Disclaimer: this document and the content on it has nothing to do with the brand. The content is the opinion of the author and was created as part of a class assignment. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Live-Action Remake): One-Year Communication Plan Background The Walt Disney Company is an international family entertainment and media enterprise comprised of media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Currently the company is run by Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Robert Iger. The company officially began as The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in 1923 when Walt Disney contracted with New York distributor, M. J. Winkler, to distribute his series of “Alice Comedies” based on a cartoon he created called “Alice’s Wonderland”. It was not until 1937 that Disney produced the first of the classic Disney princess films with the animated story of “Snow White and Seven Dwarfs”. In 1950, the company produced its first completely live-action film - “Treasure Island”. The first theme park, Disneyland, was opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California. Walt Disney, a father of two daughters, wanted a place where parents and children could go and both have fun. Prior to his death Disney purchased land in Florida, which is now Walt Disney World. Today the company offers parks in Shanghai, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, as well as additional range of resorts and cruises. The Walt Disney Studios are the foundation of the The Walt Disney Company. Today those studios include: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Disney Music Group, Disney Theatrical Group, Disneytoon Studios, Marvel, Touchstone Pictures, Disney Nature and LucasFilm. Additionally, Disney has developed and acquired a number of media networks over the years, which are divided as Disney/ABC Television Group and ESPN Inc. On April 2, 1940 Walt Disney Productions issued its first share of stock, the official name of the company up until 1986 when it was changed to The Walt Disney Company. Now the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as DIS. The major players involved in the Walt Disney Company would likely include the customers, shareholders and employees. Mission Statement The Walt Disney Company’s mission statement is as follows: "The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop theSAMPLE most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world." In addition to the mission of the company, it should be noted that since the company is public a primary goal of the business is to make the profits for its shareholders. 1 Statement Opportunity Disney is releasing a live-action remake of a Disney classic -- “Beauty and the Beast.” The original Disney film was released in 1991 as an animation. The live-action version of “Beauty and the Beast” is joining a multitude of other live-action movies that have come out in recent years. The opportunity is the release of the film on March 17, 2017. The aim of the campaign is to garner momentum and attention for “Beauty and the Beast.” Competitors for the film include other films released during March or in the box office. Non-traditional media may also be competition, for instance Hulu or Netflix, with fairytale based shows and movies. Research Goals Prior to the launch of the campaign research would largely need to be conducted on understanding past campaigns and target audiences in order to shape the upcoming campaign and identify what will help the film be most successful. In an effort to understand Disney’s past campaigns we would want to focus on pinpointing Disney’s top grossing films of all time to understand where the bar could be set in terms of success and profitability. In tandem it would be important to understand the reasoning behind these films success. Once we have an understanding of the peak of success we would want to hone in on understanding the past live-action remakes. It would be essential to understand the public relations strategies for those films including but not limited to any brand partnerships, social media accounts or media events. Additionally, it would be helpful to understand the details surrounding the success of the film in terms of box office numbers, length in theaters, total profit grossed, popularity/ratings, etc. These figures will help shape the goals for the campaign and understanding what strategies may have helped with profitability. To understand who would be the best target audiences for the film we would want to have a conducted through audience research. For this goal we would want to identify our target audiences domestically and internationally and be able to understand each of them. It would be important to understand what messages will resonate with these groups. Additionally, we will want to identify the best ways to reach these various audience groups. An overarching goal to understand our audiences would be through the creation of personas. While more research may be conducted on a project or event-based need, to better understand the landscape of each tactic the overarching goals will help to ensure the opportunity of the film release is capitalized on to the fullest extent. Research Methodology Primary and secondary research was conducted to fulfill the research goals. The primary research was conductedSAMPLE in the form of a small focus group focused on millennial men, an area in which we need insight. For our secondary research we synthesized and analyzed existing research, as well as news stories, magazine articles, press releases and blogs to form a summary of information answering our research questions. 2 For the focus group, we singled out millennial men to better understand how they feel about the live-action remake and the original animated film. Our focus group included men both in relationships and not in relationships to help us decipher if Beauty and the Beast could be target to more than families. We asked them various questions concerning their experience with the animated film such as who their favorite characters are and why, what they expect out of the live-action film and what would drive them to view the new release. We found that the majority of the men had seen the animated Beauty and the Beast and enjoyed it due to several elements including the humorous friendship between Lumiere and Cogsworth, Belle’s clear character development, the catchy music and the dynamic personalities and interactions of secondary characters. When asked about the chances of watching the new live-action remake, the men unanimously said they would like to see the movie, however, they would not go by themselves and would not like to attend the opening weekend. Those in relationships and/or with children said they would go as a family outing or date night, while the single men said they would most likely wait until the DVD or digital release was available. Unexpected information we gathered from the focus group related to the audience available in the Asian markets and some of the threats to the success of opening weekend such as the “Power Rangers” release the following week and “March Madness” being during the same time. Overall, the information gathered from the focus group allowed us to come up with strategies and tactics that address the concerns and opinions of the men within our target audience. Secondary audience research found that the overall target audience for Disney has been families. Walt Disney said, "You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway." The Walt Disney Company has thus focused on families as its main target audience for the duration of the company’s overall marketing strategy, as opposed to just children or gender-specific targeting. These tenants of inclusion run throughout everything the company does. Even when Disney created his theme parks, he purposefully designed a place that the whole family would enjoy, not just children, because he was tired of taking his kids places and not being able to participate in the fun. Additionally, we found Generation Z stands apart slightly from Millennials, especially in their interaction with technology. While Millennials are heavily involved in the digital landscape there are differences. Generation Z is the first to grow up in the “era of smartphones” and do not remember a time without social media. Many of them develop relationships online through Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook. Another striking difference is which channels they are engaging on the most. Many gen Z’ers have shied away from Facebook but are heavily ensconced on Snapchat, a staple of their digital savvy generation. While there are differences in the way that Gen Z and Millennials use media compared to Baby Boomers andSAMPLE Gen X, there are still some similarities. In an article from Nielsen they note that, “While time spent on traditional television has decreased across most generations ​ over the past several years, device fragmentation has led to more content options, and consumers are taking full advantage of them—regardless of age. For example, tablet penetration among all generations analyzed has increased 9% from 2014 to 2015. At 70%, Generation X leads the way in terms of national tablet penetration.” So while Baby Boomers and 3 Gen X may not be the target audience for a campaign on Snapchat they are still extremely important to consider in a digital and multimedia campaign. Secondary research also found a repeating sequence of trends that is present in all of Disney’s highest grossing films.