areas. And it will not be advertised on the children s Disney channel. Making sure that the PR team assures that this new area will allow adults to have more fun after a day at Disney and not take away from any family s vacation fun.