Disney Marketing Magic
Thought Leadership | Author: Katie Potter, IAB SEA+India Regional Board Member, Head of Beauty, Luxury and Sport APAC, Teads
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is extremely important but what does this actually mean? CLV is a business metric that estimates the total predictable repeat purchase rate of a customer over the lifetime of their time spent with a brand. To put it simply, the longer a customer continues to spend money with a brand, the greater their customer lifetime value becomes.
Building long term customer loyalty takes time and certainly isn’t something that can be created overnight. Acquiring new customers is expensive and retaining them over time has become more important than ever in this pandemic environment. Brands able to identify their lifetime value customers will boost their return on investment and will provide them with the ability to target their efforts on this group of customers to increase their value even further.
How does this relate to the Disney brand? As unusual as this sounds for a 30 something adult, I have been visiting Walt Disney World every year with my parents and sister for as long as I can remember. Our first family holiday to a Disney Resort was back in 1993 and since then we have spent our holidays back and forth to Walt Disney World in Orlando and ticking off other Disney locations around the globe. Rather shockingly, we recently realised that we have spent 7 months of our lives staying on Disney Property.
Now this may sound crazy to many, but Disney has provided a strong sense of emotional loyalty for my family, something which is very hard to come by for brands. I’ve become very accustomed to hearing surprise and shock from people when they hear of my holidays to the same location year in year out, however Walt Disney World has provided my family with a treasure trove of memories that will last forever. Disney’s marketing strategies have clearly paid off with The Potters! They have built trust with us over the years and combined with our positive experiences they have gained multi-generational customers.
How exactly have they managed to do this and how can brands follow suit with their own business?
Whilst I’m not a Disney Marketer, it’s very clear to me that for them the customer really does come first. To summarise reasons for this success;
Customer Experience – First off, Disney refers to customers as ‘guests’ – they really do care about how people feel and understand a happy customer will share their positive experience. They spend a considerable amount of time training staff before they even see a guest (6 weeks of training in fact), with the focus on experience mentality. For example, did you know you’ll never see a Disney Cast Member point with one finger? In some cultures, pointing with one finger is considered rude so they are trained to point with two fingers to be sensitive to cultural differences. Something which is known as the ‘Disney Finger’.
Customer Research – Disney conducts research via surveys to make sure that they are fulfilling the needs of customers. Again, this is something that can be taken away by all brands to really understand the DNA of their audience.
– Reversing Negative Experiences – Unsatisfied customers receive compensation to reverse their negative experience which ultimately creates trust, loyalty and positivity. Compensation turns a negative experience into a positive, something which Disney is best at. Hand written apologies, free gifts and extra ‘magical’ experiences really do turn things around. Even when a negative experience is not their fault they step in. For example, in 2019, my airline lost my luggage somewhere between Singapore and Florida. On arrival at Walt Disney World, I was told to purchase whatever I wanted from the Disney shop with no charge to myself as it would be ‘on the Mouse’.Theming – Immersing customers completely, whether they are visiting a Disney Park or landing on a website. They should always be aware of where they are and be spoken to in a way that is native to the brand.
For my family, Walt Disney World really is ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ and has provided me with the unique ability to be transported back to childhood with each visit. Disney Resorts have a 70% return rate of first-time visitors and it’s clear to see why – I mean who can resist a Mickey shaped ice cream anyway? Let’s all remember that this was all started with one man and a mouse. Walt Disney started with just his sketch book and did what he did best – create. From a brand perspective and personal perspective, I think we can all take inspiration from this.
