Disneyization

A collection of multiple consumption opportunities in a particular location. “The more needs you fulfil, the longer people stay.”Walt Disney realised at a very early stage that Disneyland had a great potential as a vehicle for selling food and various goods. Disney theme parks are full of shops and restaurants to the extent that many writers argue that their main purpose is precisely the selling of variety of goods and food. Disney has learned to optimise the mix of merchandise in stores within its theme parks, which consequently are highly profitable and achieve some of the highest sales per square metre for retail stores in the US.

Making employees not only providers of services, but also entertainers.The focus of this aspect is about controlling the behaviour of the employees. The behaviour of Disney theme park employees is control in a number of ways, where control through scripted interactions and encouraging emotional labour is one of the key elements. The friendliness and helpfulness of Disney theme park employees is renowned and expected. The ever-smiling Disney employees have become a stereotype of modern culture. Their demeanour, coupled with the distinctive Disney language, is designed among other things to convey the impression that the employees are having fun too and therefore not engaging in real work.

Infusing a place or object with a particular idea.

Disneyland was conceived as a celebration of America’s past

Disney noticed that many parents were like him and only frequented these parks to appease their children. He felt that it should be possible to create an environment which adults would be just as keen to visit as children.

“The older generation can recapture the nostalgia of days gone by, and the younger generation can savour the challenge of the future.”

Most amusement parks were loose assemblages of rides of various degrees of thrill. Thus, the very process of theming was central to Disney’s product differentiation strategy, and accomplished at east two things in this connection:

Design focus – in the design of rides and attractions, the accent was placed on their theming rather than their thrill factor, which was the standard procedure in other amusement parks at that time. Rather than presenting a random collection of roller coasters, merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheels in a carnival atmosphere, theme parks are divided into distinct areas called “lands” in which a selected theme is presented through architecture, landscaping, costuming, music, live entertainment, attractions, merchandise, and food and beverage.

Establishing coherence – to the various rides and attractions in Disneyland and the environments they were located.

Promoting goods or services with objects bearing promotional images or logos. Thus, theme parks have become major vehicles for merchandising. It can be seen as cross-promotion, or as being part of “an endless round of self-referential co-advertisements.” Over the years, it has become increasingly apparent that more money can be made from feature films through merchandising and licensing than from box office receipts and such.

They sell a vast away of Disney merchandise that has accumulated over the years: pens, clothing, books, sweets, watches, and plush toys. Sales from merchandise are a major contributor to profits from the parks. The parks are carefully designed to maximize the opportunity for and inclination of guests to purchase merchandise.

This occurs in a number of ways, including: t-shirts we the name of the park on them, souvenirs, merchandise deriving from characters specifically associated with the parks.

Predictability – an assurance that products and services will be the same over time and in all locales. McDonald’s offers no surprise. The employee behaviour is scripted, which helps create highly predictable interactions between workers and customers. While customers don’t follow scripts, they tend to develop simple recipes for dealing with the employees of McDonaldized systems.

Calculability – emphasis on the quantitative aspects of product sold (portion, size, cost) and service offered (the time it takes to get the product). In McDonaldized systems, quantity has become equivalent to quality; a lot of something, or the quick delivery of it, means it must be good. The names of the product help make the customer feel like they’re getting a lot for their money’s worth (e.g., Big Mac, Double Whopper, Super-size fries).

Control through non-human technology – lines, limited menus, few options, and uncomfortable seats all lead diners to do what management wants them to do – eat quickly and leave. Furthermore, the drive-through window leads diners to leave before they even eat. Employees are also controlled: they are trained to do a limited number of things in precisely the way they are told to do them. Managers and inspectors make sure that workers toe the line. McDonald’s also controls employees by threatening o use, and ultimately using, technology to replace human workers.

Efficency – The optimum method for getting from one point to another. McDonald offers the best available way to get from being hungry to being full, since the efficiency of a fast-food meal often proves impossible to resist in a stressed society. Predesigned processes with clear steps, organizational rules and regulations help ensure highly efficient work.

This management style assumes that the typical worker has little ambition, avoids responsibility, and is individual-goal oriented. In general, Theory X style managers believe their employees are less intelligent, lazier, and work solely for a sustainable income.Management believes employee's work is based on their own self-interest.Managers who believe employees operate in this manner are more likely to use rewards or punishments as motivation.Due to these assumptions, Theory X concludes the typical workforce operates more efficiently under a hands-on approach to management. Theory X managers believe all actions should be traceable to the individual responsible. This allows the individual to receive either a direct reward or a reprimand, depending on the outcome's positive or negative nature. This managerial style is more effective when used in a workforce that is not essentially motivated to perform.

While prior economic offerings are external to the buyer experiences are inherently personal, existing only in the mind of an individual who has been engaged on an emotional, physical, intellectual, or even spiritual level. No two experiences are the same, because each experience derives from the interaction between the staged event and the individual’s state of mind. But experiences are not exclusively about entertainment; companies stage an experience whenever they engage customers in a personal, memorable way.Example: cab driver Iggy. He served sandwiches and drinks, conducted tours of the city, and even sang Frank Sinatra tunes. By engaging passengers in a way that turned an ordinary cab ride into a memorable event, Iggy created something else entirely: a distinct economic offering. Iggy’s customers happily responded by giving bigger tips. By asking to go around the block again, one patron even paid more for poorer service just to prolong his enjoyment. The service Iggy provided – taxi transportation – was simply the stage for the experience that he was really selling.

Theme the experience – the first step in engaging customers is creating a well-defined theme. One poorly conceived gives customers nothing around which to organize the impression they encounter, and the experience yields no lasting memory. An effective theme is concise and compelling, and must drive al design elements and staged events toward a unified story line that wholly captures the customer.

Harmonize impressions with positive cues –impressions are the “takeaways” of the experience; they fulfil the theme. To create the desired impressions, companies must introduce cues that affirm the nature of the experience to the guest. Each cue must be consistent with the theme. When a restaurant host says, “your table is ready” no particular cue is given. When a Rainforest Café host declares, “your adventure is about to begin,” it sets the stage for something special. It’s the cues that make the impressions that create the experience in the customer’s mind.

Eliminate negative cues – you must eliminate anything that diminishes, contradicts, or distracts from the theme. Overservicing – giving a poor service in the name of customer intimacy – can also ruin an experience. E.g., At hotels, front-desk personnel interrupt face-to-face conversations with guest to field telephone calls. By eliminating negative cues – by assigning off-stage personnel to answer phones– creates a more pleasurable customer experience.

Mix in memorabilia –certain goods have always been purchased primarily for the memories they convey. These goods generally sell at price points far above those commanded by similar items that don’t represent an experience. That’s because the price points are a function less of the cost of goods than of the value the buyer attaches to remembering the experience.

Engage all five senses – the sensory stimulants that accompany an experience should support and enhance its theme. The more senses an experience engages, the more effective and memorable it can be. However, not all sensations are good ones, and some combinations don’t work. None wants a drink by the gas station where it smells as gasoline.

Active participation – customers play a key role in creating the performance or event that yields the experience. E.g., skiers.

Passive participation – at the end of the spectrum, where customers don’t affect the performance at all. E.g., symphony listeners.

Absorption – a certain distance between the experience event and the customer. E.g., watching a movie at home.

Immersive – the customer is “inside” the happening. E.g., watching a movie in a cinema with other people while eating popcorn.

Entertainment – passive & absorptive. E.g., TV, concerts

·     Education – active & absorptive. E.g., attending a class, ski lesson.

·     Aesthetic – passive & immersive. E.g., visiting an art gallery, looking at the view.

·     Escapist – active & immersive. E.g., acting in a play, playing in a band.