My two year old daughter’s favorite thing about Disney is the plethora of animated characters that pull her into a fantasy land. My favorite thing about their company is studying their marketing genius.
Yesterday we took our daughter to Disney On Ice – Dear to Dream. It didn’t disappoint either of us. She was excited to see Mickey and Minnie, and I was excited to see marketing techniques in play at their finest.
Here are just a few of the marketing strategies you can borrow from Disney and use at your company:
1. Have A Low Price Entry Point
For only $15 a ticket, our family of three was able to attend the hour-ish long live performance. There are very few things one can attend today for such a low price…especially if the Disney name is attached to one of them. So we gladly shelled out $56 (including tax) for admission.
You’ll see in a minute why Disney uses the low price entry point to their advantage.
What are you doing at your business to get people to spend money with you at a low price point?
2. Use Tiered Pricing
There were more expensive tickets available for people who wanted to sit rink-side, but even those tickets didn’t top $60 each. Disney was well aware that tiered-pricing is a way to maximize profits and attract people who are willing to pay at various price points.
Do you have a tiered pricing structure for the products and services you sell? If not, you’re leaving money on the table. There will always be people who want to pay the premium price, and there will always be those looking to feel like they got a deal.
3. Make The Next Purchase Easy
While I am sure Disney made a profit by hosting the event, the real money didn’t come from ticket sales. Disney knows the first thing you have to do in marketing is get someone to open their checkbook for the first time. After that…getting them to spend more money with you is easier – especially when you’ve built a brand like Disney has built.
During intermission, we spent $24 for one bag of popcorn in a Disney character branded bag and one cup of lemonade in a Mickey Mouse cup. That’s right…we spent $15 for our daughter’s show ticket and $24 for her snack.
Well played Disney…well played.
3. Ask For Referrals
My very favorite point of the show happened at intermission. A voice came on the loudspeaker and said something similar to, “The show will start in three minutes. That’s just enough time for you to post your selfies on social media. Use #DisneyOnIce and #DareToDream.”
This was probably my favorite part of the show because we had made a last minute decision to attend the event solely from a Facebook post of a friend attending the event with her daughter.
Lesson learned…ask your current customers to recommend you to their family and friends. Literally…ASK THEM to pull out their phones and share their experience. If you don’t ask, it won’t happen.
4. Product Placement
Have you ever taken your small child to a Disney Store? If you haven’t, you might as well say you have once you attend Disney On Ice.
They strategically place vendors throughout the entire event.
There are vendors selling light up Frozen wands while families stand in the security line. The wands cost $35 each, and they’ve got to be a top seller because everywhere you look, you see tiny arms waving flashing wands throughout the crowd during the show. Here’s the best part…the Frozen characters aren’t even part of the show.
Additionally, there are carts of Disney plush toys at virtually every stadium seating entry point, with little kids lined up and parents shelling out big bucks for the overpriced toys.
Just in case you didn’t spend enough inside the arena, as you make your way to your car after the show, Disney has vendor carts setup selling Disney frisbees.
Disney makes it almost impossible for you not to spend money at their traveling version of their Disney Store. Everywhere you turn throughout the event, including in the aisles, there are people peddling Disney merchandise.
5. Brand Everything
This is the key to Disney’s success. Everywhere you look at a Disney event, their brand is woven into the details.
Families are encouraged to dress in costume, and there is no shortage of little girls (and mommies) running around in gowns and tiaras sold by Disney. They have literally managed to weave their brand into every aspect of the experience.
Disney Marketing 101
There are many more marketing tips I could share from our Disney On Ice trip, but I will leave those for you to discover when you head out to a Disney event. Until then, what are you doing to ensure your business is executing the 5 strategies above?