This section describes the external environmental factors that affect the Disneyland theme park in Los Angeles. In particular, this section provides a description of Disneyland’s target customers; of the marketing strategies employed by Disneyland’s key competitors; and of the environmental forces that affect Disneyland, particularly the economic and political forces, as well as the technological and social trends.
External Environment
Description of the Customers
Disneyland’s target market consists mainly of children and families (“The Walt Disney Company,” 2011). In particular, the company employs a market segmentation strategy called multisegment targeting. This means that they serve multiple market segments, which is evidenced in the way that Disneyland appeals to people of all ages, be it children, parents, or teens. However, Disneyland mostly targets families with average incomes and who live in urban areas. In addition, the psychographics of Disneyland’s customers include those who desire clean and wholesome fun, as well as those who desire to live out their childhood fantasies of meeting their favorite fairy tale or cartoon characters (“Introduction to Customer Service,” n.d.). The services offered by Disneyland can be customized in so many different ways that there’s something for every psychographic.
Key Competitors
A marketing strategy used by Universal Studios, one of Disneyland’s key competitors, is the creation of new theme parks and rides based on popular movies such as Harry Potter, The Transformers, and Avatar (Tuttle, 2012). In addition, although both Universal Studios and Disneyland are increasing their ticket prices, Universal Studios is not as aggressive as Disneyland in doing so. As indicated by YouSigma (2008), Universal Studios implements the four P’s of marketing (Product, Price, Promotion, Place) for its expansion plans. In particular, they develop an effective product; determine a place for promoting that product, and set a reasonable price for that product.
Environmental Forces
The declining U.S. economic conditions have a negative effect on the demand for Disney’s products and services, which affects Disney’s earnings and revenue (EDGAR Online, 2013). On the other hand, the political factors that may negatively affect Disneyland’s business include things such as terrorist attacks and military and political developments, as well as policy changes that may have an impact on tourism and travel.
In contrast, technological advancements enable Disneyland to provide for its customers’ changing needs. For example, with the use of the Internet and social media, customers can be easily informed about new offerings at Disneyland and customers can also easily plan for their Disneyland trips even from home. Moreover, because of technology, Disneyland is able to offer more services and even customized services to its customers. Finally, with their customers’ constantly changing needs and preferences, Disneyland must be able to easily adapt to these changes in order for their business to continue to thrive.
References
EDGAR Online. (2013). Risk factors relating to Disney. Retrieved from http://sec.edgar-
online.com/walt-disney-co/s-4-securities-registration-business-
combination/2006/02/17/Section14.aspx.
Introduction to customer service. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.goodfellowpublishers.com/
free_files/Chapter%201-5cbb12a94aec7ae90d34407cd042c0b6.pdf.
Malloy, B. (2013). Disneyland tickets. Retrieved from
http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/disneyland/a/distickets.htm.
The Walt Disney Company. (2011, November 17). Retrieved from
http://thewaltdisneyco.blogspot.com/2011/11/chapter-8-segmenting-targeting-
markets.html.
Tuttle, B. (2012, May 22). Got $488? That’ll just cover one day’s admission at Disneyland for a
family of four. Time. Retrieved from http://business.time.com/2012/05/22/got-488-thatll-
just-cover-one-days-admission-at-disneyland-for-a-family-of-four/.
YouSigma. (2008). Universal Studio’s marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place).
Retrieved from http://www.yousigma.com/benchmarking/
universalstudiosmarketingmix.pdf.
