Eurodisney Case Study-Hong Kong y Eurodisney PDF

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International Marketing 4º Grado en MarketingÍndexWhat factors contributed to EuroDisney ́s por performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney ́s poor performance during its first year?........................................................................

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Joaquín Loabco Parra International Marketing 4º Grado en Marketing

Índex What factors contributed to EuroDisney´s por performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney´s poor performance during its first year?...................................................................................................2 To what degree do you consider that these factors were foreseeable and controllable by Euro Disney, Hong Kong Disney, or the parent Company, Disney?..........................3 What role does ethnocentrism play in the story of Euro Disney’s launch?...................3 How do you assess the cross-cultural marketing skills of Disney?...............................3 Why did success in Tokyo predispose Disney management to be too optimistic in its expectations of success in France?.............................................................................4 Why do you think the experience in France didn´t help Disney avoid some of the problems in Hong Kong? Do you think the Shanghai park will be benefit, as it is now open?........................................................................................................................4 Assume you are consultant hired to give Disney advice on the issue of where and when to go next. Pick three locations and select the one you think will be the best new location for “Disneyland X”. Discuss. Given your choice of locale X for the newest Disneyland, what are the operational implications of the history of the four Disney parks abroad for the new park?.................................................................................4

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Joaquín Loabco Parra International Marketing 4º Grado en Marketing What factors contributed to Euro Disney’s por performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney´s poor performance during its first year? 

There were a number of factors that contributed to Euro Disney's poor performance during the first year of operation, including the following: o Many families were reluctant to spend the money it cost to enjoy the park's attractions for a day. o The price of the hotels within the Disney park was very high, which caused that many visitors to the park did not stay to sleep in it. o The lack of attendance of people to the park. During 1992 the park only received 9.2 million visitors. o Park visitors spent 12% less than estimated on product purchases. o The hostility of the French to the "Disney idea" o Restriction of alcohol, as the French are one of the main consumers of wine during meals. o Lack of identification with American characters. o Disney executives had been wrongly informed that Europeans do not have breakfast.

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Several factors contributed to Euro Disney's poor performance during the first year of business, including: o The size of the park, many of the visitors complained that it was small. o Its lack of attractiveness, which failed to enthuse visitors, as they expected to spend a happy day in the park with the family, forgetting everything and feeling as if they were in a fairy tale. o Another reason for Disney's poor performance in Hong Kong was that the park was not very different from other existing theme parks in China. o The lack of classic Disney attractions in Hong Kong´s park compared to Paris. o Lack of identification with the Disney characters.

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Joaquín Loabco Parra International Marketing 4º Grado en Marketing To what degree do you consider that these factors were foreseeable and controllable by Euro Disney, Hong Kong Disney, or the parent Company, Disney? Foreseeable factors: 

Lack of differentiation of the park with respect to others in China.

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The price of hotels within the Disney park was very high, so many of the visitors to the park could not afford to spend that money.

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The size of the park, as many of the visitors complained that it was small.

All these factors were foreseeable since they could have been solved to a large extent by opening marketing offices in the different cities where the parks were to be opened and having carried out a previous market study. Controllable factors: 

Another reason for Disney's poor performance in Hong Kong was that the park was not very different from other existing theme parks in China.

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The lack of classic Disney attractions in the Hong Kong park compared to Paris.

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Restriction of alcohol, since the French drink wine with their food.

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Disney executives had been wrongly informed that Europeans do not eat breakfast.

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All factors related to food and drink.

All these factors were controllable since, to a large extent, they could have been solved by previously analyzing the customs of each country and allowing the marketing offices that later opened to be in charge of marketing these parks as they did. What role does ethnocentrism play in the story of Euro Disney’s launch? In this case, ethnocentrism plays a very important role since at first they thought that everything that worked in the Disney parks of the United States would work in the same way in Europe or Asia, they did not take into account that the customs of each country are different each other and that you have to keep them in mind when expanding to other countries. In this case, they thought that by the mere fact of calling themselves Disney they would have guaranteed success, since until then it had worked for them, but upon arriving in Hong Kong and Paris they realized that not only is it enough to call themselves Disney, but it is also necessary to adapt to the customs of each country. How do you assess the cross-cultural marketing skills of Disney? The way I see it, I don't think they have developed a good marketing strategy because a company of Disney's size is expected to have these types of skills perfectly developed and, however, it seems that they were not taken very into seriously the different cultural aspects that must be taken into account when expanding not only to other 3

Joaquín Loabco Parra International Marketing 4º Grado en Marketing countries, but also to other continents where the customs and the way of being and behaving in society are totally different.

Rather, they thought that simply by being Disney they would have guaranteed success. When doing business in another country you have to take into account the various cultural factors and not think that a strong brand is enough to succeed. Why did success in Tokyo predispose Disney management to be too optimistic in its expectations of success in France? The success of Tokyo predisposed Disney's management to be overly optimistic about success in France, since what they had done in Tokyo was to move a theme park from the United States to Japan without modifying anything. This worked due to the attachment of the Japanese to Disney characters, also in the first year they exceeded the expectations of visitors and the opening of the park was perceived as the largest cultural event in Japan during the 80s. All these factors were determining for that Disney executives thought that the Disney park in Paris would be the same and would be another resounding success, but they did not take into account the contempt of the French towards American fairy tales. Why do you think the experience in France didn´t help Disney avoid some of the problems in Hong Kong? Do you think the Shanghai park will be benefit, as it is now open? In my opinion I think that the experience in France did not help to avoid some of the problems of the park in Hong Kong. Realizing the mistakes they had made in France, they tried to apply the same remedies in Hong Kong, in the sense of adapting to the local culture, but they encountered other problems such as lack of knowledge of Disney characters and lack of differentiation of the park. They should have given an argument of value and differentiation that allowed them to stand out from other theme parks in China. I believe that the Shanghai park will be successful as Disney already has experience in Asia and this time before launching to open a new theme park they will have taken into account all the mistakes made in the past. Assume you are consultant hired to give Disney advice on the issue of where and when to go next. Pick three locations and select the one you think will be the best new location for “Disneyland X”. Discuss. Given your choice of locale X for the newest Disneyland, what are the operational implications of the history of the four Disney parks abroad for the new park? Australia, Mexico and Qatar are the three locations I would choose to open a new Disney park. Australia:

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Joaquín Loabco Parra International Marketing 4º Grado en Marketing Australia I have chosen it because it is an English-speaking country with which it will be much easier to transfer many of the aspects of Disney in America to the country, it is also close to Asia, but far from the rest of locations where Disney has theme parks of this way they will not cannibalize each other, it is currently the sixth largest country in the world and receives more than 9 million visitors each year.

Another reason why I would choose this location is that Australia has previously collaborated with Disney for the filming of several of its films, and in the past there was already an attempt to open a Disney park in the country, but ultimately this project failed. It was carried out. The handicap of opening a park in Australia is that it would have to be in one of the cities where the winter weather is not as harsh as the south of the country. México: I have chosen Mexico since it is currently the sixth most populated country in the world with an estimated population of more than 129 million people, it is the country with the highest number of Spanish speakers, and a considerable factor to take into account is that they are already familiar with the characters of Disney since several of these have starred in several very successful films such as Coco and also many of the cultural elements of the country fit well enough with what Disney represents. A handicap of this election would be that this park would be cannibalized with the United States since Mexico and the United States are very close. Qatar: I have chosen Qatar since most of its inhabitants are foreigners who work and live there, and today it is one of the richest countries in the world thanks to natural gas, which has made the country the one with the highest per capita income in the world. world. Another reason why I have chosen it is that as in the case of Australia, if a park was opened in Qatar, it would not be cannibalized with any other of those that are currently open, it also maintains very close relations with various western countries and Asians. Today Qatar is a country very open to tourism and within the Arab countries it is the most western, the main handicap that this country has is that in summer the temperatures are quite high so it would be advisable to build the park in an enclosed area in such a way that it is avoided to reach the high temperatures that are registered in summer. The country that I would choose from among the three options that I have given would be Australia since it is the one that, being further away from the rest of the current parks, would avoid the risk of cannibalization and where it would be easier to transfer many aspects of Disney. In this case, before opening the park they will have to have a marketing office in the country that is in charge of managing the park together with the offices in the United States, they will also have to take into account the culture of the country and carry out a market study To avoid that the park is not different from the ones that currently exist

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Joaquín Loabco Parra International Marketing 4º Grado en Marketing in Australia, in this case they also have a certain advantage since Disney has previously already been in the country even through the movie studios.

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