Chapter 17: Advertising & Public Relations

     The Walt Disney Company is very strong in entertainment and animation, the two areas do fairly well in the global market, but just because a company has its strengths doesn't mean its going to successfully sell its product without advertising. Advertising is essential because let's face it, without advertising we wouldn't know about half the products we use. In this case we are talking about Disney's animated films, therefore Disney uses product advertising which is a form of advertisement that touts the benefits of a specific good or service.

     In order to advertise a product, a company must first select an advertising appeal which identifies a reason for a person to buy a product. Disney uses the "Fun and Pleasure" appeal to advertise their animated films. Next, the company must choose a style to execute their message. Disney uses the "Mood or Image" executional style for advertising which builds a mood or image around the product such as love, happiness, or inspiration. For example, whenever you feel a certain emotion after watching a Disney movie trailer, that's their "Mood or Image" tactics working on you. 


     After the company has established how they are going to advertise, they must determine which types of media will best communicate the benefits of their product or service to the target audience and when and for how long the advertisement will run, this is called media planning. Disney advertises through newspapers, their own radio station - 1560 AM ©Radio Disney, television, internet, and outdoor media. Of course each media type has its advantages and disadvantages, but because Disney has such a powerful brand name and history, they end up having more benefits than losses. 

     Due to this powerful image, Disney can sell almost anything by just putting one of their famous animated characters on the product. For example, because Disney had teamed up with McDonald's and Mattel toy makers many years ago, each time it comes out with a new film they simply let Mattel make toys out of their characters of the upcoming film who distribute the toys to McDonald's who advertises them with their Happy Meal for kids, which brings Disney more fame and customers. As a result, the child begs the parent to take him or her to the movie theater to watch the new Disney film the child now knows of just by eating McDonald's.