Disney Social Media PDF

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Summary

This is an essay detailing Disney's Social media ...

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Marketing with Social Media

James Maher – R00126769 Lile McCarthy – R00125632 John Martin – R00083811 Abigail Kuyebi – R00123663

Disney was founded on the 16th of October 1923 by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Disney didn’t take its current name until 1986 and it hasn’t changed since. Disney is one of the biggest and beloved brands in the world. Disney is also one of the most profitable and wealthiest companies in the world also, with market capital of around 179.5 billon Disney isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Disney’s Social Media Presence Disney’s social media presence is amazing. They have millions of followers on all of their social media platforms. In this project we have decided to cover

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three popular social media outlets Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These networks are heavily used every single second of the day.

Disney’s Twitter Presence

Disney have more than 35 twitter accounts ranging from Disney Parks to Disney weddings. For this project we’ve decided to just focus on the main Disney Twitter page. The main Disney page has Close to 5 million followers and is constantly growing. The page only follows all Disney owned Twitter accounts such as ESPN and Marvel. The page has almost five and a half thousand tweets since August 2009. To say Disney’s Twitter presence is amazing would be an understatement. They literally have all bases covered over this social media platform. Disney’s latest films such as Finding Dory and Zootopia both have Their own pages already.

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The main problem with the Disney Twitter page is that it is only one-way communication. The admins of the page only retweet and post strictly Disney things. There is no contact between followers and the page. Even though Disney don’t respond to it’s followers when you search “Disney” on twitter there is nothing but positive remarks being made about the company. Disney are loved by all generations be it for nostalgia reasons or the love of their more modern films.

Disney fully understand how to get the most out of Twitter however. This is what makes them such a powerhouse on the social media platform. They’re constantly and consistently posting “throw backs” to old films and quotes from their most famous films to keep their older followers happy, interested and interacting with their tweets.

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Disney also use hashtags extremely effectively. They only use hashtags that other Disney Twitter pages’ use. Disney don’t over saturate their main page with hashtags however. Currently the main hashtag Disney are using is “#JungleBook” for their new film being released on the 15th of April. The closer the release date of the film is the more Disney tend to tweet about it, sort of like a twitter countdown. The actual text part of the tweets on the Disney page are always very lighthearted and uplifting also. Disney Focus on portraying a positive image very heavily.

The visual appeal of the twitter page is also amazing. Every tweet has a photo, video or gif to draw your eye. Disney are very intelligent also as they always keep up with what is currently trending on Twitter.

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Overall Disney is clearly one of the front runners in the Twitter department. They are constantly coming out with fresh content with the odd throwback to some of their previous films. Disney also has a very good strategy to not address negative comments on their main Twitter page. There’s plenty of anti Disney accounts on Twitter but none of them are noticed due to the sheer amount of retweets and likes Disney’s posts get. On average each Tweet gets five hundred retweets and one thousand likes. Disney are truly a twitter powerhouse.

Disney’s Facebook Presence 6

Today Disney’s Facebook page has currently over 50 million likes. Disney’s social media presence on Facebook is active, with videos, pictures, memes and competitions being posted almost every day at least 2/3 times a day.

Disney is very clever in how they market their brand on social media, appealing to both younger and older generations of Disney lovers they expand their potential following massively. The page is not just used for promoting and indorsing new and upcoming Disney movies but also to honour and remises on old classics. It’s this moving from old generation to new generation of Disney movies that makes the page so accessible for any age group. “We do our very best in bring you everything Disney we can think of from past, present and future.” Overall Disney’s Facebook page has a positive vibe. Posting pictures

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with heart-warming and funny captions, they bring a sense of magic and happiness to the page which is what the Disney brand is all about.

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The page also reminises and pays tribute to the brands history and old Disney classics. I think Disney’s idea of posting old aswell as new Disney movies is very clever yet important because Disney is a brand that is loved by older and younger generations and it is important that their page caters to both. Disney lovers want to be informed about Disney’s new and upcoiming ventures but also 9

love to reminise on the movies they grew up watching. It’s the old Disney classics such as Snow White, Cinderella and The Litte Mermaid that brings back memories and feelings that someone had as a child when watching them. Disneys ability to make a person relive a time in their life through their movies is extrodinary and the page makes sure to play on this advantage they have.

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Disney has to be admired for the time and effort they put into their Faceook page, posting frequently and liking comments made on their page shows they are active and take the time to give their attention and support to their followers.

A brand/business that is frequently interacting with its customers establishes a greater relationship with them and gives that brand a better understanding of what it is their customers look for. Another advantage of being a hands on and socailly active business is it gives the brand a good reputation among the public and keeps the brand name and image fresh in the consumers mind. The Disney page itself is done well and very little can be faulted. They supervise the content consistently and express how any inapproiate, off topic or objectionable content will be removed from the page immediately. The page itself however is not promoted. Disney as a brand is one of the most well known and renowned brands in the world so their following corresponds with its popularity. Disney fans are probably some of the most devoted fans in the world and has had a massive following since the beginning and will continue to have a massive following in years to come due to its timeless charm and creations. "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse." — Walter Elias

Disney

Disney’s Instagram Presence

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Disneys instagram page has over 4.5 million followers, it is not their most followed social media site by far but still has a substantial amout of followers in comparsion to its competitors such as 21 st Century Fox which only has 525k followers and Time Warner with only 14.4k. Although Disneys Instagram does not have as great a following as its Facebook or Twitter page it posts just as frequently if not more than them. This is a good move by the Disney brand because they recognise that although they do not have as big a following on instagram in comparsion to their other social media sites their attention and time towards it should not be less valuable. Their Instagram page will only increase in popularity and following if the page is updated and socially active.

Disney’s Instagram page has a similair vibe to that of their Facebook page. It only posts uplifting and amusing pictures and overall strives for a postive feel. Compared to Disney’s Facebook page which accommodates to both old and young Disney fans their Instagram seems to be catered to an older, slightly more mature demographic. This can been seen in the pictures they post . They are less cartoon orientated with more real life figures and scenes being posted instead. Perhaps this move by Disney is intentional as Instagram is more popular among a slightly older age group than Facebook would be, so they recgonise how the

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layout and content of the page must accommodate to the more mature age group. Their Instagram page is closely monitored. Disney wants to uphold the image they have of being a brand that can make people feel uplifted and strive on their Instagram page and other social media sites to capture “day to day magic”

Disney’s Competitors

Since its creation in the 1920’s the diversity of the Disney company has expanded with a range of different products in many marketplaces. The company is best known for its television production, being the largest mass media company in the world and also for its theme parks. In regards to television Disney owns the ABC Television network with 10 broadcasting 13

stations, as well as a number of cable networks, including ABC Family, Disney Channel and ESPN. Walt Disney Pictures, Disney Animation and Pixar produce films for Walt Disney Studios, and Disney also owns Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm. Its theme parks, Walt Disney World and Disneyland, are also extremely popular. Disney faces many competitors but its biggest are in media networks.

Television Competitors

The above table shows a comparison of Disney and its competitors earnings. As shows in the table Comcast is Disney’s biggest competitor.

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By revenue Comcast is the largest cable TV and broadcasting company in the world. It is Americas largest home broadband service and 3 rd largest telephone company. Comcast is a producer of films and TV programs. The company owns multiple television channels such as E! entertainment, the golf channel, and NBCSN. It also owns the universal pictures production studios and universal parks and resorts. Comcast might be the bigger money generator, but the same can be said in regards to criticism. In 2004 and 2007 Comcast was the most unsatisfactory company/organisation in the US.

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21st century fox is another mass multimedia company which competes against Disney. It can be divided into 4 sections, cable programming, television, film and satellite television. The company primarily consists of media and broadcasting and operates internationally, with Australian channels such as Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia. The company was formed in 1979 by a divide in the news corp company.

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Time Warner Inc is a multinational media company based in New York. In terms of turnover Time Warner Inc is the 3rd biggest television company in the world. Its branches include HBO, The CW Television Network, New Line Cinema, Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros., Boomerang, CNN, Adult Swim, DC Comics, and Cartoon Network Studios, all of which are major competitors for Disney Company and its own branches.

Viacom are an American based cinema and cable TV company. As shown in the table on page 2 it is the 5th largest company of its kind in terms of revenue. Viacom holds a vast amount of assets in film production, television production and television networks. Its most popular film production includes paramount pictures, comedy central films, nickelodeon films, and MTV Films. Its television section includes MTV productions, Nickelodeon production, and Teen Nick. Its TV networks include the very popular MTV, VH1, and comedy central. 17

CBS is another American based mass media company who specialise in commercials and TV production. Originally CBS was called Viacom, but a split in the company meant the spinoff company was to take the Viacom name while the original company changed to CBS .

Walt Disney Park and Resort Competitors One of Disney’s greatest creations was its chain of theme parks. It owns Walt Disney world Florida and California and owns 51% of Disney Land Paris. The company owns 47% of Disney world Hong Kong and earns royalties in Tokyo Disney. Disney world which includes hotels, golf courses, water parks and resorts is Americas leading tourist spot.

6 Flags Entertainment Corp

The company is the second largest theme park company in the world behind Disney. Over 25 Million people come to visit their 19 locations every year. 6 flags license characters from DC and warner bros such as batman and looney tunes.

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Seaworld entertainment

Owned by Blackstone group, Seaworld owns 11 parks throughout the US with its headquarters based in Florida.

Universal Parks and Studios

The company’s parks are best known for their gaming, cinema and music attractions and are the 3rd largest company of its kind in the world.

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Recommendations for Disney: The following are our recommendations for Disney on improving their social media presence. Disney seem to have an already huge social media presence with millions of followers on every platform. These are some of the thing we think Disney could improve on.

 Facebook:

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 Disney can improve their Facebook page by getting their page to appear first when people look up the word Disney.  Disney can improve their communication skills with their viewers by replying to comments and interacting with people who like there page.

Twitter: We think it is important to note that Disney’s content on twitter gets more likes and retweets when its more artsy and DIY rather than when it’s a person speaking on a topic, so they should concentrate more on that aspect when uploading video content to their twitter.

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Disney can also use their poll function to gage what their followers want to see and receive helpful feedback

Instagram:  Disney can use the use of the hashtag more in there post as hashtags are a great way for people to find your post.

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 Disney can also reply to their comments on their Instagram pictures to engage more with their followers.

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YouTube:  We recommend that Disney work with YouTube to get their channel to appear first when people look up the word “Disney” in the YouTube search browser.

 We recommend that Disney have its most popular video playing when you click onto its home page on YouTube.

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Summary Overall we recommend that Disney improve their interaction with their followers and reply to them on a more regular basis. Also we recommend that Disney’s official page should appear first when people search for their pages. Disney have their social media completely under control and in a very good position but with a few improvements we believe that they could be even better.

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