Branding Case Study: Disney
Even if your company isn’t as ambitious as a media conglomerate, there are still many good business ideas to learn from when looking at the success of companies like Disney. After all, a mega company like Disney is made, not born. You have to start somewhere, and those who rise to the top obviously had some good business ideas along the way. The history of Disney provides a number of valuable lessons about the ways in which good branding can push a company to the next level.
Base Your Branding in Personality
Though Walt Disney often liked to say that his company’s story began with a mouse, Disney himself was as much a part of his brand’s personality as Mickey. Disney was more than just a mysterious man behind a corporate front. During the early years of Disney, Walt made sure that his own personality was in the public eye. For example, he hosted a television show to become a familiar face — promoting Disneyland in American living rooms. His sense of storytelling and salesmanship was infused into everything the company did. That’s not to say, of course, that Mickey’s personality wasn’t a key part of Disney branding too–his image was a part of the brand from the very beginning.
Stand for Something Bigger
From the start, the Disney brand stood for a certain philosophy about American life, and it built that philosophy into all of its entertainment products. For instance, in creating the Disneyland amusement park, Walt wanted to make a park that stood for everything “good and true” about the American way of life in order to provide inspiration to the world. He wanted his park to provide nostalgia to adults and invite young people to embrace the challenge of the future. That’s an ambitious way to describe an amusement park, but there’s a huge lesson in it: you should always be able to describe the significance of your business in a way that exceeds the literal goods and services you provide.
Invite the Audience into Your World
One of Disney’s greatest successes as a company is the creation of an aspirational world that people want to step into. This world began in fictional media products, but Disney had the genius to realize it as a physical place that people could visit: Disneyland. With the iconic imagery of a magical castle where dreams come true and and an even more iconic slogan–”The Happiest Place On Earth”–Disneyland continues to embody the brand. While a custom theme park may be quite a bit more world-building than the average business is capable of doing, you can scale this idea down to a size that fits your company. What world does a relationship with your business open up for your customers?
Exploring the rationale behind these strategies can provide all kinds of inspiration. For more good business ideas and help branding your company, contact the top consultants at A Hundred Monkeys.
