THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

INTRODUCTION
The company name Disney Enterprises, Inc. / The Walt Disney Company

Fortune 500 Ranking 65th

Corporate Headquarters 500 S Buena Vista Street Burbank, Los Angeles ,California, U.S

Brief Company History The formal beginning of The Walt Disney Company was on October 16, 1923, when a New York Distributor, M. J. Winkler, agreed to release the Alice Comedies, made by Walt. The Company was initially named Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, because Walt and his brother Roy were equal partners. However, the name of the company was changed shortly after that to Walt Disney Studios, a suggestion of Roy. Mickey Mouse, the main character of the company, just came out a few years later, and gained success on 1928, when its movie was released as the first fully synchronized sound cartoon. In 1932, the first full-color cartoon made by Walts Company won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon. For the rest of that decade, the Oscar was given to a Disneys cartoon. In 1954, Walt opened to the public the first Entertainment Park, Disneyland, in California. Walt died in 1966, but the company did not stop growing. Roy Disney and successors CEOs of the company have been expanding it creating Parks and Resorts, producing consumer products based on Disney-owned properties, and creating new films and theaters productions.

The Business Line Manufacturer, Retailer and Services Provider The Market Ultimate consumer The Specialization The Walt Disney Company divides its operations into five business segments: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, and Interactive Media.They are known for Entertainment through television programs, movies and cartoons, and parks and resorts. The Names of the CEO Level Executives Robert A. Iger is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Annual Sales Volume Revenue: US $ 42.278 B (2012) Net Income: US $ 5.682 B (2012) Total asset : US $ 74.898 B (2012)

Subsidiaries

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Theatrical Walt Disney India Ltd. Pixar Animation Studios Marvel Entertainment, LLC Lucas film Ltd. LLC The Muppets Studio, LLC ABC, Inc. ESPN Inc. (80%) A&E Television Networks, Inc. (50%)

Radio Disney Hulu (27%) UTV Software Communications, Ltd.

Divisions

The Walt Disney Studios Disney Media Networks Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Disney Interactive Disney Consumer Products

SWOT ANALYSIS:-

STRENGTH
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WEAKNESS
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Worldwide known brand. Offers their customers high quality products and services.

Costs of operation are high. Company's name is still highly associated with an specific target audience - children.

It is strongly present in several branches of the entertainment industry.

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Creative and innovative ideas are required to bring and retain customers.

THREAT
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OPPORTUNITY
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Room to develop the market in emergent countries.

Strong competitors in the entertainment industry

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Expansion into different segments Develop more attractions for theme parks.

High competition on finding and affording the most creative human resources.

Increasing piracy.

Lack of protection of Intellectual

Intense competition.

property in many non-developed countries.

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Growth of entertainment in emerging market.

Expansion of movie production to new countries

Marketing Plan
The Walt Disney Company current situation on marketing takes into consideration the following characteristics: sell more to existing customers, expand their market place, continuous promotion, tracking business, and always improve or add to existing products. Disney is continuously offering goods and services for existing customers throughout their website, parks and resorts, television and cruise lines. Through these goods and services, Disney tries to capture the most as they can by expanding to strategic points in the world such as parks in China, Japan and Paris -, and also by developing structures that fit different cultures, in order to make people from different backgrounds feel comfortable with the products offered. Continuously advertising is also an enhanced marketing strategy of Dinsey the company never stops advertising, through the most various means -, making people keep the company in mind at all times. A really important fact about the companys makerting is that they know their seasons very well, and adapt marketing to it; always heavily investing in slow times, in order to have profit all year round. Moreover, Disney never stops; it embraces the change by always modifying, expanding, and creating new ways of brings the magic to customers, making their experience never be the same, and making them want to experience it again. Competitors of Disney are News Corporation, Viacom, NBC Universal and Times Warner. They compete with Disney in all the five branches. However, Disney uses marketing more focused in the family, which calls for the parents, the ones that often has the power of purchase decision; while the others call customers individually. Hence, Disney has a marketing advantage while appealing for not only children but also for the parents. But, as kids grow, establish their tastes, and have

their decisions taken into consideration by the parents while purchasing, Disney might lose market for being associated to younger children and family; while its competitors gain advantage for that reason. Constantly making parents aware and comfortable with Disney goods and services, as well as their way of advertising, in order to reach the ones that have the purchasing power, is the marketing objective of The Walt Disney Company. Disneys Marketing Strategy is: Product Strategy: Disney products involves far more the tangible good or the service; it offers the well known high quality and the worldwide known brand that the company has for years. Disney also customize all their products with specific characterists of the company, which demarcates and differentiates their products from others. Pricing Strategy: Disneys prices are not low. Although, when compared to other goods and services, taking into consideration the quality of products that Disney provides, the price is fair. Place/Distribution Strategy: Disney has its products distributed all over the world, seeking expansion of the market. The key found by Disney is to position their main attractions (parks and resorts) in places with a high flux of people, so more people can be familiar with the brand. It is possible to observe this by looking to the places of the Disneys amusement parks today: California and Florida (America), Paris (Europe), and Hong Kong and Tokyo (Asia). Promotion Strategy: Disney succeed in this area, especially in low peaks of the year. Promotion, such as low priced rooms, free or reduced tickets and items are highly utilized strategies of Disney. Disney has been recently implementing its ideas through various channels. Not only television, but internet as well has been the main means of advertising. Disney is taking actions to digitalize their content and to offer online interaction that develops customer loyalty, as children have more access to the network with the new technology. Investing in technology, Disney reach a broader market at a lower cost

people from all over the world can access Disneys website, play their games, watch their movies, shop their products, and their parents can directly book vacations. As of 2011, Disney occupied the seventh position in the Ad Age's 100 Leading National Advertisers report, with a budget of more than US$2 billion for advertising. Measurements are taken and felt by The Walt Disney Company by regionally sales of tickets, goods and services, website access, and also by surveys done yearly about consumer awareness of the brand. These measures help Disney to analyse which marketing strategy is working the best and which is not.

STRATEGIES FOR REACHING GLOBAL MARKET:The Walt Disney Company, started in California more than eight decades ago, occupies today the tenth position in the rank of the Best Global Brands. In order to achieve this position, it was necessary that the focus of Disney was not only in the market inside the United States, but in the Global Market. The company today has their worldwide known amusement parks in three different continents, stores in United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal; and licensed shops in nearly every country in the world. The Strategies used by The Walt Disney Company for Reaching Global Markets are Foreign Outsourcing, Licensing, and Direct Investment. Due to the higher wages in the United States when compared to developing countries, Disney adopted the strategy of Foreign Outsourcing to reduce the cost of production. The main factories are located in Asian countries, especially in China, and then have their products distributed to all the stores.

In order to have Walt Disney products available worldwide, Disney not only opened Disney Stores outside of the United States, but also authorized Licensees to resell their products. This approach is very beneficial for the company, in view of the low need of investment or no investment sometimes.

As said before, Disney also opened Disney Stores around the world, as well as amusement parks and resorts. This type of Strategy is called Direct Investment. This represents a high cost investment for the company; however, their control over how their business operates is maximized. As of today, Walt Disney Company has Direct

Investment Stores in five different countries and amusement parks and resorts in United States, France, Tokyo, Hong Kong and an upcoming one in Shanghai. According to Disney International website, for the past few years, their main focus has been establishing the foundations for long-term growth in the emerging markets of Latin America, Russia, India and China. (Walt Disney International, 2009). This focus has mainly been because of the economic growth of the country and consequently growth of the purchasing power of the population. Due to the change in the CEO of the company in 2005, Disney has also renewed their focus in Europe and in Japan, with the intention of serve their guests better and incorporate more local values while providing entertainment. Walt Disneys strongest competitors are News Corporation, Viacom, NBCUniversal and Time Warner. All of them are in the international market largely by Licensing. They compete with Disney in all the branches, from television to amusement park, such as Universal Studios by NBCUniversal in Hollywood, Orlando and Japan. The Barriers to International Trade faced by Disney are all kinds. Being an American company and reflecting American values and ways of life, Disney had to adapt to the Sociocultural and Economic Differences in each of their host countries. Also, Political and Legal Differences, especially Laws and Regulations, were also an obstacle to International Trade. Sociocultural Differences and Economic Differences are the easiest to perceive. The Walt Disney Company genuinely reflects American values but, in order to succeed in other countries, the company had to incorporate local customs, where appropriate, as well as stories and history of the host place. Economic Differences are also a barrier for Disneys expansion. It is important to consider the population, economic growth, per capita income, and stage of economic development, in order to determine the potential success of the business. The two newest parks (Hong Kong, opened in 2005, and Shanghai, that will open in about five years) are both located in China. China is a country that just recently acquired a high rate of economic growth and has been working on increasing the per capita income, which allows the population to spend more money in entertainment. I believe that, in the

beginning of the Walt Disney Company, opening an amusement park in China was not a top priority. However, after the rise on Chinas economy, The Wa lt Disney Company, like many others, turned their attention to the Chinese market. Another barrier for Disneys expansion were Laws and Regulations of their host countries. Each country has different laws and policies that differs, and sometimes contradicts, American laws. In order to be in Japan, France or China territory, The Walt Disney Company has to follow not only American rules, but also Japanese, French or Chinese rules, following their standards and paying their taxes. As I see, the Walt Disney Company also deals well with this barrier, printing, for example, the Disneys Code of Conduct in Chinese, trying to balance the regulations of both countries. Barriers for International Trade will always be present, in different degrees of intensity. In order for a Company to succeed, Strategies for Reaching Global Market need to be set, taking into account the obstacles of each target. SUPPLIER DIVERSITY STRATEGY The Walt Disney Company believes that Supplier Diversity is a strategic business imperative. This belief is one part of Disney's overall commitment to diversity and inclusion as stated by the CEO, Robert Iger We believe that including diverse suppliers in our sourcing process provides us the greatest opportunity to develop the most innovative, highest quality, and most cost-effective business solutions. Through direct experience, we know that inclusion of diverse suppliers in our business has enabled us to deliver business benefits that would not have been possible otherwise. We strive to ensure that our business leaders have a broad understanding of the business case for working with diverse suppliers and the competitive advantage that a robust Supplier Diversity process provides the company. We invite you to be part of the magic!

Our team of dedicated Supplier Diversity professionals engages in several activities to ensure that the diversity we find in our communities is reflected in our

supply base:

Utilization -- We assist Disney professionals in identifying minority- and woman-owned businesses capable of meeting their business requirements. Qualification -- We determine relevant MWBE business criteria such as competencies, geographical scope, capacity, etc. Due Diligence -We validate MWBE status through certification

compliance, management interviews and/or third-party research. Outreach -- We actively seek diverse suppliers through participation in national, regional and local minority-and women-owned business development organizations, advocacy groups and trade shows.

Disney's Strategic Priorities Our goal is to create the worlds best family entertainment and apply innovative technologies to raise the level of the consumer experience in a way that differentiates Disney. We call this value dynamic the Disney Difference. Across all of our businesses, Disney is focused on three strategic priorities:

Creating quality and innovative content that continues to differentiate Disney as best-in-class.

Deploying cutting edge technologies to showcase our content for early competitive advantage while enhancing the customer experience.

Expanding and adding depth to our global presence, particularly in emerging markets.

RESOURCE , CORE COMPETANCY , COMPETATIVE ADVANTAGE RESOURCES:TANGIBLE:- Cutting edge technology, media network , studios, distribution channel. INTANGIBLE:- brand name ,

CORE COMPETENCY:Content creation and control (animation and motion pictures) COMPETETIVE ADVANTAGE:Creating synergy between businesses. Creating stakeholder value through diversification.