Contemporary Business 14th Edition by Louis Boone, David Kurtz

تمرين 3

Disney XD TV: Marketing to Boys Disney marketing aimed at young girls-the "Princesses" products, the Jonas Brothers, High School Musical-has been highly successful, although the Disney Channel audience is 40 percent male. (Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story have sequels in the works.)In the United States alone, 30 million males are from 5 to 19 years old. Worldwide, boys (or their parents) spend $50 billion every year on clothes, toys, and videogames.Recently, Disney bought Marvel Entertainment, hoping that Marvel's superheroes would bolster Disney's XD TV channel. Aimed at boys but not excluding girls, the channel offers animation, action-adventure, comedy, movies, sports-themed shows, and music videos. The Disney XD Web site has games, videos, and TV episodes.How did Disney research a demographic that is known to be reluctant to talk about feelings? It hired a team of social scientists, who learned the following:
• Boys identify with protagonists who are trying to grow and want to see more characters like themselves in TV shows.
• Boys personalize their skateboards on the underside and carry them so the tag shows.
• Boys like to share small accomplishments.
• Boys shuttle quickly from one activity to another, moving among TV, videogames, sports, and so on.
• Boys want more variety and authenticity in TV shows aimed at them, not merely all action or all cartoons.Disney implemented these results, for instance, by adding a trophy room to the games page at the XD Web site and by advising its actors to carry their skateboards so the tagging showed, for realism. Viewership at XD increased more than 25 percent-but most of the new audience was girls. Boys aged 6 to 14 increased only 10 percent. The economic downturn also hurt advertising, but Rich Ross, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide, was not discouraged. "We've seen cultural resonance, and it doesn't come overnight," he said.
-What steps can Disney take to increase viewership of Disney XD among boys?