Marketing 18th Edition by William Pride,Ferrell

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Disney Markets to the Young and the Young at Heart
Walt Disney Company, the corporate home of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, is also home to such well-known characters as the Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear, and Iron Man. Disney theme parks and resorts host millions of families every year in Florida, California, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, and beyond. Millions of youngsters log onto the company's Club Penguin website or use its app to play in a unique virtual world. Disney's media empire includes the Disney Channel, ABC, ESPN, and the A E channels. Its studios turn out hit movies like Frozen and Pirates of the Caribbean. In short, with $42 billion in annual revenues, Disney knows how to use its understanding of consumer buying behavior to market to the young and the young at heart.
Club Penguin, which Disney acquired in 2007, is a fee based subscription website marketed to parents on the basis of safety and learning. Disney reassures parents that Club Penguin has safeguards to ensure that children can't use inappropriate language in their online chats, for example, and to set limits on how much time children are allowed to play in Club Penguin. Financial safety is another consideration. Parents know exactly much they'll pay for Club Penguin every month, with no surprise bills for extras. Also, Disney stresses that many Club Penguin activities have an educational element, such as fostering teamwork and creativity. For children, the top reason to join Club Penguin is sociability: They can meet new friends online, compete in team games, and exchange chat messages while they play. Whether children are steered toward Club Penguin by their parents or invited to play online by their peers, Disney reinforces these features and benefits for the purchasers (parents) and the users (children).
Families with young children are a particular target market for Walt Disney World in Orlando and other Disney theme parks. During peak periods, however, families may face long waits for popular rides. To address this inconvenience, Disney introduced the Fast Pass reservation system, allowing customers to bypass the long lines and "reserve" a spot at a top attraction later in the day. More recently, Disney began testing Magic Band, a wristband intended to streamline the park experience even further. Magic Band serves as an admission ticket and an easy way to make Fast Pass reservations in advance or on the spot. It can also unlock the user's room in a Disney hotel or resort and, when linked with a credit card, lets the user pay for food or souvenirs with a simple flip of the wrist. And because wristbands are set up individually, Disney can use the data gathered by each band to analyze where users go, and when, and to personalize the park experience by, for example, having employees greet Magic Band users by name.
Disney is expanding into graphic novels for preteen boys. In the past, parents and educators often had negative attitudes toward comic books. These days, however, graphic novels with engaging artwork, complex plots, and interesting characters are perceived as another way to encourage children to read. Libraries and schools have begun to welcome graphic novels, and some book stores now dedicate significant shelf space to graphic novels. For the Space Mountain line of graphic novels, Disney built on broad awareness of its Space Mountain theme-park ride to tell the story of space cadets on a time-travel adventure. Knowing that the reading habits of this target market are evolving, Disney released the graphic novels in both printed and electronic form.
Disney has a long line of princess characters designed to appeal to girls from toddler age through teenage. It created Sofia the First, an ordinary preteen girl turned princess, with the attitudes, interests, and aspirations of preschool children and kindergartners in mind. As shown in her popular Disney Junior cable-television program, Sofia's life changes overnight when her mother marries a king. Sofia has to adjust to being part of a step-family, living in a castle, going to a new school, and acting like a princess-challenges that combine the familiar and the magical. Little girls are drawn to Sofia's unique situation and growing self-reliance. Sofia's story also contains elements geared to adults, such as music reminiscent of famous jazz and Motown songs. No wonder parents are buying books, soundtracks, dolls, and other merchandise for their young Sofia fans.
Question for Discussion
Which social influences on the buying decision process do Disney marketing activities take into account?