The Cultural Barbarism of EuroDisney
1. After Disney's golden step towards Japan, the first years in Europe weren't that good. A combination of factors contributed to a disastrous start Paris. The biggest factor contributing to the poor performance on the long run was the failing cultural adaptation. Disney build, promoted and communicated EuroDisney as a piece of marvelous America in Europe. Everything about the park was American and cultural differences between America and Europe were completely neglected. This resulted not only in negative experiences by customers itself, but also in a heavy load of criticism from the intellectual segment of France, which traditionally didn't have good relations with 'Americanism'.
Besides the cultural problems, a lot of secondary factors contributed to the poor start. First of all, the price to enter the park and especially staying at the hotels, was too high in the European mindset. A nightly stay at a hotel at EuroDisney was priced 110 to 380 dollar, prices compared to a very good hotel in the center of Paris. Customers weren't willing to spend this amount of money.
Another factor was the type of vacations Europeans normally have. Instead of going on a lot of short trips, Europeans take a major break in July or August. The park was promoted as a place to stay a whole vacation, but since the Europeans spend more time on a vacation than three days, this conflicted with the European behavior. While staying at the park, the amount of days spent at EuroDisney was also disappointing: instead of the estimated three days Europeans just stayed two days, resulting in less revenues from hotels, restaurants and souvenirs. The general amount of money spent a day by an European customer was also lower than expected (in Tokyo a family spent 600 dollar, in Paris just 280 dollar).
The opening of the park in 1992 with big events such as the World's Fair in Sevilla and the Olympic Games in Barcelona during the summertime was also unfortunate. Besides these interesting events, the transatlantic airfare war and currency movements made going abroad for vacation a cheap option for Europeans. This resulted in just a small difference between going to Disneyland Orlando and EuroDisney for the holidays.
2. Although Disney as a mother company was probably blind sighted by the success of the Japanese Disneyland, the mistakes made in the nineties with EuroDisney were at least partly foreseeable and can be accounted on the management team that made the decisions for the European park.
In communication, Disney is most vulnerable in public and government relationships. Eisner developed in proposal of a new theme land near the national capital; however the ideal property was on historical and important property within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Destroying history in order to make potential profit did not stick with citizen and land effect of the idea.
The company know its various revenue generating streams very well. The Disney also sees immense possibility in the sequels of the character based movies. The success of Avengers is a recent example and therefore the company plans a sequel for Captain America 2, Iron Man 3 etc. This will boasts the overall revenue generated by the company. The company is now betting heavily on the introduction of theme parks across the globe especially in emerging markets like China, India, Brazil and Russia (BRIC nations). The growth rate of 10% in theme parks and successful implementation of theme parks in Hong Kong, Japan and France allows the company to develop and construct the Disneyland theme park in Shanghai, China. The presence of 330 million consumers around the Shanghai is yet another key factor that made the Disney to invest approximately $5.5 billion in this park. Without doubt, the market for Disney is growing across the globe and emerging and fast growing economies offers a huge opportunity for the growth and development. The China expanded its economy at 10% growth rate in the past straight 30 years therefore the Walt Disney will sees the immense growth from its theme park in
Disney’s long-run success is mainly due to creating value through diversification. Their corporate strategies (primarily under CEO Eisner) include three dimensions: horizontal and geographic expansion as well as vertical integration. Disney is a prime example of how to achieve long-run success through the choices of business, the choice of how many activities to undertake, the choice of how many businesses to be in, the choice of how to manage a portfolio of businesses and the choice of how to create synergies between those businesses (3, p.191-221). All these choices and decisions are made through Disney’s corporate strategies and enabled them to reach long-term success. One will discuss Disney’s long-run success through a general approach. Eisner’s turnaround of the company and his specific implications/strategies will be examined in detail in part II. Disney could reach long-run success mainly through the creation of value due to diversification and the management and fostering of creativity, brand image and synergies between businesses (1, p.11-14).
Disney is an entrepreneur who substituted true copies of experiences for the real life (Sutpen, 2007). The author astonishingly demonstrates that Walt Disney was always in terrible financial straits until the opportunity of Disneyland. This is because his original work of cartoons was not making money due to the war in Europ...
When it first opened, there was moderate controversy over the lack of African American employees. Since 1963, civil rights activists have pressured Disneyland to hire people of different races to make the park more diverse. Back then Disneyland had a number of temporary rides and shows that passed through rather quickly. This was because the park only had about half the number of attractions it has now. When Disneyland first opened guests were charged separately for admission to the park and attraction tickets. According to the website mouseplanet accessed on November 16 2015, “Adults could get into the park for $1 and rides cost between 10-30 cents.” Since its opening, Disneyland has undergone a number of expansions and major renovations. This includes the addition of New Orleans Square in 1966, Bear Country in 1972, and Mickey's Toontown in 1993. As stated in the article Then and Now on the pbs website accessed on November 16 2015, “Tickets to enter the park now cost around $85.00.” Since the opening the park has restored many classic attractions such as Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and the Haunted
It is my opinion that Eisner’s harsh style though successful for quite some time was unearthing confrontation and chaos that was threatening Walt Disney Company’s survival. Therefore I believe these conflicts to be dysfunctional.
The brand image that is created by the park goes with what they portray as they have set up sections that are comprising of the featured movie or show. The cleanliness aspect and the environment creates and delivers a symbolic difference to the whole theme park (Richard, 1993). The management have made their efforts in maintaining the same feeling, as they employees and the staff is dressed and the procedure so the park is carried out in pure joyous manner. They have the shows that have the characters from the movie, especially the stage shows and they are dressed up in the form of the characters giving a jubilant feel to the travellers and the tourists. As there is advancement seen in all market, people and tourists are getting more informed about the entertainment industry they prefer more to their entertainment package (Golob, 2003). With this advancement, people tend to be wise and more informed, raising the bar of standard and requirement that are offered by the entertainment theme park. As the management staff knows that now people are more vibrant and have gathered data about what they will be offered, they are no more interested in listening to the stories and the fairy tales that are described to them (Ashwell, 2015). They have a tendency to adapt to the environment and want to be the part of the whole story. As this requirement has grown in the market, management has successfully made the changes to the strategies they have been implementing and they have been working on. These favourable changes have resulted in displaying the enjoyable changes to the theme park and helps them to changing market requirement and demand (Vogt & Andereck,
The Walt Disney Company is known throughout the world as a leader in entertainment. The strategies that the Walt Disney Company have used include competitive advantage, a growth strategy, and a renewal strategy. When a person mentions a theme park, Disney is the first park that comes to mind. They were not the first theme park, but they have mastered the art of creating memories for adults and children alike. As a former employee of Disney I can vouch for the amount of effort that goes into creating memories for families. Disney is a leader when it comes to the theme park business, and other parks look at Disney as a leader. An example of this is that other parks will not raise admission prices, until Disney first raises their prices. WESH.com said "It remains to be seen if Disney's move will trigger a round of similar increases at other Orlando theme parks. Historically, when Disney raises its prices, the other parks follow" (2011, p.1). There is not a company in the world that can provide the "magic" that the Walt Disney World company can provide (Disney.com, 2011).
Disneyland has inspired hundreds of books, articles in academic journals, and college classes dissecting its magic and evaluating its impact. Since Disneyland’s opening there has been evidence to suggest that the Disney Company is owed credit for creating not only the first, but the most successful theme park in history. Walt Disney created a niche in what was a dying industry leading to Disneyland’s success that is still observed today as the most popular and most recognizable park in the park entertainment industry. Although Disneyland was not the first amusement park, Walt Disney did perfect the idea of an amusement park and give birth to the first ever theme park which blossomed into the theme park industry. The influence Disneyland commands as the first theme park has impacted American pop culture, society, economics, marketing, entertainment and tourism by creating what has been called the “Disney effect” by author Margaret King, Director of the Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis. The impact the “Disney effect” has had on America has been argued between historians, economist, and
Disneyland is considered a magical place. Some might even consider it “better than real” (Louise 162). It is a place where families can have fun together and bond. It has been running successfully for over fifty years. But how did Disneyland come to be? It did not simply pop up one night out of nowhere. Disneyland came to be through three events; the childhood of Walt Disney, the idea for an amusement park, and the building of this “better than real” place.
Most successful firms spend millions on building a strong brand image. Disney must continue to expand the brand at every opportunity and keep the focus on its image. The creative energy of Walt Disney himself must exist throughout the organization. Disney can’t afford to lose its “magic” as the stakes are too high. So far, Disney is a textbook example of marketing genius. The mantra “Think local, act global” is a winning strategy for Disney since their product has a market all over the world. Everyone loves being entertained and escaping to a fantasy world every now and then.
The French had resentment against the American fairy tale characters because they had their own to love. However, the Japanese had great admiration for the American icons. Disney advertised their park with an emphasis on the size and glamour of "the Disney experience" rather than showing the French their exciting rides and attractions. Disney wanted to out do any other French attraction and wanted it on their terms; the French do not react well to arrogant Americans (Cateora & Graham, 2007).
Disney has a rich history and an even brighter future due to the smart decision making of the managing body. Throughout its history Disney has been heavily involved in acquisitions, keeping up with the industry trends and even starting new ones through its parks and resorts segments.
Janeczko, B, Mules, T & Ritchie, B 2002, ‘Estimating the Economic Impacts of Festivals and Events’, Sustainable Tourism.
Euro Disney’s decision to open its Theme Park near Paris has caused a negative publicity in the sight of many French politicians. In fact, they have objected the existence of Theme Parks in the center of their French culture since the park has been viewed as a visible symbol of the U.S. culture. Although Euro Disney marketers probably choose this location, in particularly France, due to the fact that is the center of Europe and could most probably be the most convenient place for people to arrive and settle in their hotel to be entertained. For instance, people from all over Europe could travel quickly to Paris due to short distance and travel convenience like people from Germany or Spain could quickly and conveniently arrive in Paris.