DISNEY CONSUMER PRODUCTS:MARKETING NUTRITION TO CHILDREN

It Was All Started By A Mouse

HISTORY

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Walter Elias Disney and his brother , Roy , founded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio , later renamed The Walt Disney Company

1923Debut of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie

1932Licensing became a formal business unit

DECIDED TO EXPAND 1954 Debut in first television program 1955 Opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California

1980s –1990s Renaissance of Disney Animation 1984 Focus on entertainment assets

2004The obesity epidemic 2006 DCP Launched offerings of fresh fruits

32$BILLION COMPANY IN 2005

2.5$BILLION NET INCOME IN 2005

CONSUMERS SPENT

9.16BILLION HOURSWITH DISNEY PER YEAR

By 2006 Walt Disney Company Had 4 Business Segments :

MEDIA NETWORKS PARKS AND RESORTS

DISNEY CONSUMER PRODUCTS STUDIO ENTERTAINMENT

DISNEY COSUMER PRODUCTS

Responsible for product development and marketing of Disney branded merchandise

DCP’s 6 Lines Of Business

1. Softlines ( apparel, footwear and accessories)

2. Publishing3. Buena Vista Games4. Toys5. Home & Infant6. Hardlines ( food, health &

beauty, stationary & electronics)

Why DCP had to enter into nutritious food market?

• Growing obesity epidemic

• Government Imposed Rules on broadcasters asking not to encourage excessive food consumption

• Disney need to reconsider the nutritional value of their food products

• Establish credibility with government, manufacturers, parents and nutritionist

Disney saw obesity epidemic as an opportunity to reconsider its entire range of food products

Could DCould DCP solve the problem of childhood obesity?

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

Could Disney use its “MAGIC” to switch children from sugary to more nutritious diet? Could they sustain?

TO BECOME GLOBAL CONSUMER PRODUCTS COMPANY DISNEY FOCUSED ON

PRODUCT INOVATION

CREATIVITY

QUALITY

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH KEY RETAILORS

DCP’s 3 Model Of Distribution1. Traditional licensing2. Sourcing- Products designed

and created by Disney but marketed and manufactured by licensee

3. DTR- Entailed partnering directly with retailers

In June 2006, DCP decided to change the nutritional content of their product and introduce new healthy foods for children under the slogan of “Better for you”

Disney Nutritional Guidelines• Control levels of added sugar• Contain no trans or hydrogenated fats• Promote fiber and calcium• Minimized the use of additives• Prefer to use whole foods that intrinsically dense in nutrients• Minimally processed• Calorie adjusted

Reformulating some products , shrinking portions for others and phase out some products.

Disney Conducted A Research• Research objective- To size food business opportunity

and to see the difference between what mothers bought and what kids wanted

• Research Findings- 1. Gap between “what moms bought” and “what kids

wanted”.2. Peer pressure and advertising strongly influence kids

preferences3. Mothers saw Disney brand as high quality,

trustworthy and familiar(strong brand loyalty)

Disney Adopted 3 Approaches Toward Creating Disney Food Products

Offer products which already had broad appeal

Eg- Milk, peanut butter

Already healthy products: make them more “FUN”

Eg- Mold whole wheat pasta into character shapes

Use packaging to improve product sampling

Eg- Water bottles in the shape of characters

Key to getting children to eat healthier was to provide plenty of choices“Food has to taste good, Kids have to like it”“If food is nutritious , Moms like it too”

Disney And Imagination Farms

• Disney began licensing its characters to Imagination Farms and marketed fresh fruits and vegetables

• Contracted 15 US growers to provide organic produce under the Disney Garden brand

• Provided retailers with customized marketing programs

DCP And Imagination Farms Used A Three Pronged Product Development Strategy

1. Differentiate commodity

2. Create value added products

3. Develop exclusive produce varieties

Disney And Kroger• Disney established DTR

relationship with Kroger for an exclusive line of Disney branded products

• They developed “Disney Magic Selection” label

The Competition

1. Pricing And Value“But for these products , affordable equals value , not price. We have to deliver quality to represent our brand well” -MOONEY

2. Legacy

Though products will healthful and fun , based on the past criticism, they expected some skepticism. This is the time to leave back the legacy

3. CompetitionDCP managers believed that the combination of a broad product line, wide distribution and the Disney brand would win over moms

4.Growth And DistributionDisney wanted to license or develop additional lines other than Kroger and differentiate additional lines using characters, brand and prices

“Disney will be providing healthier options for families that seek them , whether at our parks or through our broad array of licensed food”. - ROBER IGER

“Within DCP ,we will take a short term hit financially , But we’re doing the right thing and getting good business results”. -MOONEY and DOLMAN

“These slides were created by Gunjan Daryani as part of internship done under the guidance of Prof. Sameer Mathur (www.IIMInternship.com)”