Preview

Tokya Disneyland , Disney in Asia

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1290 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tokya Disneyland , Disney in Asia
Beyond Tokyo: Disney’s Expansion in Asia

DISNEY IN ASIA

Early in 1999, Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, voiced his opinions concerning potential markets for his firm’s entertainment products and services. A major thrust for the new millenium would be development in Asia.

• We could be getting close to the time for a major Disney attraction in the world’s most populous nation.”

The Walt Disney Company, Annual Report, 1998.

• “I am completely confident that Chinese people love Mickey no less than they love a Big Mac.”

Statement by Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, during a trip to China in January 1999, Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News, 16 June 1999.

INTERNATIONAL THEME PARKS AND RESORTS: DISNEY EXPERIENCE
Tokyo Disneyland
[pic]

Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris)

[pic]
DISNEY AND CHINA IN THE 1990s

Relations between the Disney Company and the government of China had not been particularly tranquil in recent years.

Disney held firm on its position on the movie. “Disney’s potential business in China is infinite. But Disney has to decide whether it wants to facilitate business or stand for free speech.”

Not all of Disney’s relationships with China were negative however. The liberalization of China’s markets had generated benefits for the firm. ‘The Lion King’ had brought in almost $4 million in 1996 and the soundtrack had sold 1.4 million copies.

POTENTIAL OF THE ASIAN MARKET

Building and investing in a multi-billion dollar theme park would represent another major, long-term commitment for The Walt Disney Company. Therefore, much research and planning were involved in this decision. In addition to the attractiveness of each of the remaining cities, Shanghai and Hong Kong, the market characteristics of the demand for theme park experiences by the Chinese people would have to be carefully evaluated.

Although the success of the Tokyo Disney theme park would strengthen the case for

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dahl Make Up Quiz Disney

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Michael Eisner maintained Disney’s core values of quality, creativity, entrepreneurship, and teamwork and expanded the business. He pushed the business to take new approaches and fostered an environment where financial and creative segments had to work together in unison to achieve goals. Eisner saw the…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This research paper will analyze the acquisition and merger of Pixar by Disney. It will evaluate the strategy that led to the merger and acquisition, and will determine whether or not this merger was a wise choice. This paper will also discuss Target Corporation since it has not been involved in any mergers or acquisitions. It will analyze how Best Buy would be a profitable candidate for Target to acquire or merge with, and will explain why Best Buy would be a profitable target. Since Disney operates internationally, it will evaluate its international business-level strategy and international corporate-level strategy. It will also make recommendations for improvement. This paper will propose one business-level strategy and corporate-level strategy that I would consider for Target since it does not operate internationally.…

    • 2123 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Chinese market is quite attractive to western companies, including the Disney Company. However, Chinese children are not like American kids who have spent time with Disney cartoons, Disney toys, and Disneyland. So the Disney Company decided to make a…

    • 2046 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Disney Asia

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With its large population, and low number of theme parks, Asia is an attractive location for Disney. Already, the company has been successful in Tokyo. While its park in Hong Kong has been less profitable, the company believes that further expansion into the region is worthwhile. However, the company faces a number of cultural challenges that must be overcome. Certainly language poses a problem for the company. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the company has chosen to be trilingual for example. In addition to dealing with language differences, Disney must also tailor other components to meet the local needs. The Hong Kong location includes more covered space to allow people to enjoy the park without dealing with the region’s rainy weather, special gardens for picture taking that appeal to the preferences of tourists visiting the park have been created, and the menu has been adapted to local preferences. Plans for the Shanghai location will incorporate Chinese cultural features as well as more traditional Disney themes.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Attached is a report that compares the three candidate cities that we as a group chose to host a new Disney theme park (Expansion). The cities that we selected are Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia, Barcelona – Spain and Istanbul – Turkey. In this report there will be brief information related to each country to see what are the advantages and disadvantages that are faced. The selection criteria will implement Kepner Tregoe’s decision analysis model and will recommend the best country for the expansion. Problems that are found about the countries will be put in Kepner’s situational analysis appraisal to determine what will be the high priority of concern. Not only will this report focus on picking the best country, it will also lean into more information regarding a list of factors required for the park’s success in its new location.…

    • 3659 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Bibliography: Ethical Issues Faced by Disney Walt in Overseas Market. (2011, May 18). Retrieved from Scholarly Articles Research: http://scholarly-articles-research.blogspot.com/2011/05/ethical-issues-faced-by-disney-walt-in.html…

    • 4105 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Walt Disney Company determined not only stopped the construction of production facilities in the domestic market, the company also expanded into countries such as: England, France, China, Japan, Taiwan, ...…

    • 2286 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    5. Why did success in Tokyo predispose Disney management to be too optimistic in their expectations of success in France? In China? Discuss.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Disney Asia

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bus 162 Team 4: Beyond Tokyo: Disney’s Expansion in Asia 1. What cultural challenges are posed by Disney’s expansion into Asia? How are these different from those in Europe? Answer: With its large population, and relatively low number of theme parks, Asia is a tremendously attractive location for Disney. Already, the company has been successful in Tokyo. While its park in Hong Kong has been less profitable, the company believes that further expansion into the region is worthwhile. However, the company faces a number of cultural challenges that must be overcome. Certainly language poses a problem for the company. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the company has chosen to be trilingual for example. In addition to dealing with language differences, Disney must also tailor other components to meet the local needs. The Hong Kong location includes more covered space to allow people to enjoy the park without dealing with the region’s rainy weather, special gardens for picture taking that appeal to the preferences of tourists visiting the park have been created, and the menu has been adapted to local preferences. Plans for the Shanghai location will incorporate Chinese cultural features as well as more traditional Disney themes. 2. How do cultural variables influence the location choice of theme parks around the world? Answer: Disney’s parks first and foremost promote Disney characters and themes. Visitors to the parks want to experience the Magical Kingdom. In Asia, Disney has encouraged acceptance and desire for all things Disney by exposing the population to its characters, films, and other products over time. This type of strategy facilitates the company’s efforts to then market its theme parks and reduces the need to customize its products and services. Disney does adapt some aspects of its park to meet the needs of locals, but is committed to standardizing other elements across cultures. 3. Why was Disney’s Shanghai theme park so controversial? What are the risks and…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Strat Case

    • 808 Words
    • 1 Page

    "The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world."…

    • 808 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Case Studies

    • 5711 Words
    • 23 Pages

    I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse. -Walt Disney On a beautiful March day in Orlando, Andy Berst strolled down Main Street at the Magic Kingdom contemplating a new project proposal. Andy, the Director of Finance for Hong Kong Disneyland, had spent the last four years developing and preparing for the launch of Disney’s newest park on Lantau Island in 2005. It was now 2003, and as he prepared to move to his new office in Hong Kong, he received a call from CEO Michael Eisner’s office to discuss the possibility of a new venture in Shanghai. Berst, like many higher managers with the company, knew that Disney was interested in breaking into mainland China for several years. On the other hand, he also knew that Disney had never built a park in a communist country, or what could be considered an emerging market. However, with the recent announcement from rival Universal-Vivendi confirming their intentions to build a Universal Shanghai to open approximately the same time as Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney executives were anxious for their own counter-strike in the mainland. As he walked towards Cinderella’s Castle, Andy’s mind began to work out the details of a Shanghai…

    • 5711 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    After opening the most successful Theme park in Tokyo, Disney thought that they should open another one in Europe. They chose Paris as it is the favourite capital of travelling destinations and in the heart of Western Europe. The first problem that they faced was not having done any adaptation to the European customers’ needs which were different from the Americans’. What Disney has already done at the opening was giving a shot at the same approach than for Japan and investing equity and more money in Paris’ multicultural park.…

    • 5152 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For more than nine decades, the name Walt Disney has been pre-eminent in the field of family entertainment. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to today's global corporation, The Walt Disney Company continues to proudly provide quality entertainment for every member of the family, across America and around the world.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hong Kong Disney

    • 621 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Given that their products are one of their strongest strategic assets, the Disney Company failed to adapt their products to the Chinese people. The Chinese people were not very familiar with Disney and all of its characters that it introduced to them. This unfamiliarity made it hard for the people to relate to and connect with the things throughout the park. Had Disney done a better job in…

    • 621 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The venture into Hong Kong by Walt Disney was a simple example of a large successful western company not doing its homework. The case presents a clear picture of the importance of understanding a foreign market thoroughly before doing business there. Several factors led to an unsuccessful first year of operations and a majority of these factors could have been avoided with a better cultural understanding in the planning stages. One of the culture differences that was obvious to Disney was the fact that the children are not familiar with the Disney characters. Disney has established its brand and is a marketing poster child in the United States, however this advantage goes out the window in a country such as china that has sheltered itself from the outside world until recently. Disney thought that making a meager attempt at introducing the characters before the launch of the park would help, however familiarity isn’t synonymous with brand attachment. As listed in Global Marketing Management by Kotable & Helson, “Cultural Distance” is one of the six external criteria for choosing a mode of entry into a foreign territory, which was not accounted for by Disney. Cultural distance also recognizes the fact that different cultures have different expectations. This was also the case with China. As stated in the case, “for the tourists of Mainland China, going to Hong Kong means a shopping experience, and so they choose the cheaper alternative to Hong Kong Disneyland…” The case goes on to allude to the fact that the culture in China is one about dollars and cents – when a Chinese person spends his/her money, they are more interested in what they are physically getting. This is very…

    • 1118 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays