t’s officially Children’s Month, and how Disney turns can we not mention the company that did the best job of branding to become part of the popular children’s imagination: Disney?
in 1923, the Disney turns great Walt Disney Company celebrates its centenary in 2023 and shows how the ideal is to Disney turns stay up-to-date, progressive and, at the same time, respect the culture of the past, attracting Disney turns new audiences and adapting to what they want to consume – even if this has not always out.
An absolute success in the world of animation and cinema in general, the Walt Disney Company is one of the most valuable companies in the world and, therefore, has a lot to teach. Since it began with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, back in 1937, the great film producer has shown that it knows how to innovate – or take on narratives that don’t “reinvent the wheel”, recreating stories that have already been told in a different way, but know where to touch.
Disney bets on childhood memories
Selling its magic and experience, Disney owns at least three TV channels, its own streaming system, a huge catalog of series, TV movies and music, as well as a record label and a radio station.
By touching on emotions, Disney knows exactly what it is doing by provoking nostalgia, childhood emotions and other feelings that evoke the sensations of early childhood, while always trying to bring new things. There are many times when thinking about Disney brings back memories from childhood.
From the early 1990s to the 2000s, movie musicals back to the great Broadway musicals by adapting fairy tales starring princesses, mostly with big, heart-warming numbers. However, by 2004, films had genres—and Shrek’s Oscar win was living proof of that.
Recalculating route: making mistakes is good and is the path to success!
In an attempt to make 3D comic animations – emulating the phenomenon of competitor DreamWorks – three or four films were , which not only to achieve the ideal box office, but were also not a hit with the public, such as Wild and Chicken Little. This era of the 2000s was one of Disney’s most turbulent, just like the Bronze Age of the 80s. Treasure Planet, The Sword in the Stone, Home Alone – there are countless failures and a lack of communication with the public.
However, upon realizing that this was not the ideal path for the production company – which had been achieving absolute success on cable TV with the series Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Sonny With a Chance – the Disney Company to change course and bet on two formulas that they knew how to work with, and thus, return to dominate the big screen, specifically speaking to a target audience somewhat from their productions: boys.
Ruler of the world: Marvel, Star Wars, Frozen
Initially, it bought major production companies of sagas such as Marvel and Star Wars, becoming the owner of the biggest geek products of today. In the animation field, there were two experiments in 2011 – The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh. After these two failures, it was time to update itself.
Rapunzel was the princess chosen to continue. However, after a public survey, the company’s executives found that male children were somewhat reluctant to make a “princess movie” – especially if it had their names in the title.
Because of this, they the format to adapt to what the target audience would like to watch, placing a strong male character as the co-star of the work – just as they the princess’s name from the title, leaving only . Since then, Disney films no longer carry the princess’s name or the term “Princess” in the title, leaving only “Raya and the Last Dragon”, the most recent film in the Princess franchise.
Always on the lookout: the best way to make a billion dollars!
By adapting its projects to the ideal way that the target audience wants to consume the film, Disney teaches that it is important to know how to update itself and stay alive in the minds of its entire target audience, with a branding strategy that continues to generate massive profits, without making the company fall into obscurity.
Another recent strategy of the Disney conglomerate was to revisit its old stories, bringing live-action adaptations of animations already in the 90s in new adaptations. Bringing the same story, but with new costumes, music and new social criticism (after all, it’s been more than 30 years), Disney made more than a billion dollars in several films, such as The Lion King.
This happens because it reaches two target audiences at once: the young millennial, who the animations in childhood, and now sees an opportunity to see dreams become “reality”, since the live-action is as photorealistic animation, and the children who want to know the story can see it for the first time on the big screen.
This exploration of nostalgia is not new, but it has had a very strong phase since Maleficent (2014), with revisitations of stories such as Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians (with Cruella), Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and the upcoming Snow White. All of these stories recall moments from childhood and explore nostalgia and longing – with a ticket price of approximately 30 reais.
What does Disney’s marketing set as an example?
Knowing where to be and how to do it has always been a characteristic of Disney, which is not afraid to make mistakes. One example is the recent sequels that The , Finding Nemo and Toy Story 4 , which were box office successes but reviews.
Now we just have to wait and see how this actors’ strike unfolds, since without being able to promote their work, Disney could end up closing the year with less magic than before. Keep moving forward!
Furthermore! it is 100 years? of history. Understanding ! where your! target audience is! who they are (adults? children? both?) and what they ! expect from you is the ideal! way to continue making billions at the! box office like Disney! does and will continue to do.