1. Disney Epcot’s Media Marketing Strategy
By: Shelby Wallach
Slide 1: Epcot is one of four theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort. Epcot sprawls
across 300 acres and is divided into the Future World and World Showcase. Future
World is full of sensational attractions as well as inspiring entertainment and shows.
World Showcase is a collection of pavilions that wrap around the World Showcase
Lagoon. Inside the pavilions one can find shops, attractions and restaurants that represent
the culture and cuisine of 11 countries. No matter which World one visits, in Epcot,
creativity is encouraged, imagination is celebrated and countries are united.
Slide 2: After researching Epcot, these three challenges took precedence. All are
changeable and can be starting points to achieve great business goals. First, reaching an
audience of all ages is extremely important. Often parents plan family vacations, and a
great deal of Disney World’s advertisements are geared towards younger children.
Although children nagging their parents to go to Disney World and visit Epcot can be
effective, a more strategic approach would be to market towards an adult audience as
well as children. Second, common knowledge of the park needs to be increased. Many
visitors think that Magic Kingdom is the biggest attraction at Disney World. Epcot is
actually twice the size of Magic Kingdom. It has more restaurants, shows, entertainment,
live performers and attractions than any other park at Disney World. Epcot has pavilions
featuring Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco,
France, United Kingdom and Canada. Third, expanding the visitor base is essential. If the
visitor base can be extended past families, it will be easier to maintain a steady flow of
visitors year round. Epcot needs to highlight that it is a destination for corporate events
and working professionals in addition to families, so that the fall and winter seasons are
just as busy as their peak season of summer.
Slide 3: First, the goal of increasing social media use relates back to all three of the
previous challenges. Social media can be utilized in aiding the challenges of reaching an
audience of all ages, common knowledge of the park and expanding the visitor base. In
addition, increasing the amount of park visitors (customers) that come to Epcot is a
critical goal. Finally, making Epcot more accessible as a vacation or work destination is a
primary objective as well.
Slide 4: Pictures
Slide 5: By increasing social media usage, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can reach an
audience of older customers assisting in the first challenge listed. The majority of social
media users are teenagers and adults. Posting promotions and travel deals on these sites
will reach the target age group of mainly parents, who typically are the vacation planners.
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can also help with the challenge of increasing common
knowledge of the park. Daily tweets can be sent out that have fun facts of Epcot and the
day’s entertainment and live performers. The Facebook page can include everything the
park has to offer along with pictures that current vacationers or potential vacationers can
scroll through to gain a better understanding of the park. In addition, the challenge of

2. expanding the visitor base can be solved through social media, using LinkedIn in
particular. Although Twitter and Facebook can still be used, LinkedIn already has a target
audience of working professionals. Connecting with these professionals will allow Epcot
to be seen as a destination for corporate events and meetings and not just as a family
vacation spot.
Slide 6: In addition to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, another social media outlet is
travel blogs, which can be utilized as well. Blogs that focus on Disney World and Florida
can be great tools. Putting information, travel deals and main attractions on blogs that are
easily accessible and easy to read will help current visitors and/or potential visitors seek
out information that they desire. Other than the park’s information, having interesting
content about Epcot and photographs will inspire bloggers to come see the park for
themselves! Fellow bloggers will also have an opportunity to connect with other park
visitors and share their experiences.
Slide 7: Using public relations and events to promote Epcot is key. By Epcot making
their presence known at all Disney Villa’s, Disney Resorts and other selected resorts in
the area, it will increase the number of visitors to Epcot. Having brochures,
representatives, park deals, events and food coupons at all these neighboring locations
will inspire travelers to visit Epcot, in addition to the other parks at Disney World that
they already came for! Getting Epcot’s name on the fore-front of all surrounding Disney
locations and accommodations will help in spreading the word of the park and it will
increase the number of visitors.
Slide 8: To know if any of the suggestions for Epcot are working, it is essential to
measure the implications that have been made. To begin with, monitoring of Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn can provide feedback from past, current and potential visitors. It
will be simple to see if there is an increase in Twitter followers, Facebook fans and
LinkedIn connections. Furthermore, to ensure that this increase is having an impact,
Twitter can be looked at in terms of “retweets” and “@ mentions” to ensure that people
are interested and participating and not just “following.” Facebook can be looked at in
terms of “likes”, “comments” and “posts.” LinkedIn can be looked at in terms of profile
views, not simply the number of “connections.” It should be noted that all social media
outlets are be linked to the blogs previously listed. Therefore, in addition to more
followers, fans and connections, blogger outreach should increase as well. With more
people engaging in the social media sites and blogs, an increase in the interest of Epcot
will grow. Once there is an increase in interest, the engaged social media users and
bloggers can increase the traffic visits to Epcot’s site by mentioning the site in all their
blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts and LinkedIn posts! In the end, with more followers,
fans, connections, bloggers and traffic visits, an increase in people’s desire to visit the
park will occur!
Slide 9: The budget needed to implement these techniques will be divided equally with
50% of the budget going to social media costs and the other 50% going to public relations
and event costs. Many of the tools being used such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
have costs associated with them. They require a current employee or future employee to

3. keep up with the social media usage on a daily basis and manage the multiple accounts.
Also, having brochures, advertisements, park deals and events at all surrounding Disney
resorts costs money too. Printing of brochures and park deal coupons along with all other
copy used will come with expenses. Hosting an event at one of the locations previously
shown, that highlights Epcot, will have venue costs as well. Lastly, having an Epcot
representative on site at the multiple locations will also require a current employee or
future employee.
Slide 10: The timing of all these strategies is important. Because the summer months are
the peak time for visitors to come to Disney World, it is best for Epcot to implement
these techniques beginning in the fall. The strategies can gain momentum during the
winter and spring seasons so that by the time the peak season of summer rolls around,
visitors are at an all-time high. On the other hand, for the off seasons, social media and
LinkedIn especially, should be utilized to the fullest potential, making fall and winter
seasons more desirable for corporate events and working professionals.