Walt Disney Company as a Good Example of how Success in the Media Industry

Walt Disney Company as a Good Example of how Success in the Media Industry 

The Walt Disney Company is a good example of how success in the media industry looks like. Walt Disney has been in existence in the industry for long and admittedly the company prides itself with numerous achievements that it has achieved in the media industry. The company has used its popularity and mainstream success in the media industry to refine the outlook of its brand. Over the years, Disney Company has focused on building its brand capacity in order to achieve brand benefits in the market. The company was started as an animation outfit and as the years passed the company diversified its operations into live film production making it one of the largest media company in the world in terms of revenue collections.

This discussion will focus on the management aspect of Walt Disney Company. The management of Walt Disney Company has been brought into sharp focus following its success in the media industry. Walt Disney Company has been considered as one of the media companies whose management has been able to turn around the fortunes of the company. The turnaround was experienced thanks to strategic management skills that the top management at Walt Disney employed. The management of Walt Disney has been prided with understanding the operating environment and, then using the best and outstanding business techniques to make an entry into the market. Various surveys and reports relating to the media industry name Disney’s management decision making skills as among the best in the industry. One media expert notes that, Disney Company has been able to enjoy mainstream success in the market due to the company’s ability to tap the best people in the world. One senior Disney executive notes that the company has embarked on an ambitious project of investing in the welfare of its employees. The company believes that offering employees the best working environment motivates them to strive to achieve company’s goals and objectives. Walt Disney has ensured that its employee base has the necessary resources and capacity to work. The company has instituted a consolidated human resource department which has been used to handle all issues related to the employees. The companies’ human resource department has been able to connect the employee needs to the management by ensuring that important employee information is disseminated to and from the two components.

Product development

The Walt Disney Company has engaged itself in numerous product development projects which are aimed at enhancing their viability in the market. The company has been credited with producing the best products in the film and animation industry. The programs produced by Walt Disney attest to this. Some programs produced by Walt Disney Company have been properly appreciated in the market. The company has the unique ability of understanding and providing the desired needs of the market. The company in addition has been successful in terms of providing entertainment needs of different market segments.

The products of Walt Disney Company are carefully refined with the market needs. The company’s product development department notes that Disney focuses much on improving its product in order to win customer approval. The company keeps in mind the customer’s needs. The company respects the customer needs and strives to achieve them. This is where the company beats its competitors. The Disney programs produced were able to penetrate the market within a very short period of time. The company invests a lot of time and resources in developing its products in order to gain the end benefits. These benefits include gaining a substantial market share, gaining necessary competitive edge in the market and improving our brand image. The company in addition, expects to improve its overall market share price. The company has been successful in product development, thanks to a technical product development department that is able to understand the changing market dynamics. Our product development department has been involved in assessing different products strengths and weaknesses and creating the best product mix out of the mix. The product development department has embarked on the prospects of looking at the market dynamics that understands how the market is undergoing changes within a given span of time. This mechanism has been timely for the company since the company has become successful in attaining a special rapport with the market.

Marketing strategies

The Walt Disney Company has been successful in respect of marketing its products and services. The company uses a technical and a more realistic approach in order to understand its market. The Walt Disney Company has been the best in selling itself to the market because of its ability to convince its target market about the various products and services that it offers. Convincing here means that the company has employed mechanisms of engaging in consultations with clients and other prospective clients in order to show them why they need to purchase our products. The convincing process entails the company engaging the customer by through important facts that motivate him or her to purchase our products. Walt Disney Company has employed aggressive marketing strategies which have aided it to capture a substantial market share.

The company has been able to penetrate the market by means of all media capacities. The company has taken advantage of the print and electronic media to spread information to the existing and prospective customers.  The company has embarked on using the internet because of the realization that most people nowadays use various websites to access information. The company has taken advantage of social networking sites like twitter and face book because of the large number of visitors. The Company understands that the market is varied and, the mechanism of advertising to one market differs from time to time. This has enabled the company to diversify in its marketing methodologies thus capturing a substantial part of the market.

The ability of the company to develop a comprehensive market mix has enabled the company to offer   a wide range of products and services to its market. This has in addition, attracted the market towards purchasing its products and services. The company has been successful in its marketing strategies because of its ability to develop new products when competitors in the media industry least expect it (McGrath, 32). For example, when Disney Company launched into the film production market, it was able to revolutionize the film industry by introducing new filming abilities which other film companies had not introduced e.g. the ability to film colored pictures by use of projectors. The company was able to introduce new dimensions in the film industry which made the film viewing experience better e.g. sounds and graphics.  The company has been lauded as using this strategy in order to keep customers wanting more of Disney’s products. The same strategy has been used by Disney to keep competitors out of business. This as the marketing executive adds, enables the company to enjoy market monopoly.

Company reforms

The company has been noted to periodically review its management structure in order to make impacts which contribute to the companies’ development. The company believes that reforms imply the company willingness and efforts to understand the gains it has made in terms of its business operations. Company reforms are normally employed at Disney to bring a fresh and brand new perspective to the operational mechanisms of the company (Livingston & Lievrou, 35). The company top management admits that the best way to benchmark its operating capacity in the market is by reviewing its management structure from time to time.

Walt Disney Company ensures that the right people occupy their deserved positions in order to tap the talent and knowledge of its top executives to assist in the running of the company. The company has come to the realization that having the best employees is key to the success of the company because, knowledgeable employees bring new ideas to the company such as instituting creative and innovative products and services in the market e.g. introducing new trends in television and film industry. The company believes in giving specific roles to the right people meaning that the individual will offer his or her best. This strategy has enabled the company to introduce new employee measurement systems to get a preview of how employees perform and in what positions of working they can operate best.

Financial mechanisms

The Walt Disney Company has traditionally operated in a manner that favors its financial position (Wasko, 19). The company has embarked on a number of financial reforms aimed at streamlining the financial position of the company. The company for example, has a strategy of maximizing profits and minimizing costs. The company has however raised concerns about the worse financial times being experienced in the market. Despite the market challenges presenting themselves, the company has involved itself in various financial restructuring mechanisms which are aimed at improving the financial position of the company. The Walt Disney Company has put in place various financial mechanisms which are aimed at suppressing financial challenges that the company faces.

Community initiative

The management of Walt Disney Company has embarked on various community projects aimed at improving the lives of the communities that they operate in. The company believes that the people who are directly and indirectly involved with the company in business should stand to benefit from the company’s presence (Smoodin, 72). The company’s social corporate responsibility initiative has involved the formation of entities such as:

• Worldwide outreach program
• Disney’s volunteer EARS organization- community partnership
• Volunteer based organization

The companies’ social corporate responsibility initiative has been aimed at empowering the communities in which they operate. The company has shown support for community projects by contributing funds which have been used to run the community projects. The companies’ social corporate responsibility strategy is aimed at ensuring that the companies positive impact on the communities is felt both in the short and long run. The company has more in store for the communities in which it operates in. The company is optimistic that more funds will be channeled in future to support the social corporate responsibility efforts. The company has engaged in partnerships with various organizations to support the community initiative programs being encouraged by the government.

Educational objectives

Since the inception of the companies’ first management, the company has been involved in various educational initiatives to its customers. The company has embarked on empowering the youths by offering educational programs and discussions which are aimed at motivating the students to embrace creativity and innovation in their activities. This is aimed at training students to come up with better ideas that positively impact the society. The company management has embarked on the mechanism of taking advantage of various programs and television services that it offers in order to shed more light on various issues that its customers need to know. The company being media oriented takes advantage of this fact to teach its clients various societal values, which will have the end objective of benefiting those communities in a positive way.

Future management outlook

The Walt Disney senior management understands the fact that the market is set for various developments that will enable the company improve its performance. The company is concerned that unless more is done to restructure the company, the future outlook may look unfavorable. The company in this respect has embarked on the strategy of investing in its employee base. The company has gone ahead to hire human resource experts who will be responsible for training upcoming executives on the new market trends. This will keep the company’s performance in close perspective to the emerging trends. The management of Walt Disney is betting on the fact that the positioning of company in relation to the internal and external market dynamics will greatly shape the future of the company.

Conclusion

The management of Walt Disney Company has done a lot in terms of developing the company to the point that it stands today. The success achieved in the recent past has been as a result of the company’s ability to make decisions which match with the needs of the market. This will be facilitated by transforming the management of the company by doing business in a manner that is in line with the goals and objectives of the company. In addition, the company will consider new creative business models to ensure that the business remains viable in the eyes of our customers.

References

Lievrouw, L.A & Livingstone, L.M. Handbook of new media: social shaping and consequences of ICTs.London: SAGE. 2002. Print.

Smoodin, E.L. Disney discourse: producing the magic kingdom. New York: Routledge. 1994. Print.

Wasko, J.Understanding Disney: the manufacture of fantasy. Cambridge: Wiley-Blackwell.2001. Print.

McGrath, M.E. Next generation product development: how to increase productivity cut costs and reduce cycle time. New York:  McGraw-Hill Professional. 2004. Print.


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