Branding Lessons From Disney: Experiencing the Disneyside

I am a massive Disney fan. Last night I watched the Oscars only to cheer on this years offering Frozen.

Last week we went to Disneyland for a day and it taught me a lot about marketing and brand value.

I hate to be crude, but here is look at our easily tracked expenses (not including bottles of water and meals in the park). We paid $400 for a night at Disneyland’s cheapest hotel. Add in over $80 for a character breakfast for two the next morning and then just under $300 for two-park hopper passes for the day.

Why?

Well, it sure as hell was not because it was the only hotel room in Anaheim. There were rooms listed near the park for about $70. You can have breakfast of about the same quality at Denny’s for under $20 for two people and two passes to Knott’s Berry Farm Amusement park run about $125.

Could we have had a cheaper day?

Yup. The numbers don’t lie, we could have saved a lot of money that day. Why didn’t’ we? Well, we wanted to let our Disneyside out.

Our trip to Disneyland taught me something valuable about brands and value, Disney Parks are much like luxury products. You are not paying the value of the actual product; you are paying for the experience.

Yes, the hotel room was nice. It was on par with the Holiday Inn we stayed at the last time we went to Disneyland. But, at Holiday Inn you do not get the Disney Experience. They don’t care if you are celebrating at Holiday Inn that is not their job. At Disney they ask and are equipped with things like buttons so that when their cast members pass you in the park they take time out of their day to greet you (I was given a Happy Birthday pin, EVERY Disney Cast Member stopped to greet me like I was a GD princess).

If we had stayed at the Holiday Inn we would not have had an “extra hour of magic at the Park”. Seriously, this was a big selling point. A very pricy experience, but one many people are willing to fork out the dough to have.

The details were key. From the Mickey Mouse emblems throughout the room to the wake-up call from the mouse himself staying at a Disney hotel is about the magical experience.

At Disneyworld in Florida there are more options (price wise) for staying at Disney. This is because more land was snatched up around the property in Orlando for accommodations, this did not happen in Anaheim. This is a fascinating thing to me, but maybe not to you (unless you are launching a theme park). I will skip the details here and say you can save money by staying outside of Disney properties in Florida too (maybe not as much though).

Who wants to wait in line to meet a Mouse? Lots of people, so to ensure we got our photos we were pleased to spend inordinate amounts of money on a character breakfast. At 7:30am we lined up to access our reservation and meet Mickey himself. Throughout the meal Pluto, Minnie and Stitch made their ways over to our table for a picture. $80 later we were off to the park. After spending those pretty pennies we agreed to not wait in line for character interactions.

Just in case you are wondering, the line to see Merinda from Disney’s ‘Brave’ was 30 minutes. The line to see Elsa and Anna from 2013’s ‘Frozen’ was 120 minutes (at least). Insider tip: send someone to wait before the station opens in the morning or you will be waiting for two hours. Clearly, we did not wait.

Now, what really says the most to me about the Disney brand is that it is not necessarily a high quality brand. I am a Disney lover, but I am the first to concede that some of their stuff is crap. That is the way it has always been. Even in Walt’s days there was something to fit into every budget. Today, Dollar Stores are lined with cheap Disney merch. But, places like Disney Stores sell better quality items and even high-end luxury items because there are people out there that forever identify with the brand and will buy them.

This is brilliant. From the child who saves his or her nickels and dimes to the grown-ass woman who sports a Mickey Mouse designer handbag, there is an experience for everyone.  You can see the quality differences from the kitschy crap items sold at throw-away clothes stores like Forever 21 and an actual Disney Store clothing item, but people don’t care. That is not what it is about.

Disney rides are not the most intense rides out there; you are not going to find the most daring rides at the park. In fact, you most likely won’t have to wait that long to go on those rides. The longest wait times I have seen in the parks are for either new rides (sometimes) or story rides.  If you have seen the line for Fantasyland rides like ‘Peter Pan’s Flight’ you know exactly what I am talking about. Again, the experience is key here not the actual ride.

Disney offers an experience for their uber fans that will never bore of in the parks finding things like “hidden Mickeys” and hosting events for their annual pass holders. But, they also offer magical experiences for those young and old who only have occasional access to the parks. They are continuously innovating to find new ways to improve and offer a constantly different experience.

I do not think we need to get too much into films here. I think Disney’s incredible list of animated films speaks for itself. The 90s were an amazing period to grow up in with Disney’s animated films. They were more than cartoons; they were an expansion on the genre. Back then there was a huge gap in the field. It was like a NHL team playing against Junior B players, thanks for coming out. Disney continues to innovate with film and bring the magic we all experienced as children to the next generation. BOOM! Instant lifelong fans.

What can your brand learn from Disney?

The lesson here is not that you should have a dollar store and designer brand offering (that is not realistic for every brand).

The lesson here is to have an inclusive marketing plan that attracts people to your brand for the experience. If you can give them something they will appreciate when they only have pennies there is a better chance they will stick with you when they have gold.

Radio: If you can deliver a product that is free, informative and entertaining why would your local listeners (or online listeners) ever pay for satellite radio?

Think about the impression you leave on the listener and their experience. Put yourself in their shoes, and like Disney, craft experiences for them that are detail orientated and magical.

Launch campaigns like Disney’s show your ‘Disneyside’ (#Disneyside) to get your fans to do the marketing for you. Word of mouth is the fastest way to spread the word about you and your brand, give your cult like followers something to tweet/talk about!

Keep innovating! You never know when the Dreamworks in your life will release a Shrek! Or maybe you’re Universal, find your Gru and get to it!