Follow Us
"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse."
— Founder, Walt Disney, on the little guy who started it all.
There may be a lot of characters that were born on Walt Disney's storyboard after Mickey but there is something about the little guy that encapsulates everything the Disney brand has come to stand for: clean, wholesome fun. He is the quintessential nice guy. Much like Disney. As the American head of a research agency, remarked recently, "Disney is just one of the brands that seems to do everything right. It's wholesome, high-tech, nurturing, kid-friendly, escapism and sentimentalism — all wrapped up in one brand." That's what has endured the Disney legacy years after its founder passed on the baton and his vision for the company. Branding was a religion that Walt Disney worshipped religiously.
In the US, where the Disney experience is as symbolic of Americana as McBurgers and the Super Bowl, Mickey and his extended toon family are something most Americans have grown up with. For Indians though, Mickey's world was a one hour slot on Doordarshan, every week. “In the last ten years, the generation has not grown up on Disney. Television is the biggest driver for the brand and we have been virtually absent in this space, except for the last one year, when we launched the channel. We need to build the connect and affinity of the Indian consumer with the Disney brand," believes Disney India's Managing Director, Rajat Jain. Jain adds, "Disney is 'special entertainment with heart'. This is at the core of anything we do, across lines of business: whether it's a ride in a theme park; a Disney movie that we have made called 'Chicken Little', whether it is a show or a gaming product. We believe that the Disney branding adds that tremendous incremental value to the product. And if it is coming from us, it has to be inclusive of some or all of our basic principles. Community and family is an important part — anything we do has an optimistic ring around it and it is about honouring that trust. Parents know that when they watch a Disney show or visit a Disney park, it is about family values. Disney's global strength comes from constantly delivering on that front. It's a conglomerate and the largest entertainment brand in the world, today."
India seems to be calling Mickey loud and clear. Jain explains, "In the Indian context, the entertainment industry is growing at about 18 to 20 per cent per annum. What we are essentially saying is that we have a great brand with a great global presence, which is among the biggest brands in the world. All of that translates into saying, that this is the time to be fully present in India."
Disney's initial foray into the Indian arena was fraught with problems. Their joint venture with the Modis, failed to take the brand anywhere. 'Scattered presence' is the term Jain uses, to diplomatically brush off the past.
The future, though, is pink. And red, yellow and any other colour you could associate with the Disney religion. The company has serious plans for India. The launch of the two channels, Toon Disney and Disney channel, last year, has only set into motion, the larger India plan; that of driving the Disney brand experience in India through television and then build on the other business interests like merchandising, wireless and internet, mobile; etc., from there.
Adds Jain, "We want to aggregate all the strengths of the Walt Disney Company to enable delivery of all the benefits of the Disney brand to the Indian consumer. Our overall mission is to make Disney the leading entertainment brand in India. It is going to take more than five years for us, because we are not necessarily first in line and we have a lot of ground to cover, not just in the kid's space but in the entertainment space in general. I would also like to make a differentiation here: We are not a TV company, much like STAR, Sony or even Turner. We do have a dominant TV business today but over the next 5 to 10 years, there will be several other businesses that will be coming. Whether it's merchandising or licensing, new media, Internet or the wireless broadband side of the business or Radio Disney, there is a flourishing movie business, Touchstone, Miramax. All of these have potential opportunities in India. It is really for us to evaluate these opportunities at the appropriate time and see where we want to come in and with what strategy."
Integration is the new buzzword. And that is an area of core competence for Disney globally. Walt Disney had been practicing it successfully much before the word became common business jargon. Integration is what we are going to be seeing from the Disney stables in the coming months.
Buena Vista International Television (BVITV), Disney's distribution arm for licensing Disney's branded and non branded programmes across Asia Pacific, has been responsible for bringing the much talked about show, 'Desperate Housewives', to Indian shores.
Talking about the marketing effort that went into introducing a show like 'Desperate Housewives' to the Indian audience, the company says, "Well, 'Desperate Housewives' has been a show that we have extensively promoted across the various markets. In fact, it is the STAR India group that has the license in India to air these shows on STAR World. Their marketing team has carried out extensive on-air, outdoor, online and a complete integrated …