The Walt Disney Company, which is mostly known as Disney is a multinational mass media conglomerate, with headquarters in Burbank-California. Today, it is the world’s second-largest mass media conglomerate. Having been found in 1923 by the Disney brothers, it has established a credible name for itself in the ever-expanding American Animation Industries. The Disney company has mostly created family-oriented content and also has divisions that deal in merchandise, publishing, and ABC’s television network. The following are a few critical aspects that allow The Disney Company to overpower its competitors in the mass media industry.
Insider ownership and the tenured management system
Insider stock buying at Disney is quite high, with 7% of the estimated number. The ‘insiders’ have a high percentage of the share as opposed to the ‘outsiders.’ Of course, some complexities come along with owning such large shares in the second largest mass media company in the world. The insider buying and selling are highly beneficial for the stocks because they know better about the company’s brushes and folds deep within the organization.
Simply put, diversifications and acquisitions are not an asset and are only beneficial when the management operates at maximum level. Disney’s management team is highly efficient (Ford et al., 2012). The efficiency of the administration can be seen by how Iger maintained his tenure at Disney as CEO. The company has taken a top spot as per the S&P 500 price % changes. It is safe to say that Disney’s team is highly committed, and the ESPN business also enjoys the same level of adulation by the target market.
Product-Focused Strategies
The company has a generic strategy that allows it to overpower others. To elaborate, it uses differentiation in its products to promote competitiveness; it will enable the customers to buy entertainment products that focus on the family segment of the target market. The Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development Inc. subpart focuses on uniqueness and quality of the products (Spry & Lukas, 2016). Disney’s theme parks and resorts are also unique and give the company place for accelerated growth in terms of placing a growth strategy to meet product focused strategic objectives (Hong, 2009).
Disney is also active in releasing new content that corresponds to the merchandise that it releases. Ever since its advent, it has focused on entertaining the audiences with its unique attributes. Their marketing strategies are also part of the marketing mix; they include reinforcing the uniqueness of the brand’s name. To note, Disney does not make use of market development while growing its existing products. It has achieved immense success by entering new markets and opening “Disneyland” amusement parks.
The Recent Changes
Nowadays the company has shifted towards a ‘direct-to-customer’ form of distribution that will have an upside. The FY18/19 reports have released the strong foothold that the resorts and parks have on the future growth and earnings. Looking at the market changes that Netflix has brought, and the direct-to-consumer services’ advantage, The Disney Company has improved its impact as the leading media company. It is highly probable that Disney will also amalgamate the trends that Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO have introduced as streaming sources.
References
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Ford, R.C., Edvardsson, B., Dickson, D. and Enquist, B., 2012. Managing the innovation co-
Creation challenges: Lessons from service exemplars Disney and IKEA. Organizational Dynamics, 41(4), pp.281-290.
Hong, W.C., 2009. Global competitiveness measurement for the tourism sector. Current Issues
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Ouma, G., & Oloko, M. (2015). The relationship between Porter’s generic strategies and
competitive advantage. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, III, 6, 1058-1092.
Spry, A., & Lukas, B. A. (2016). Brand Portfolio Architecture and Firm Performance: The
Moderating Impact of Generic Strategy. In Looking Forward, Looking Back: Drawing on the Past to Shape the Future of Marketing (pp. 866-867). Springer International Publishing.