NMDL Final Presentation on Animal Kingdom

Editor's Notes

• #2: The people at Disney realize that their power is within the people who visit their parks. My hope with this slide is to provide an introduction to the world of Disney. Even though I will be talking about Animal Kingdom, this slide encourages people to start thinking about their own Disney memories. Going along with the Zen approach, it will set the mood of the presentation as fun and happy, much like Disney in general.
• #3: Introduction to Animal KingdomPushes past the “typical” Disney park filled with princesses and superheroesAccording to their website, they have over 1,700 animals from 250 different species that live in a park that sprawls across 500 acres It is an original idea, it is the largest park of its kind in the worldThe park encourages up close interaction with many of the animals
• #4: The point of this slide was to make the point that Animal Kingdom has a huge portion of the population that they can target for business. Because this many Americans travel each year, they need to capture as much market share as they can in order to see profits. Statistic taken from: http://www.gallup.com/poll/20542/americans-vacation-habits.aspx
• #5: Disney is known for being one of the happiest places on earth. Because Animal Kingdom is owned and operated by Disney, they hold onto this same reputation. It is critical with anything that is Disney related to capitalize on the smile that a park may bring to a child or to an entire family. This point must be made in order to understand the rest of the marketing plan.
• #6: Animal Kingdom does not follow the normal Disney park theme. In order to differentiate themselves from other amusement parks, I propose using the concept of Adventure and how no matter your age, you would enjoy the adventure that this park offers by incorporating wild animals. Attractions are not designed to appeal to just children, but also to adults. This would truly make the experience fun for the whole family.
• #7: Develop a theme is the first step. Spreading the word is the next thing that must be done in order for this marketing plan to work. Animal Kingdom may be filled with adventure and those adventures may appeal to many different age groups, however that means nothing unless the message is spread around the world. By using new media, this goal can be accomplished. Google should be utilized to its full potential through SEO and other social media sites should be taken advantage of.
• #8: Animal Kingdom’s website should always be their top priority. People who are interested in booking a vacation with Disney will go straight to their website to research the park. However, right now, Disney isn’t using Facebook to promote their parks and I think this is a huge area that they can improve on. This would encourage word of mouth communication and I think that’s why they should allocate a significant amount of time to their Facebook page. A blog would also allow the park to create image for themselves as being a fun place for families to visit. Topics like new attractions, changes in the park, stories of the animals, etc. could be recorded and it could be a fun place for both adults and children to visit. Twitter is another part of new media that Disney should tap into. Neglecting it would be leaving a huge market untouched.
• #9: There are certain months where more people travel to Disney parks more often then others. Many of the peak moments occur around holidays. Its important for Disney to realize that these are the times that they need to focus their marketing. Parents are more likely to take their kids to Animal Kingdom when they do not have to take them out of school so summer and winter holidays should be targeted.
• #10: Return on Investment: the goal of this program is to make sure that Disney sees a return on the money that they invest into strengthening their social media plan. ROI will be seen by increased attendance at the park, more traffic on their web pages, and more word of mouth communication. Whenever entering a Disney park, greeters ask you if you are interested in participating in a follow up survey. These surveys would be a great way to determine if people are benefiting from their social media efforts.
• #11: Developing a new media plan is only the first step. After that it is important to make sure that the entire organization, including senior management believe in the project and understand its purpose. After that, marketing staff can implement the different new media projects and continuously update and monitor their content to make sure that quality information is being published. After that, it is important to follow up and follow through with any new leads that are generated through the content. Facebook, blogs, and twitters need to be updated in order to be effective. After the plan has been in place, it should be reviewed and modified to ensure maximum ROI.