Disney Consumer Products: Marketing Nutritionto ChildrenHarvard Business School Case

You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world.But it takes people to make the dream a reality…

History :• 1923-Debut of Mickey Mouse• 1932-Licensing became a formal business unit• 1950-Expansion beyond film and television• 1954-Debut in first television program• 1955-Opened Disneyland in California• 1980s to 1990s-Renaissance of Disney animation• 1984-Focus on entertainment assets• 2004-The obesity epidemic• 2006-Launching the offerings of fresh fruits

Valuation :

In the year 2005,

The Walt Disney Company

was a $32 billion company

along with the net income of

$2.5 billion in the same year

Mickey Mouse :This character has a worth of

$5.8 billion and

almost 96% kids

around the globe are familiar to this character

Winnie the Pooh :This character has a worth of

$5.6 billion and

almost 92% kids

around the globe are familiar to this character

Disney Consumer Products• 2005-Leading Licensor of Character Driven Entertainment brands• World wide retail sales of worth

$21 billion

Problems faced by the DCP :

30% of the American kids are

OVERWEIGHT!

Problems faced by the DCP :

14% of the American kids are

OBESE!

Problems faced by the DCP :People criticised the DCP because ofcontributing to the

OBESITYEPIDEMIC!

Problems faced by the DCP :Government imposed rules on Broadcasters asking not to encourage

excessive junk food consumption!

Self-Evaluation and Elevation :All the problems and the challenges the DCP faced, they took them as

new Opportunities and reconsidered its range of food products

Self-Evaluation and Elevation :• IN 2004, DCP BRANDED FOOD PRODUCTS ACCOUNTED FOR LESS THAN

1% OF THE CHILDREN FOOD MARKET

• In winter 2004, DCP conducted research to discover if Disney brand equity would transfer to a line of children food products

Self-Evaluation and Elevation :• DCP discovered that there was a gap between food children requested and foods their mothers are willing to buy for them

• Peer pressure & advertising strongly influence kids. They demand national or character-driven products

Self-Evaluation and Elevation :• Moms associate disney strongly with magic-even when it comes to food

• The products need to make kids feel special and must be non-patronizing and mom-approved

Company approaches towards creating Disney Food Products :• Offer products that already had broad appeal• Take products that were already healthy and make them more “fun”• Use packaging to inspire product sampling

Marketing Strategies :

• To differentiate commodities such as peaches and apples, plu stickers were adorned with Disney characters

• A lunch box program where fruit and vegetables would be packed in 3-ounce bags.

Competitors :

Nickelodeon

• Top rated U.S. basic cable network since 1996• Sales of Darling clementine's increased by almost 25% after the Dora and SpongeBob characters were added to the product packaging• In June 2006,They Extended Fresh Fruit And Vegetable Line To Apples, Pears And Carrots

Competitors :

Del Monte Foods

• Pre-schoolers' consumption of broccoli increased by 28% when branded with a Sesame Street character

Competitors :

Warner Bros.

• Cool cut ready snacks package contained two, 2-ounce packages each of grapes, apples and carrots

Challenges :

• Pricing and Value• Legacy• Competition• Growth and Distribution

Conclusion :It has never been easy for Disney to change the market taste, because it would take a long time to replace the old habit into a new one. So, it is expected that There must be coordination between Disney and its stakeholder to get the objectives done that Disney wants.

Thank You!

Disclaimer :Created by:Arindam Gohain, NIT Silchar,During the Marketing Internship under the strict Supervision of respected Prof. Sameer MathurSir,IIM Lucknow.