Marketing internship under Prof. Sameer Mathur

1. Disney Consumer
Products: Marketing
Nutrition to Children

2. DISNEY TIMELINE
1923
1932
1950
1955
20062004
Disney is
founded by Walt
and Roy Disney
Disney Licensing
becomes a formal
business unit
Disney
expands
beyond film
and television
Disneyland
opens in
Anaheim,
California
Obesity
becomes a
major problem
DCP launches “Better
for You” campaign

3. CURRENT MARKET POSITIONING
4 SEGMENTS
Media Networks
Disney Consumer
Products
Studio Entertainment
Parks and Resorts

4. Line of
Products
Softlines
Apparel Footwear Accessories
Buena Vista
Games
Home and
Infant
Publishing Toys Hardlines
Food
Health and
beauty
Electronics Stationery
DISNEY PRODUCT WIDTH

5. 9.16 billion hours in Disney-
branded experience
Net Income $2.5 billion

6. World’s most valuable franchise characters
$5.8 billion
$5.6 billion

7. DCP’s Licensing methods
• Licensing–only Model
Gave licenses to company to feature Disney characters on their products
and the company was responsible for manufacturing, sales and promotion.
• Source Model
Contract manufacturing
Products were created and designed by Disney and featured the Disney
brand, but the licensee would handle manufacturing, sales and marketing.
• Direct-to-Retail Model
Partnering directly with retailers
Established successful DTR relationships for apparel with Target, Wal-Mart
and other large retailers

8. Packaged food portfolio mostly sweets and treats.
Disney stood for “Fun” and “Magic” to appeal children

9. OBESITY EPIDEMIC
Increase in obese and overweight children
• 2-5 year old 5%-14%
• 6-11 year old 4%-19%
• 12-19 year old 5%-17%

10.  Increase in portion size
Disney’s exclusive partnership with McDonald’s made it
indirect factor
 Televised ads
Food advertisements promote food purchase requests by
children to parents, have an impact on children’s product and
brand preferences, and affect consumer dietary behaviour
FACTORS

11.  Institute of Medicine recommends USDA to develop standards for
marketing foods beverages to children based on portion sizes and
quantitative distribution of constituent products.
 “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” recommended that
children and adults adopt a “balanced eating pattern,”
consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods and
beverages and limit their intake of saturated and trans fats,
cholesterol, added sugars, and salt.

12. What was
Disney’s
response
to this ?

13. DCP saw this obesity epidemic
as an opportunity to revamp
its product line, rationalize
and broaden its product and
services width.

14. DISNEY’S MARKET ANALYSIS
 To size the food business opportunity
 To discover if Disney’s brand equity would transfer to a children’s line
of products

15. METHODOLOGY
Used focus groups, group sessions and shopping trips with
mothers of children aged 2 to 13 year olds to determine
which product categories to target

16. OBSERVATIONS
1. There was a gap between the foods children
requested and the foods their mothers are
willing to buy
2. Children influence purchase decisions, even
in their absence at stores.
3. Mothers associate Disney strongly with
magic even when it comes to food.
4. Peer pressure and advertising strongly
influence kids preferences.

17. WHAT TO BE DONE NOW?

18. 1. Packaged food portfolio needed to be balanced.
2. Introduction of a new product line which is
moderately priced and positioned to be fun
inducing to appeal the children
3. To appeal the mothers, products needed to be
portion-controlled, be high quality, omit trans fat.
4. Products must be non-patronizing and Mom-
approved.

19. Could Disney provide
leadership for the rest of the
food industry and use its
brand strength to reach
children?

20. Could the company
use its “magic” to get
children switch from
sugary, processed
foods to a more
nutritious diet?

21. Disney Nutritional Guidelines
Quality range of Disney integrated foods that answers children’s daily
calorie requirement in an entertaining way.
GOOD FOOD , GREAT FUN
Balance portfolio
• 85% main meals
• 15% treats

22.  Divided its array of food into 5 categories and assigned calorie value to each
• Main meal
• Side dish
• Snacks
• Drinks
• Treats
 Products would be minimally processed and contain controlled level of added
sugar and no trans fat.
 Minimized use of additives
 Reformulated some products and shrunk portions of some

23. 3 APPROACHES
TO CREATION OF
DISNEY FOOD
PRODUCTS

24.  Offer products that already has broad appeal e.g. milk ,
peanut butter

25.  Take products which were
already healthy and make them
more “fun” e.g. Whole wheat
pasta

26.  Use packaging to inspire
product sampling e.g. making
water bottles in shape of
characters

27. Imagination Farms
 Marketed fresh fruits and packaged good with licensed Disney
characters.
 Provided retailers with customised marketing programs such
as seasonal promotions, tie-ins with DVD releases

28. DTR Relationship with Kroger
Supermarkets
Launched exclusive Disney line of products called “Disney
Magic Selections”

30. Who were
Disney’s
Competitors?

31. Nicklodean

32. Sesame Workshop
Licensing deal with Del Monte Foods
Del Monte peas, corn and green beans
featured Elmo, Grover and
Cookie Monster characters
“Healthy Habits for
Life” campaign

33. Warner Bros.
Signed licensing agreement with Ready Pac
Featured Warner’s Bugs Bunny, Tweety and
Tasmanian Devil characters
Promoted lunchbox alternatives instead of
source produce

34. WHAT RISKS DOES DISNEY FACE?

35. Immediate loss of
revenue from this
share of products

36. Pricing:
 Had to be competitively priced within
produce department and private brands
 Had to live up to the premium-value
image as well

37. Legacy:
Scepticism from media and
public was expected regarding
the new products

38. Differentiation and
Competition
 Disney was a late-entry into the healthy
food-promotion sector
 Had to rely on wide distribution and
broad product line to sustain
competitors

39. Growth and Distribution
 Disney wanted to license and develop
additional lines.
 Imagination Farms produce had to co-exist
with Krogers, thus posing threat of internal
competition.

40. WHAT MORE CAN DISNEY DO?

41. License other characters than Mickey and Winnie to expand market share and
ease product differentiation

42. Appeal not only the children but also educate parents to go for
healthy food in right proportions

43. Introduce food programs to educate kids on the
disadvantages of unhealthy food

44.  Perfect co-ordination between stakeholders and Disney
 Licensees must learn the mode and method of promoting healthy
eating habits while keeping the core values of Disney intact

45.  The success of Disney to successfully inculcate healthy eating habits in kids
will take time as bad habits take time to be replaced with new one.
 Disney has to counter the risks posed by this bold step and not get
deterred by short term losses. On a long term and with effecting product
development and marketing strategy , the company shall reap huge profits.

46. • History of Disney
• Current situation analysis
• The obesity epidemic
• Market analysis by Disney
• Disney’s course of Action
• Competition in market
• Risks faced
• Recommendations
• Conclusions

47. DISCLAIMER
This presentation was repared by Swati Samikshya Sahoo, NIT Rourkela as a
part of internship under Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.