attraction proposal of hong kong disneyland – back to...

74
Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classic Zoe H.Y. SHIU A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Communication Supervisor: Mr. Simon Lee School of Communication Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong July 2010

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Page 1: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland ndash Back to Classic

Zoe HY SHIU

A Project Submitted

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts in Communication

Supervisor Mr Simon Lee

School of Communication Hong Kong Baptist University

Hong Kong July 2010

Authorization

This is to authorize the School of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University to place my project titled ldquoAttraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disney ndash Back to Classicrdquo in the HKBU library for general public reference and inspection

Name in block letters SHIU HOI YI Student ID 09421181 Signature Zoe Date 02072010

MA Graduation Project

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION FORM

This form must be completed signed dated and included with the Project submitted to the University for marking Student Name Shiu Hoi Yi Zoe Student Number 09421181 Name of Project Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland Submission Date 03072010 Declaration I have read the relevant sections on Plagiarism provided in the Handbook for Graduation Project and observed the standards of conduct I am fully aware of the consequences in the event of plagiarism I declare that to the best of my knowledge this project represents my own work and all sources have been properly acknowledged and the Project contains no elements of plagiarism I further declare that the Project has not been previously included in a thesis dissertation or report submitted to this University or to any other institution for a degree diploma or other qualification Studentrsquos Signature Zoe Date 03072010

Acknowledgement

I am heartily thankful to my supervisor Mr Simon Lee whose encourage supervise and support me from the preliminary to the concluding level I would like to thank Mr Walt Disney that has created such a wonderland Disneyland gives me irreplaceable memories and I truly believed that I will love Disney forever

Lastly I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported and encouraged me during the completion of the project especially my parents and friends

(signature) Zoe (Studentrsquos name)

MA in Communication School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date 03072010

Abstract

Imagine you are taking a time machine going back to your childhood what

will you see Parents Friends Toys Or the old Disney characters

This is an integrated marketing communication proposal for Hong Kong

Disneyland Focus on the potential market ndash the 40-ish group four new attractions

will be suggested in this proposal They are Back to Classic Musical Dream Night

Parade Nostalgic Dance Party and special street decorations Promotion tactics are

mentioned in this paper too In order to advertize the new attractions to the public

different media channels will be used to raise awareness such as advertising direct

marketing internet marketing sales promotion and public relations

The campaign is named as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo It is hoped that the visitors can

have a brand new experience in Hong Kong Disneyland With the enjoyment of those

exciting rides and spots do not forget to visit the new attractions When visitos take a

look at the Disney history carefully they will realize that the Disney classic

characters not only accompany them to grow but also grow with them

The campaign may not be a perfect proposal but it is created by dreams hopes

and happiness When you turn over this page I am pleased to welcome you to the

world of dream ndash Disneyland

摘 要

這是一份關於香港迪士尼樂園的計劃書自從樂園由零五年開幕至令一

直都以家庭或年輕人為目標顧客為了擴闊客源這次的計劃書將為三十五至五

十五歲的本地居民而設迪士尼樂園將針對他們推出一系列新的活動和娛樂

是次的活動命為「迪士尼經典大唱遊」(Back to Classic)而新增設的四項

節目分別是「米奇經典歌舞劇」(Back to Classic Musical)「星閃閃夜巡遊」(Dream

Night)「老朋友懷舊大派對」 (Nostalgic Dance Party) 和分佈在各世界的街頭裝

「米奇經典歌舞劇」是以迪土尼的經典角色為主角透過扣人心弦的情歌

和表演讓每位賓客彷如穿越時光回到過去「老朋友懷舊大派對」是一個與遊

客互動的表演迪士尼卡通將會走遍各個世界為相識已久的老朋友帶來無限驚

喜設置在不同地方的大型裝飾亦是賓客們回味過去拍照留念的好地方最後

「星閃閃夜巡遊」則是參考了日本迪士尼其中一個最受歡迎的節目 - 夜間巡

遊十輛香港限定的華麗花車將會佈滿閃閃彩燈配合首次出場的經典人物為

賓客劃上完美的句號

為了配會是次活動大型的宣傳計劃亦會同時展開除了電視報章雜

誌的廣告之外一如以往亦會透過網頁和網上社交平台發放新消息和活動詳

情務求以不同的宣傳途徑接觸最多的目標顧客

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 2: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

Authorization

This is to authorize the School of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University to place my project titled ldquoAttraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disney ndash Back to Classicrdquo in the HKBU library for general public reference and inspection

Name in block letters SHIU HOI YI Student ID 09421181 Signature Zoe Date 02072010

MA Graduation Project

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION FORM

This form must be completed signed dated and included with the Project submitted to the University for marking Student Name Shiu Hoi Yi Zoe Student Number 09421181 Name of Project Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland Submission Date 03072010 Declaration I have read the relevant sections on Plagiarism provided in the Handbook for Graduation Project and observed the standards of conduct I am fully aware of the consequences in the event of plagiarism I declare that to the best of my knowledge this project represents my own work and all sources have been properly acknowledged and the Project contains no elements of plagiarism I further declare that the Project has not been previously included in a thesis dissertation or report submitted to this University or to any other institution for a degree diploma or other qualification Studentrsquos Signature Zoe Date 03072010

Acknowledgement

I am heartily thankful to my supervisor Mr Simon Lee whose encourage supervise and support me from the preliminary to the concluding level I would like to thank Mr Walt Disney that has created such a wonderland Disneyland gives me irreplaceable memories and I truly believed that I will love Disney forever

Lastly I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported and encouraged me during the completion of the project especially my parents and friends

(signature) Zoe (Studentrsquos name)

MA in Communication School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date 03072010

Abstract

Imagine you are taking a time machine going back to your childhood what

will you see Parents Friends Toys Or the old Disney characters

This is an integrated marketing communication proposal for Hong Kong

Disneyland Focus on the potential market ndash the 40-ish group four new attractions

will be suggested in this proposal They are Back to Classic Musical Dream Night

Parade Nostalgic Dance Party and special street decorations Promotion tactics are

mentioned in this paper too In order to advertize the new attractions to the public

different media channels will be used to raise awareness such as advertising direct

marketing internet marketing sales promotion and public relations

The campaign is named as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo It is hoped that the visitors can

have a brand new experience in Hong Kong Disneyland With the enjoyment of those

exciting rides and spots do not forget to visit the new attractions When visitos take a

look at the Disney history carefully they will realize that the Disney classic

characters not only accompany them to grow but also grow with them

The campaign may not be a perfect proposal but it is created by dreams hopes

and happiness When you turn over this page I am pleased to welcome you to the

world of dream ndash Disneyland

摘 要

這是一份關於香港迪士尼樂園的計劃書自從樂園由零五年開幕至令一

直都以家庭或年輕人為目標顧客為了擴闊客源這次的計劃書將為三十五至五

十五歲的本地居民而設迪士尼樂園將針對他們推出一系列新的活動和娛樂

是次的活動命為「迪士尼經典大唱遊」(Back to Classic)而新增設的四項

節目分別是「米奇經典歌舞劇」(Back to Classic Musical)「星閃閃夜巡遊」(Dream

Night)「老朋友懷舊大派對」 (Nostalgic Dance Party) 和分佈在各世界的街頭裝

「米奇經典歌舞劇」是以迪土尼的經典角色為主角透過扣人心弦的情歌

和表演讓每位賓客彷如穿越時光回到過去「老朋友懷舊大派對」是一個與遊

客互動的表演迪士尼卡通將會走遍各個世界為相識已久的老朋友帶來無限驚

喜設置在不同地方的大型裝飾亦是賓客們回味過去拍照留念的好地方最後

「星閃閃夜巡遊」則是參考了日本迪士尼其中一個最受歡迎的節目 - 夜間巡

遊十輛香港限定的華麗花車將會佈滿閃閃彩燈配合首次出場的經典人物為

賓客劃上完美的句號

為了配會是次活動大型的宣傳計劃亦會同時展開除了電視報章雜

誌的廣告之外一如以往亦會透過網頁和網上社交平台發放新消息和活動詳

情務求以不同的宣傳途徑接觸最多的目標顧客

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 3: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

MA Graduation Project

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION FORM

This form must be completed signed dated and included with the Project submitted to the University for marking Student Name Shiu Hoi Yi Zoe Student Number 09421181 Name of Project Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland Submission Date 03072010 Declaration I have read the relevant sections on Plagiarism provided in the Handbook for Graduation Project and observed the standards of conduct I am fully aware of the consequences in the event of plagiarism I declare that to the best of my knowledge this project represents my own work and all sources have been properly acknowledged and the Project contains no elements of plagiarism I further declare that the Project has not been previously included in a thesis dissertation or report submitted to this University or to any other institution for a degree diploma or other qualification Studentrsquos Signature Zoe Date 03072010

Acknowledgement

I am heartily thankful to my supervisor Mr Simon Lee whose encourage supervise and support me from the preliminary to the concluding level I would like to thank Mr Walt Disney that has created such a wonderland Disneyland gives me irreplaceable memories and I truly believed that I will love Disney forever

Lastly I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported and encouraged me during the completion of the project especially my parents and friends

(signature) Zoe (Studentrsquos name)

MA in Communication School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date 03072010

Abstract

Imagine you are taking a time machine going back to your childhood what

will you see Parents Friends Toys Or the old Disney characters

This is an integrated marketing communication proposal for Hong Kong

Disneyland Focus on the potential market ndash the 40-ish group four new attractions

will be suggested in this proposal They are Back to Classic Musical Dream Night

Parade Nostalgic Dance Party and special street decorations Promotion tactics are

mentioned in this paper too In order to advertize the new attractions to the public

different media channels will be used to raise awareness such as advertising direct

marketing internet marketing sales promotion and public relations

The campaign is named as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo It is hoped that the visitors can

have a brand new experience in Hong Kong Disneyland With the enjoyment of those

exciting rides and spots do not forget to visit the new attractions When visitos take a

look at the Disney history carefully they will realize that the Disney classic

characters not only accompany them to grow but also grow with them

The campaign may not be a perfect proposal but it is created by dreams hopes

and happiness When you turn over this page I am pleased to welcome you to the

world of dream ndash Disneyland

摘 要

這是一份關於香港迪士尼樂園的計劃書自從樂園由零五年開幕至令一

直都以家庭或年輕人為目標顧客為了擴闊客源這次的計劃書將為三十五至五

十五歲的本地居民而設迪士尼樂園將針對他們推出一系列新的活動和娛樂

是次的活動命為「迪士尼經典大唱遊」(Back to Classic)而新增設的四項

節目分別是「米奇經典歌舞劇」(Back to Classic Musical)「星閃閃夜巡遊」(Dream

Night)「老朋友懷舊大派對」 (Nostalgic Dance Party) 和分佈在各世界的街頭裝

「米奇經典歌舞劇」是以迪土尼的經典角色為主角透過扣人心弦的情歌

和表演讓每位賓客彷如穿越時光回到過去「老朋友懷舊大派對」是一個與遊

客互動的表演迪士尼卡通將會走遍各個世界為相識已久的老朋友帶來無限驚

喜設置在不同地方的大型裝飾亦是賓客們回味過去拍照留念的好地方最後

「星閃閃夜巡遊」則是參考了日本迪士尼其中一個最受歡迎的節目 - 夜間巡

遊十輛香港限定的華麗花車將會佈滿閃閃彩燈配合首次出場的經典人物為

賓客劃上完美的句號

為了配會是次活動大型的宣傳計劃亦會同時展開除了電視報章雜

誌的廣告之外一如以往亦會透過網頁和網上社交平台發放新消息和活動詳

情務求以不同的宣傳途徑接觸最多的目標顧客

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 4: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

Acknowledgement

I am heartily thankful to my supervisor Mr Simon Lee whose encourage supervise and support me from the preliminary to the concluding level I would like to thank Mr Walt Disney that has created such a wonderland Disneyland gives me irreplaceable memories and I truly believed that I will love Disney forever

Lastly I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported and encouraged me during the completion of the project especially my parents and friends

(signature) Zoe (Studentrsquos name)

MA in Communication School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date 03072010

Abstract

Imagine you are taking a time machine going back to your childhood what

will you see Parents Friends Toys Or the old Disney characters

This is an integrated marketing communication proposal for Hong Kong

Disneyland Focus on the potential market ndash the 40-ish group four new attractions

will be suggested in this proposal They are Back to Classic Musical Dream Night

Parade Nostalgic Dance Party and special street decorations Promotion tactics are

mentioned in this paper too In order to advertize the new attractions to the public

different media channels will be used to raise awareness such as advertising direct

marketing internet marketing sales promotion and public relations

The campaign is named as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo It is hoped that the visitors can

have a brand new experience in Hong Kong Disneyland With the enjoyment of those

exciting rides and spots do not forget to visit the new attractions When visitos take a

look at the Disney history carefully they will realize that the Disney classic

characters not only accompany them to grow but also grow with them

The campaign may not be a perfect proposal but it is created by dreams hopes

and happiness When you turn over this page I am pleased to welcome you to the

world of dream ndash Disneyland

摘 要

這是一份關於香港迪士尼樂園的計劃書自從樂園由零五年開幕至令一

直都以家庭或年輕人為目標顧客為了擴闊客源這次的計劃書將為三十五至五

十五歲的本地居民而設迪士尼樂園將針對他們推出一系列新的活動和娛樂

是次的活動命為「迪士尼經典大唱遊」(Back to Classic)而新增設的四項

節目分別是「米奇經典歌舞劇」(Back to Classic Musical)「星閃閃夜巡遊」(Dream

Night)「老朋友懷舊大派對」 (Nostalgic Dance Party) 和分佈在各世界的街頭裝

「米奇經典歌舞劇」是以迪土尼的經典角色為主角透過扣人心弦的情歌

和表演讓每位賓客彷如穿越時光回到過去「老朋友懷舊大派對」是一個與遊

客互動的表演迪士尼卡通將會走遍各個世界為相識已久的老朋友帶來無限驚

喜設置在不同地方的大型裝飾亦是賓客們回味過去拍照留念的好地方最後

「星閃閃夜巡遊」則是參考了日本迪士尼其中一個最受歡迎的節目 - 夜間巡

遊十輛香港限定的華麗花車將會佈滿閃閃彩燈配合首次出場的經典人物為

賓客劃上完美的句號

為了配會是次活動大型的宣傳計劃亦會同時展開除了電視報章雜

誌的廣告之外一如以往亦會透過網頁和網上社交平台發放新消息和活動詳

情務求以不同的宣傳途徑接觸最多的目標顧客

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 5: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

Abstract

Imagine you are taking a time machine going back to your childhood what

will you see Parents Friends Toys Or the old Disney characters

This is an integrated marketing communication proposal for Hong Kong

Disneyland Focus on the potential market ndash the 40-ish group four new attractions

will be suggested in this proposal They are Back to Classic Musical Dream Night

Parade Nostalgic Dance Party and special street decorations Promotion tactics are

mentioned in this paper too In order to advertize the new attractions to the public

different media channels will be used to raise awareness such as advertising direct

marketing internet marketing sales promotion and public relations

The campaign is named as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo It is hoped that the visitors can

have a brand new experience in Hong Kong Disneyland With the enjoyment of those

exciting rides and spots do not forget to visit the new attractions When visitos take a

look at the Disney history carefully they will realize that the Disney classic

characters not only accompany them to grow but also grow with them

The campaign may not be a perfect proposal but it is created by dreams hopes

and happiness When you turn over this page I am pleased to welcome you to the

world of dream ndash Disneyland

摘 要

這是一份關於香港迪士尼樂園的計劃書自從樂園由零五年開幕至令一

直都以家庭或年輕人為目標顧客為了擴闊客源這次的計劃書將為三十五至五

十五歲的本地居民而設迪士尼樂園將針對他們推出一系列新的活動和娛樂

是次的活動命為「迪士尼經典大唱遊」(Back to Classic)而新增設的四項

節目分別是「米奇經典歌舞劇」(Back to Classic Musical)「星閃閃夜巡遊」(Dream

Night)「老朋友懷舊大派對」 (Nostalgic Dance Party) 和分佈在各世界的街頭裝

「米奇經典歌舞劇」是以迪土尼的經典角色為主角透過扣人心弦的情歌

和表演讓每位賓客彷如穿越時光回到過去「老朋友懷舊大派對」是一個與遊

客互動的表演迪士尼卡通將會走遍各個世界為相識已久的老朋友帶來無限驚

喜設置在不同地方的大型裝飾亦是賓客們回味過去拍照留念的好地方最後

「星閃閃夜巡遊」則是參考了日本迪士尼其中一個最受歡迎的節目 - 夜間巡

遊十輛香港限定的華麗花車將會佈滿閃閃彩燈配合首次出場的經典人物為

賓客劃上完美的句號

為了配會是次活動大型的宣傳計劃亦會同時展開除了電視報章雜

誌的廣告之外一如以往亦會透過網頁和網上社交平台發放新消息和活動詳

情務求以不同的宣傳途徑接觸最多的目標顧客

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 6: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

摘 要

這是一份關於香港迪士尼樂園的計劃書自從樂園由零五年開幕至令一

直都以家庭或年輕人為目標顧客為了擴闊客源這次的計劃書將為三十五至五

十五歲的本地居民而設迪士尼樂園將針對他們推出一系列新的活動和娛樂

是次的活動命為「迪士尼經典大唱遊」(Back to Classic)而新增設的四項

節目分別是「米奇經典歌舞劇」(Back to Classic Musical)「星閃閃夜巡遊」(Dream

Night)「老朋友懷舊大派對」 (Nostalgic Dance Party) 和分佈在各世界的街頭裝

「米奇經典歌舞劇」是以迪土尼的經典角色為主角透過扣人心弦的情歌

和表演讓每位賓客彷如穿越時光回到過去「老朋友懷舊大派對」是一個與遊

客互動的表演迪士尼卡通將會走遍各個世界為相識已久的老朋友帶來無限驚

喜設置在不同地方的大型裝飾亦是賓客們回味過去拍照留念的好地方最後

「星閃閃夜巡遊」則是參考了日本迪士尼其中一個最受歡迎的節目 - 夜間巡

遊十輛香港限定的華麗花車將會佈滿閃閃彩燈配合首次出場的經典人物為

賓客劃上完美的句號

為了配會是次活動大型的宣傳計劃亦會同時展開除了電視報章雜

誌的廣告之外一如以往亦會透過網頁和網上社交平台發放新消息和活動詳

情務求以不同的宣傳途徑接觸最多的目標顧客

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 7: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip1

2 THE DISNEY TALES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4

21 Background of Disney helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip4 22 Why Disney Special helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip12 23 Be Our Guest helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip14

3 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17

31 Situational Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip17 32 Competitor Environs helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip21

4 SWOT ANALYSIS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip31

5 MARKETING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip37

6 TARGET MARKET helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40

61 Not Mainlander this time helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip40 62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip42

7 BACK TO CLASSIC helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip46

71 Product helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip47 72 Promotion Tactics helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip54 73 Place helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip59 74 Price helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip60

8 SUMMARY helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip61

9 REFERENCES helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip65

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 8: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

1

1 Introduction

All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them

- Walt Elias Disney

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first animated film produced by Walt

Elias Disney in 1937 The movie is also the first full-length animated feature in

motion picture history as well as the first produced in American and Technicolor

(Smith 2006) When the film industry first knew that Disney planed to product this

fairy tale they dubbed the project as lsquoDisneyrsquos Follyrsquo and it might definitely destroy

his studio Although the film produced at the unheard cost of $1499000 during the

depths of the Depression Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still considered as one

of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry

(JustDisneycom 2010)

On December 21 1937 the finished film premiered at the Carthay Circle

Theater in Los Angeles At the end of the movie Walt Disney won a standing ovation

and proved that his efforts have not been in vain The film also became the most

successful motion picture of 1938 and earned over $8 million in its original theatrical

release (JustDisneycom 2010) Walt Elias Disney is a dreamer After the World War

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 9: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

2

amusement park

Come to the 21 century Disney achieved his dream of course even more

successful than his imagine The Walt Disney Company also known simply as Disney

is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world Besides animation

movie and publishing the Disneyland Park is one of the key projects of Disney

Lucky the fifth Magic kingdom- Style Park of Walt Disney Company is

located at Hong Kong and opened to visitors on September 12 2005 Hong Kong

government has spent over $20 billion to build the park and it is expected to boost the

economy by bringing in a total gain of $148 billion in the next forty years (The

Young Reported online 2004) But when the park first released performance data of

2005-2009 everyone is disappointed There is more than $1 billion loss in 2008 and

2009 the loss in 2009 even reached $1315 billion Also visitors are far from

expectation and compliance

For this a communication campaign has been created for Hong Kong

Disneyland Different from the traditional target visitors Disneyland is not only

emphasized on friend gathering or romantic moment sharing this time the new

campaign focus on adults who are 35 years old or above still working or

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 10: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

3

already retired In order to to attract those new target visitors an integrated market

communication plan will be launched out

This is a proposal of how the campaign will be done and also its promotion

First the paper will begin with the history of Disneyland followed by a situational

analysis of the situational environs and competitor environs Then the SWOT analysis

campaignrsquos goals and objectives and the illustration of new target market will be

introduced Moreover the illustration on campaign and promotion tactics will be

mentioned and ended in the summary

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 11: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

4

2 The Disney Tales

Disneyland is a wonderland a place that full of hopes happiness and joys

Visitors seem having a sweet dreams when they are in Disneyland comfortable and

distant from reality world Knowing the background of Disneyland can help people to

understand the dream of Walt Disney and how many painstaking efforts he putted in

it

21 Background of Disneyland

A whole new world A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no Or where to go

Or say were only dreaming

- Aladdin ldquoA whole new worldrdquo

Stanford Research Institute was hired by Walter Elias Disney in 1945 aimed

to find the best place to hold a playground According to the book lsquoDisneyland and his

Worldsrsquo Waltrsquos original notion was only want a place for building a small playground

across the road from the studio but as the vision grew this idea was eliminated

(Bryman 199564) Different from the lsquotraditional theme parkrdquo Disneyland was the

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 12: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

5

first amusement park without a roller coaster or a Ferris wheel or barkers No one was

impressed by Waltrsquos idea at the beginning but now proved that the strategy can

definitely show the product differentiation of Disneyland thus establish the

distinctiveness of Waltrsquos enterprise and its market niche (Bryman 199565)

Disneyland is divided into distinct areas called lsquolandrsquo in which a selected

theme like exciting adventures or children fairy tales is presented through

architecture landscaping costuming music live entertainment attractions

merchandise and food and beverage Within a particular land intrusions and

distractions from the theme are minimized so that the visitor becomes immersed in

Disneylandrsquos atmosphere by its Restaurants and retail stores which have special

design are used to entertain guests and support the whole theme of Disneyland Park

(Sorkin 1992207)

July 17 1955 Disneyland was first established in Anaheim California the

place chosen to hold a mountain rivers and materialized the dream of Walt Disney

The park opened with 26 attractions though 12 more are added before the end of

1955 Nowadays there already have over 50 attractions in California Disneyland and

hence become one of the most visited parks in the world (Bryman 199565)

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 13: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

6

After the success of California Disneyland Walt Disney decided to establish

another theme park in Orlando Florida Under a few expansions the park is built on a

total area of 30500 acres approximately equal to 15 of the Singapore It is the largest

vacation resort in the world and that is why called as Magic Kingdom The kingdom

has four large theme parks three Water Parks thirty-two resort hotels including

twenty-two hotels are operated by the Walt Disney Company In sport facilities there

have five 18-hole international standard golf courses and a 9-hole golf course for

parents and children Also an ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex which includes

baseball basketball tennis soccer The kingdom even has a center of Downtown

Disney which combines shopping entertainment and more than two hundred and

fifty restaurants (Dream of Disney 2010)

Having the highest visiting rate Tokyo Disneyland is the first Disney Resort

located outside the US base It opened in 1983 including Disneyland Disney Sea and

Ikspiari shopping mall Being the most attractive Disney Park Tokyo Disneyland

updated its facilities and performances constantly as provide the amazing experiences

to visitors (Dream of Disney 2010)

In 1992 the forth Disneyland is built in the east of Paris The whole park is

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 14: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

7

around 4800 acres and comprised two theme parks named as Disneyland and Walt

Disney Studios Park a Disney Village which contained shopping dining and

entertaining together Also having seven Disney owned hotels a golf course for

international competition a camp land and numerous recreational facilities are the

reasons why Disneyland Paris upgraded to the second Disney resort outside the

United States (Bryman 199576)

Coming to the fifth Disney Park Hong Kong Disneyland is located on Lantau

Island and opened in September 12 2005 It is the smallest Disney Park in the world

and just about half of the Ocean Park but the admission fee is also the cheapest in the

above Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland included four themed lands two hotels

and is still keep expanding Many local cultures have been added in the park hoping

to bring a more intimate experience to the visitors especially for the local consumers

(Dream of Disney 2010)

Although every Disney Park have their own specific attractions and gimmick

the ideas are nearly stuck with the notion of Walt Elias Disney which planed in 1955

including the five famous themed lands they are Adventureland Frontierland

Tomorrowland Fantasyland Main Street USA and of course the landmark Princess

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 15: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

8

Castle (Disney Dreamercom 2010)

Main Street USA

For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates Main Street will bring back happy memories For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfathers youth

- Walt Disney

Main Street is the first land when customers enter in Disneyland aimed to

bring the consumers back to the typical American town of the early 1900s There is

full of shops and only a few attractions built in Main Street such as Disney Art

Gallery and the Opera House Moreover Bryman (1995) noted that the special design

of Main Street building give a false perspective with the ground floor being to

seven-eighths scale and the first floor to five-eights scale which will pull the visitors

towards the castle

Princess Castle

Princess Castle is the gateway to Fantasyland probably the emblem of

Disneyland Park Different castle also appears in every other Disneyland around the

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 16: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

9

world for example Cinderella castle is built in Florida Magic Kingdom and Tokyo

Disneyland while California Disneyland Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong

Disneyland are using Sleeping Beauty Castle However there still have some tiny

differences between each castle as maintain the uniqueness such as the colors of base

wall roofing and top

Fantasyland

What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London or tumbling into Alices nonsensical Wonderland In Fantasyland these classic stories of everyones youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in

- Walt Disney

During the Disneyland inauguration Walt Disney mentioned that Fantasyland

was created with the goal to make dreams come true from the lyrics of When You

Wish Upon a Star (JustDisneycom 2010) Therefore different fairy tales inspired

the fantastic Disney attractions and visitors could take various rides based on classic

Disney films like Alice in Wonderland Dumbo or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(Bryman 199566)

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 17: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

10

Adventureland

To create a land that would make this dream reality we pictured ourselves far from civilization in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Advertureland is the place to evoke exotic settings from areas as diverse as the

South Pacific Asia Africa and India The best known attraction in Advertureland is

Jungle Cruise An eight minute guided cruise through dangerous watchers and close to

menacing shores where model animals and natives lie in wait (Bryman 199565)

Different from the Hong Kong Park the ride in California is separate to the Rivers of

America which flows around Frontierland and Advertureland (Hong Kong Disney

Talk 2007)

Frontierland

All of us have cause to be proud of our countrys history shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived even for a short while during our countrys pioneer days

- Walt Disney

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 18: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

11

Frontierland is recreating the setting of pioneers and a return to the Old West

The best known attraction in Frontierland is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a

themed roller coaster which transported visitors through mines and a mining town

setting This attraction is added in later years since some visitors made it clear they

wanted something exciting but the heavy theming of Big Thunder Mountain

disassociate itself from traditional roller coaster rides (Bryman 199565)

Tomorrowland

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future

- Walt Disney (JustDisneycom 2010)

Tomorrowland is a place to experience the exciting future Also the best place

for the dreamers to dream and the risk takers to risk (Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007)

The major attraction is Star Tours which designed by George Lucas and based on his

well known Star Wars trilogy The attraction has used flight simulator technology to

link programmed movement of visitorrsquos seats to a film to give the illusion of

movement (Bryman 199567)

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 19: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

12

As mentioned the five Disneyland are tightly following the concept of Walt

Disney However in order to satisfy more customers and targeted on more people

each Disneyland will have their specific preferences and campaigns In this proposal

a lsquoBack to Classicrsquo campaign will be launched and discussed in the following part

22 Why Disney Special

I dont want the public to see the world they live in while theyre in the Park I want them to feel theyre in another world

- Walt Elias Disney

Obviously the clear narratives in the Disney parks set them apart from the

traditional amusements (Bryman 199584) Highlighted theme with special building

landscaping and attractions make Disneyland out of the ordinary Bryman (199584)

pointed out that the visitor is encompassed by narratives in form of stories or of linked

attractions with relate to particular motifs Disneyland created the narratives are not

just by virtue of the names like Frontierland or Fantasyland but also combined

architecture sounds shops restaurants costumes arts and crafts and occasionally

smells which enhance the feeling of being wrapped up in a time and place

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 20: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

13

On the other hand Finch (1973393) claimed that the key difference between

Disneyland and other amusement parks is that it was devised in the manner of a film

set Finch suggested that both film making and a theme park require similar

presentation skills The film makers are taught to conceptualize films with a serious of

events it is just nearly the same method of conceptualizing the park and its

constituent parts (Finch 1973394) Visitors are given insights into those themed

lands and even literally become part of the actors walk between different film sets

enjoy in the wonderland Furthermore Nye (1981) listed eight different ways of

examining amusement parks They are

1 as fabricated controlled environments which are designed to be different from

everyday life

2 as fantasy lands in which visitors can enjoy ephemeral contact with exotic and

sometimes erotic worlds

3 as spectacles which provide visitors with all-encompassing visual and aural

experiences

4 as liberation from the obligation to engage in mundane behavior

5 as an entertainment experience specifically designed for families

6 as a direct consequence of improvements in transport

7 as a place where visitors can take risks while knowing that they are unlikely to be

harmed

8 as a context within which the major forms of human play can be enacted

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 21: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

14

These statements can fully apply in Disneyland and thus achieve the goal of

Walt Elias Disney ndash Wish Your Dream Come True

23 Be Our Guest

The important thing is the family If you can keep the family together ndash and thatrsquos the backbone of our whole business catering to families ndash thatrsquos what we hope to do

- Walt Elias Disney

It is not surprise that Disneyland is targeted on families Early In the classic

Disney movies like Bambi Dumbo are already telling the world that Walt Disney is

someone who provides family entertainment Base on Walt Disneyrsquos notion he would

like to have a theme park that can satisfy the whole family He noted that he was once

took his daughters to an old amusement park that adults frequently looked bored

while their children playing Hence he did not want a park where adults sat around

looking uninterested and would not want to visit again (Bryman 199591)

To achieve this goal Walt Disney has created many interesting displays

cartoons and attractions which particularly appeal to children like spare travel cars or

hands-on exhibits At the same time the lands concentrate on adventure fantasy or

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 22: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

15

nostalgic elements which providing the near-mythical image to the children When

families visiting Disneyland children can discover the new while parents can enjoy

the memory of that discover as children (Bryman 199589)

However there are some writers questioned about this Findlay (1992) argued

that the advertisements of Disneyland have often been designed specifically to appeal

to adults Take Hong Kong as an example the advertisement of Disneyland campaign

lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo which held in 2009 summer has chosen an office lady as the

main character She was tired in her work and invited to Hong Kong Disneyland by

singer Yu Cheng Ching and Disney cartoon Stitch

Fig 1 Advertisement of lsquoStitchrsquos Summer Bashrsquo

Star Guest program is another Disneylandrsquos advertisement using adult

characters A mother is invited to go Disneyland to celebrate her birthday In the

advertisement she is treated as a VIP and enjoyed a lovely moment with her family

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 23: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

16

Fig 2 the lsquoStar Guestrsquo Advertisement

Advertisements are likely to appeal to adults than to children are because they

are the people who driving cars spending the money and taking the time off from

work (Bryman 199589) Hard to believe but adults are the primary target audiences

of those advertisements It is because they are the people who have power to make

decision and consume And they are just willing to visit the park if they are also

interested in it Therefore attracting adultsrsquo awareness is an important aspect for

Disneyland

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 24: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

17

3 Situational Analysis

In the past year there is only one theme park in Hong Kong that is Ocean Pak

This created a unique status to the Park and no one doubt about it Five year ago the

international first class theme park Disneyland has entered to the marketplace A

serious competition started between these two theme parks Here both situational and

competitor environs will be analyzed hoping to get a full understand of the Hong

Kong market

31 The Situational Environs

This part included product situation environment trend of society and the

potential market

Disneyland the international theme park established by the Walt Disney

Company As the background of Disneyland has been mentioned above it is truly

believed that the Walt Disney Company and its business is occupied a large market

share in the whole world That is the reason why the company ranked 10 in the total

100 of Best Global Brands (rankingthebrandcom 2010)

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 25: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

18

It is not surprise that Hong Kong people loves collecting memory The

collective memory is shared passed on and also constructed by the group or modern

society (answercom 2010) Also means the share memory of feelings scenes music

and pictures between more than one people Even the memories between family

members can be considered as collective memory too

Before collective memory will fade is because the successive generations will

not attach the same meaning and significance to the event as the generations that were

in their formative stages at the time (uiceduucom 2010) Different generations will

have their particular meanings and experiences but each of them will not link and

influence others However facing the development of city people started to cherish

the memory of the past Different generations blend together and fight for the things

that they think is important or memorable

It seems that collective memory becomes a trend in Hong Kong In 2006 a

place that considered as a collective memory the Central Star Ferry Pier dismantled

by the Government This made the Hong Kong people start to concern about

collective memory In 2007 the Hong Kong Government addressed that collective

memory becomes one of the factors to decide the historical building is demolition or

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 26: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

19

not

Therefore the potential market is bringing out by the concept of collective

memory To prove the practicability of the idea focus group interviews are done for

the campaign Although only ten open questions asked to the ten interviewees it is

already enough to get opinions and information Focusing on the niche target segment

the interviewees are all parents or adult

Within the ten interviewees all of them have visited the oversea Disneyland

Park eight of them went there more than one time But it is interested to know that

there are only six people visited to Hong Kong Disneyland Two of them have visited

more than one time while the others just visited once Asking the four people who

never go to Hong Kong Disneyland they think that the Parkrsquos attractions are just

same as other Disneyland and thus lose their interest and curiosity Interviewees also

think that the admission fee is too expensive and worthlessness For this one

interviewee claimed that he would like to go to the Park but no one is willing to go

with him Nevertheless for the six people who visited Hong Kong Disneyland before

they stated that unchanged attractions and entertainment are somehow quite boring

They wish the Park can have some new spots or rides Out of the six interviewees

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 27: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

20

two of them are saying that they always attract by the new celebrations or promotion

The new theme and seasonal event is interesting and attractive especially the

celebrations on Christmas and Chinese New Year

About the Disney classic movies all of the interviewees said they still

remember the movies watched in their childhood One woman said that she watched

those movies in cinema borrowed video cassette and even TVB For the most

memorable Disney characters eight of them voted for Mickey Mouse It is because it

is the main character in Disney movie and appears in many movies A man also saying

that he still remember he watched the classic movie lsquoFantasiarsquo during music lesson in

primary school The other two interviewees voted for lsquoBambirsquo and lsquoDumborsquo The two

movies are emphasizing on family love and overcoming difficulties They agreed that

these topics are rare in contemporary cartoons since the topics focus on humor and

comedy now These two female still remember they cried loudly when Bambi and

Dumborsquos mother died

It is not absolutely affirmed that every adult have watched Disney movies or

having any linkage with Disney But it is hopes and wishes to believe these people

may faced any Disney cartoons in their childhood The campaign is aimed to retrieve

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 28: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

21

the innocence of a child which may disappear for many years People can experience

their youth by visiting the new attractions a certain extent of past memory ndash the

collective memory of the 40-ish

To support this idea quote from the book lsquoDisney and his Worldsrsquo in 1994

the Euro Disneylandrsquos exectives had discovered that there had a significant appeal to

the older genrations who aged 55 or over came without children Hence targeted to

these market a particualr promotion launched planned to attract the older visit the

Park in the holidays lsquoObviously they were not rushing to the white-knucked rides but

they were walking around happily taking in the atmosphere and clearly reliving their

youthrsquo The Euro Disneylandrsquos senior vice-president said (Bryman 1995 89)

32 Competitor Environs

Ocean Park is the most influential competitor of Hong Kong Disneyland It is

a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide elements of entertainment education

and conservation to the visitors (oceanparkcom 2010) Founded in 1977 Ocean Park

is the first educational theme park in Hong Kong the park located on the southern

side of Hong Kong Island covered more than 870000 square meters of land 35

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 29: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

22

attractions and still keeping establishment (oceanparkcom 2010)

The Park is separated by a large mountain in three areas the Summit

(Headland) The Waterfront (Lowland) and Tai Shue Wan The headland and Lowland

is connected by a 15 km long cable car visitors not only can reached each area

conveniently but also can enjoy the spectacular panoramic views of the southern side

of Hong Kong and the South China Sea Meanwhile visitors can opt to ride the

second longest outdoor escalator in the world stretching over 225 meters connecting

the Headland and Tai Shue Wan (oceanparkcom 2010)

Different from Disneyland Ocean Park hasnrsquot got a clear theme in each area

but mix several attractions together The Headland is the place to scream and

experience excitement Many thrill rides including the famous attractions Dragon

Eagle Crazy Galleon Ferris Wheel Flying Swing Raging River Space Wheel Mine

Train and Abyss Turbo Drop are located in the Headland After playing those

attractions guests can visit the Marine Land nearby The Ocean Theatre is a family

favorite where dolphins and sea lions participate in daily life showing both entertain

and educate its audience about the habitats of marine mammals (oceanparkcom

2010) Next to the Ocean Theatre is the world-class Atoll Reef aquarium and Sea Jelly

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 30: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

23

Spectacular Atoll Reef aquarium holds 2000 fishes from close to 250 species

including sharks and the rare Black Spotted Sting Ray which was successfully bred at

Ocean Park (findtargetcom 2010) Guests can interact with nearly 1000 beautiful

sea jellies set against stunning music and multimedia displays in the Sea Jelly

Spectacular Also other interesting spot Pacific Pier shows a slice of the sunny

Californian coast to Hong Kong visitors can interact with the sea lions and observe

their daily lives in the underwater exhibit (oceanparkcom 2010)

On the other hand the latest themed area ndash the Amazing Asian Animals is

located in the Lowland It is an educational and highly entertaining collection of

exhibits bringing together some of Asias rarest animals (oceanparkcom 2010) Such

as the Chinas national treasure ndash Giant Panda Red Panda and more than hundreds of

shimmering goldfishes including some of the latest and rarest species like Black

Oranda and Blue Phoenix Eggfish educates visitors on the history and importance of

the goldfish in Chinese culture (findtargetcom 2010) Also Panda Village offers a

great opportunity to the bird lovers by providing an exhibit of different parrots and

birds as well as the Asian Small-clawed Otters (oceanparkcom 2010) Finally

children can go to the Whiskers Harbor and enjoy those exciting array of kid-sized

rides and attractions The whole family can join in at the Wiskers Theatre or the

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 31: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

24

nearby Dolphin University Whiskers Theatre shows the fun peek at the daily life of

Ocean Parkrsquos sea lions while the Dolphin University introduces the hidden lives of

dolphins and the efforts of Ocean Parkrsquos dolphin breeding centre (oceanparkcom

2010)

With a special theme and educational significance Ocean Park maintains its

unique status and becomes the most attractive theme park in Hong Kong Base on a

cheaper admission fee ($250) Ocean Park is accepted by more travelers individual

visitors and even Hong Kong people According to the official statistics released by

the Park there are more than 95 million guests have visited Ocean Park in the past 30

years ago Over 5 million guests visit Ocean Park each year (oceanparkcom 2010)

In 2006 the successful number made Ocean Park named one of the 10 Most Popular

Amusement Parks in the World by Forbescom and ranked Ocean Park as one of the

50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world by Forbes Traveler in 2007

(oceanparkcom 2010) Also in fiscal year 20072008 Ocean Park received 503

million visitors awarding it the position of the worlds number 15 theme park by

annual attendance ahead of rival Hong Kong Disneylands 45 million visitors

(findtargetcom 2010)

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 32: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

25

Ocean Park created many seasonal campaigns in order to cater more visitors

The most successful one is the lsquoHalloween Bushrsquo launched every year Haunted

houses scary thrills special shows and entertainment will be hold in the Park during

Halloween Visitors can enjoy those seasonal celebrations after they pay for an extra

night tickets For different festivals the Park will launch various promotion and

campaigns so visitors will never lose their curiosity and freshness such as the Ocean

Park Sweetheart CNY Holidays which held in last Valentinersquos Day and Chinese New

Year and the Ocean Park Summer Splash launched in this summer

Same as other theme parks and international brand Ocean Park promotes via

different media channels For example the Park will advertise its latest news and

campaign through television news magazines radio And most important the Park

promotes itself in internet Not only official web-site Ocean Park has its official fan

page in facebook and weibo publishing the updated status and news This is not

limited to the area restriction because everyone around the world can know more

about the Park while they just search and click Besides Ocean Park usually has joint

promotion with other theme park or organizations as attracting more target customers

For instance Ocean Park launched a promotion together with Ngong Ping 360 and the

Hong Kong Wetland Park announced that the visitors will get 10 admission

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 33: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

26

discount offer among the other two partner attractions when they present their

admission tickets or a valid annual passpackage ticket (oceanparkcom 2010)

Chosen a unique theme is absolute strength of Ocean Park As the first Hong

Kongs premier educational theme park Ocean Park doomed to be different from

other amusement parks The park mixed marine life mammals and thrill rides together

but not limited to exciting rides and attractions Visitors can educated through those

exhibits and enjoy the rides at the same time The park can satisfy both parents and

children wants while it is not just a place to have fun but people can also learn

something from it The specific market position makes Ocean Park become the best

outing place of academic circle and teenager

Furthermore being an educational theme park Ocean Park did not forget its

aims while it keep developing and establishing new attractions The Park earned

several achievements in the field of animal conservation For example Ocean Park

gained the identification from the renowned Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(AZA) in 2002 making the Park becomes the only animal facility outside of the

United States of America to earn this important industry recognition and validation of

superior animal care which meets or exceeds world standards (oceanparkcom

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 34: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

27

2010)

The Park is continuing commitment to animal conservation can be reflected in

the successful breeding programs undertaken for the unique collection of insects

fishes birds and marine mammals (oceanparkcom 2010) Except the recorded birth

of rare shark species sea lions sea horses and different kinds of sea jelly Ocean Park

also hatched and reared endangered birds and butterflies The park also bred the

worldrsquos first bottlenose dolphin pregnancies via artificial insemination (AI) in 2000

and followed by the births of the worlds first two bottlenose dolphin calves achieved

through AI in May 2001 (oceanparkcom 2010) The result proved the effort of Ocean

Park and maintained its irreplaceable status in the whole world

Although Ocean Park is a local theme park and rooted in Hong Kong it

concerned about the world ecology too In 1993 the Park established the Ocean Park

Conservation Foundation (OPCF) to improve attitudes and practices towards

conservation in Hong Kong and Asia through cooperative programs with other

conservation organizations (oceanparkcom 2010) The Hong Kong Society for

Panda Conservation (HKSPC) was also launched in 1999 aimed to educate the

community and support more on the conservation of the giant pandas and their

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 35: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

28

habitat At last the two foundations were merged into a single organization named

as the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong (OPCFHK) in 2005 Just

like the Parkrsquos notion the foundation focus on the conservation of wildlife and

habitats and wish to educate the public and community (oceanparkcom 2010)

Obviously social responsibility and the effort of conserve endanger species

are the strengths of Ocean Park Once the Park claimed itself as an educational park it

stuck with the responsibility of educate the public Even if the Park needs to extend

more spots to cater more visitors it still planned to increase the animal attractions at

the same time This makes Ocean Park become a diversified park but not a single

theme park

Moreover using its own historical background is the other strength of Ocean

Park With 33 years of history Ocean Park is recognized as a Hong Kong

home-grown theme park every Hong Kong people may have their particular

experiences and memories with it Hence Ocean Park is somehow providing a

positive image to the world and representing our city The leading position of Ocean

Park is difficult to replace by any other late comer or non home-grown theme park

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 36: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

29

In addition some weaknesses can been found in Ocean Park too As

mentioned above Ocean Park is a local based theme park and well-known in Hong

Kong or neighboring China however but it is not famous in other countries and other

people are not familiar with it For those people who do not have any idea about

Ocean Park the Park is just similar to other amusement parks around the world

Travelers may lose their interest to Ocean Park because it looks like other theme parks

or aquariums ndash having similar rides same fishes sharks or animals Although the Park

has its own mascots to cater visitors they are not easy to recognize those mascots ndash

Whiskers Redd and Goldie (威威師令小紅熊俏魚姬)

The psychological and mental condition of animals is another weakness of

Ocean Park Since the animal attraction is one of the selling points of the Park it has

spent a lot of effort to maintain the stability of animalrsquos psychological and mental

condition However animals are animals people are difficult to get full control on

them When animal died or attacked people Ocean Park need to close that attraction

and thus damage its image and public confident just like the accidents happened on

the national treasure of China In 2008 giant panda lsquoAn Anrsquo bit a female breederrsquos left

leg and three Chinese Sturgeon were died after the grand opening of the new Chinese

Sturgeon Aquarium while other two Chinese Sturgeon were already sick After those

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 37: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

30

accidents Ocean Park needs to close the relevant attraction and observe the problem

animals The accidents also show the weakness of Ocean Park in management and

technology hence influence its reputation

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 38: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

31

4 SWOT Analysis

If you know both yourself and your enemy you will come out of one hundred battles with one hundred victories

- Sun Tzu ldquoThe Art of Warrdquo

After study on the strengths and weaknesses on Ocean Park it is time to talk

about the SWOT analysis of Hong Kong Disneyland

1 Strengths

Hong Kong Disneyland is owned and managed by a new joint-venture

company Hong Kong International Theme Parks Limited (HKITP) which formed by

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Walt Disney

Company The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment

conglomerate in the world (cnncom 2009) As a global brand it is already providing

confident to the public and somehow ensures the quality of the Park

Hong Kong Disneyland is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company and

HKITP the two companies will definitely provide strong financial support and

resources to the Park Having a strong backing Hong Kong Disneyland is easier to

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 39: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

32

establish or develop new goals Moreover same with the parent company Hong Kong

Disneyland is managed by the excellence system and knowledge which come from

the top management company in the world

Disneyland is the first theme park developed based on its own characters and

fantasy stories All designs attractions building and landscaping can only found in

the Disney theme park but not other where This unique selling point makes

Disneyland never be replaced by any theme park Meanwhile since the attractions

and spots are totally based on imagination and fantasy the new designs will not be

limited by reality The Disney Imagineers (who dream up design and build the

attractions) can give full play to their imagination to design new impressive

attractions (Bryman 199565)

2 Weaknesses

Until now Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest Disney theme park in the

world Although the coming Shanghai Disneyland will even smaller than Hong Kong

Disneyland it cannot cover the damage that already brought to the Park There are

only 4 themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland while the other Disneyland has 6 to 8

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 40: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

33

themed lands

The Hong Kong Disneyland Management Limited is wholly owned subsidiary

by the Walt Disney Company responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland and

for the day-to-day operation of the theme park By using American style of

management system this may not hundred percent suitable to Hong Kong a place

that emphasize Chinese working culture In 2006 the Disneylandrsquos employees hoped

to establish a trade union to protect their interests In the early planning the

participation of staff were repeatedly blocked by the park management until the

Legislative Council involved in the incident Disney management finally allowed

employees to form a trade union The issue showed that the American style

management method maybe not really suitable in Hong Kong

Since the theme of Disneyland is totally based on stories and fairy tales the

attractions are unrealistic and fantastic that might only attract children story lovers

and loyalties of Disney Although the Disney Imagineers can bring any ideas they are

still having the limitations which come from the originators of the Walt Disney

Company All ideas and concepts need to approve by the originators in USA

creativity may be strangled by company pressures

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 41: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

34

3 Opportunities

Mainland travelers and individual visitors will bring hope to Hong Kong The

proposal is not going to target at these people but it is no doubt that mainland

travelers are one of the important influences upon the Hong Kongrsquos tourism and retail

trade

Under the great development of Hong Kong the income and educational level

have been increased than the past People are more willing to spend in consumer

goods and visiting theme park Especially those parents who have kids they love to

bring their children to theme park as family gathering Having higher income they

pleased to satisfy their childrenrsquos needs and wants such as buying souvenirs and toys

4 Threats

Apparently Ocean Park is the most serious threat to Hong Kong Disneyland

Ocean Park has already rooted in Hong Kong for 33 years it is the first and the most

large-scale theme park located in this city Hence Hong Kong people and government

have already had a deep feeling with it It is difficult to challenge its influence on

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 42: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

35

Hong Kong or even wish to replace its status And the cheaper admission fees special

performances and the national treasure of China are loved by many travelers or

visitors The increasing theme parks and attractions are another threat to Hong Kong

Disneyland as well Like Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are

influencing Hong Kong Disneyland directly

The attractions of foreign countries are the competitors of Hong Kong tourism

The nearby Tokyo Disneyland and the coming Shanghai Disneyland are challenging

to the Park too They will thin out the Hong Kong Disneylandrsquos target customers

because the two theme parks are having similar attractions with Hong Kong

Disneyland Park while their countries have other attractive scenic spots Furthermore

the grand opening of Universal Studios Singapore is a new threat to Hong Kongrsquos

tourism In 2009 Universal Studios Singapore held a press conference to publicize the

new theme park in Hong Kong The Studios consist of seven thematic areas three of

them are first appear in the world including the Sci-Fi City the Far Far Away and the

Madagascar In order to attract young people The Studios have more than 24 rides

and attractions among 18 of those are tailor-made for Singapore Since Hong Kong

people are more able to spend money on travel the tourism believed that the

increasing promotion of other countries will have a huge affect to Hong Kong

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 43: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

36

(singaporetvlcom 2010)

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 44: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

37

5 Marketing Goals and Objectives

This proposal is going to achieve the below goals and objectives Even though

the result is difficult to predict and control but the campaign is still wishing to get

that effort

1 Goals

Firstly making profit is the most important goal for this project Early in 2007

just after the 2nd Anniversary of Hong Kong Disneyland the Walt Disney Company

already complained that the attendance of Hong Kong Disneyland did not meet the

target for two consecutive years thus drag on the overall performance of the Group

(atvnewcom 2010) Hong Kong Disneyland first major admission of its financial

performance in 2009 noted that the Park made a net loss of HK$1574 billion in 2008

and HK$1315 billion in 2009 Although the Park attracted 46 million visitors in

2009 it is still far away from the expected 56 million visitors (alibabacom 2010)

Secondly increase brand awareness is another goal the campaign wish to

achieve Having a brand title as lsquoDisneylandrsquo is already a good beginning to gain

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 45: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

38

awareness and attract visitors However the Park may need to improve its

enchantments products services to maintain good reputation Good words of mouth

also important for Hong Kong Disneyland as well Positive sharing and praise by

visitors can attract more people to the Park

2 Objectives

The campaign is going to attract the 40-ish consumers to the Park and thus

extended the target segment of Hong Kong Disneyland having higher income level

they are pleased to purchase and consume Since the celebration has a lot of new

shows and entertainment it is confident to attract among two third of those 40-ish

people to the park Once the campaign attracted this new target successfully the

immediate profit can be gained through admission fees souvenirs and consumptions

on food and drink The result can be measured clearly in the fiscal report

Positive media coverage is one of the objectives in this project After

advertising and promoting the new campaign to public and media it is hoped that

there will be more than thirty piece of media coverage published in different channels

Moreover we will try out best to ensure all of them are positive and attractive

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 46: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

39

For the long term objective the project hopes Hong Kong Disneyland can

increase its placing in the world such as the ranking of the Most Popular Amusement

Parks or the 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the world Of course it can not

succeed just because this campaign but at least it can make an effort to it

To measure awareness researchers and observers will be used in the proposal

Outer researchers will work inside the Disneyland Park asking questions and see how

many visitors are satisfy with the new celebration Also visitors can express their

feeling and opinion to the researcher directly Indoor researchers responsible for

media coverage and internet opinion analyze the diction words and photos of those

media coverage forums or any other media channels that have reported the campaign

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 47: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

40

6 Target Market

Market segment is the most important part in this proposal it is because it

determined the specific marketing strategies campaign and promotion channels

below

61 Not Mainlanders this time

Apparently Disneyland is not attractive enough for those individual visitors

and mainland travelers Just like what Mr Yang a tourist from Guangdong said

ldquoMainlanders would not come to Hong Kong because of Disneyland We come to

shoprdquo (The Young Reporter Online 2004) According to the Hong Kong Tourism

Board (HKTB) there were over five millions mainland travelers visiting Hong Kong

from January to March 2010 Although they are almost the half of the total tourists

visiting Hong Kong during that period they are not coming for Disneyland (HKTB

2010)

Luxurious brands fashion goods jewelry and cuisine are the main elements

that attract mainlanders to visit the Pearl of Orient Base on the 2009 Visitor Profile

by HKTB the mainlanders were used to spend over 89 per cent of their expenditure

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 48: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

41

on shopping but only 18 per cent for going Disneyland (HKTB 2010)

Yet it is believed that the mainlanders will not become customer loyalty for

Hong Kong Disneyland Park Not just because the size and limited attractions in the

park but also the decreasing curiosity The sentence of Patrick Yu a senior ticketing

consultant of Hong Thai Travel can explain more He believed that the mainlanders

would not come to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park as there is one in Japan already

ldquoThey just come because of novelty and wonrsquot be back a second timerdquo Patrick said

He also added that the mainland travelers can go to enjoy hot springs and buy trendy

goods in Japan besides visiting the park which Hong Kong does not have those (The

Young Reporter Online 2004)

Limited income is another reason that why mainlanders are not the campaignrsquos

target customers Some mainlanders may not affordable for the tickets of Disneyland

Park Mr Ko another visitor from Guangdong said that he could not afford the

admission fees of the park if it is more than $200 It is because the tickets may cost

him more than a thousand for the whole family about one-third of his income ldquoI will

bring my family there if it costs less than $200 eachrdquo he said (The Young Reporter

Online 2004)

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 49: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

42

Base on the above reasons the campaign is not going to focus on the mainland

tourists but another target group ndash the 40-ish consumer group in Hong Kong

62 Blue Ocean ndash the 40-ish group

The 40-ish group is the target customers in this campaign This age group is

rarely become target consumers in any theme park However after investigate the

40-ish background and consumption pattern it is truly believed that they are a

potential target market In the below part the 2006 population by-census will be used

as an example to illustrate this specific target

1 Demographics

This proposal is mainly focus on the Hong Kong citizens who are between

35-55 years old Base on the 2006 population census there are nearly two and a half

million Hong Kong citizens in this age group making up for more than one third of

the total Hong Kong population Of course there is no limited on the gender since

both female and male are welcome to the Park Target customers are not restricted to

the race too It is because Hong Kong Disneyland usually provides Cantonese

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 50: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

43

Mandarin and English description and subtitle to visitors Even if the guests do not

understand these three languages they can still enjoy the show and attraction

2 Socioeconomic

Within this age group seven hundred thousand people having matriculation

level or above while four hundred thousand of them are having twenty thousand

dollar income per month (Census and Statistics Dependent 2007)

These people are selected as the campaignrsquos target because their income and

social status are relatively higher According to the book Consumer Behavior it

believed that status consumption happened on most of the people who have higher

social class Consumers endeavor to increase their social standing through

consumption and loved to buy luxury goods or services (Schiffman amp Kanuk

2007361) Having more income they can afford high consumption and entertainment

Engaged this target group would be more likely to consume and spend on the Park

They love to buy merchandise or non-essential purchases

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 51: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

44

3 Psychographic

Since the target group has a higher income and educational level to a certain

extent they are more willing to purchase a higher quality lifestyle Those people who

enjoy their lives having positive value and personality is the target that the campaign

is looking for They love to have fun receptive to new products new services or new

practices (Schiffman amp Kanuk 2007129) Also they like gathering sharing their

lives and experiences to their friends or relatives It is because people cannot taste the

fun of Disneyland if they go alone They should bring their friends lovers or children

to experience the Park just like what Walt Disney hoped

4 Behavior

Disneyland welcomes brand loyalties With 55 years history it is surely that

there are a lot of Disney lovers in Hong Kong They visit other Disneyland before and

not going to miss any new campaigns of Hong Kong Disneyland Besides as noted in

the situational environs part for those 40-ish people who had watched Disney movies

in their childhood some of them might having personal linkage with Disney cartoons

They may still want to review the classic movies love songs or memories although

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 52: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

45

they are not really big fans of Disney

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 53: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

46

7 Black to Classic

We keep moving forward opening new doors and doing new things because were curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths

- Walt Elias Disney

The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs encouraged the Walt Disney

Company to continue release the animated movies and cartoons such as Pinocchio

(1940) Fantasia (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Disneyrsquos movies faced the low tide when United States entered World War II

after the attack of Pearl Harbor (Youblishercom 2010) However the company

recuperated quickly and finally released Cinderella in 1950 proved that

feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace As the situation

gradually stabilized the Walt Disney Company then keeps producing the classic

movies worldwide

Based on the above historical background the campaign named as lsquoBack to

Classicrsquo focus on the Disneyrsquos movies which released before 1995 Since the project

is targeted at the 40-ish consumers most of the movies selected are romantic stories

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 54: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

47

and having its classic love song The preliminary idea was to select the representative

lovers of Disney movies ndash the Princess Series Lion King the Little Mermaid Aladdin

and of course the main characters Mickey and Minnie And the suggestion below is

what the campaign is planned to do

71 Product

1 lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Musical

This is a great performance of a nostalgic stage show Visitors can sit

comfortably inside the Disney Storybook Theatre to enjoy it The show features is

about the memorable Disney lovers including those characters which mentioned

above With the seventies Ye Shanghai style characters will re-act the most profound

scene in the movies harmony with dance and sing the classic songs like A Whole New

World in Aladdin Love Will Find A Way in Lion King and the theme song of Beauty

and the Beast The show will screen three times a day last about 30 minutes and

presented in English

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 55: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

48

Fig 3 Imagination of the musical

The musical is chosen as the biggest and hottest attraction in this project

many resources and talents will be used in this show It is because the target visitors

are all familiar with those movies and songs when they sit in a comfortable seats and

feel the lyrics personally the songs may remind them lot of memories and experiences

Meanwhile using English is a better deductive method to express the songs deeper

the feeling and atmosphere Using international language English songs and

dialogues can represent their educational level and social class as well

2 Dream night

Named as lsquoDream Nightrsquo a new parade will be launched in this celebration

The new parade will be held at night about seven orsquoclock when the sky is dark It

features 10 new floats with classic characters that are totally different from the

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 56: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

49

original day-time parade Some of them are just tailor-made for Hong Kong and did

not appear in anywhere else including Mickey and Friends Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo Bambi Peter Pan and Disney Princesses Same as the night parade in Tokyo

Disneyland all floats will be covered with different kinds of colored lights while the

characters will wear the lighted customs With the dusky lights in the Park the new

parade will provide a special experience to every visitor

Fig 4 Float in Tokyo Disneyland

Dream Night is another significant attraction in this proposal Since the Back

to Classic musical can just provide fixed seats and shows per day there are only

several visitors can admire that limited attraction For this reason the night parade

performed in public area and not limit to seat and audience The floats will make their

way through Fantasyland and into Main Street with an array of sights and sounds

(Hong Kong Disney Talk 2007) Every visitor can watch the fabulous parade and

experience the magic of Hong Kong Disneyland The parade is a great attraction for

everybody to enjoy it can satisfy all visitorrsquos wants whether they are the 40-ish

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 57: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

50

consumers or not

3 Nostalgic Dance Party

Mickey Mouse and Friends the Three Little Pigs Pinocchio and his cricket

friend Jiminy Cricket will dance and take photo with the visitors The characters and

dancers will perform in different themed lands So every guest has the opportunity to

see and interact with them In order to create the atmosphere of nostalgia and classic

movie characters will wear black and white costumes as they are just come out from

the old movies

Fig 5 Dancer in black and white costumes

This is re-designed performance Characters and dancers need to have brand

new outfits and dance step to cater visitors The whole family can join in the dance

party since it is suitable for everyone The show can recall the good old day for adult

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 58: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

51

while their children can have new feeling and experience via music and dance

4 Street Decorations

Street Decorations can always be found in Hong Kong Disneyland They can

beautify the Park and make visitors more enjoy in it Street decorations can reduce the

sense of reality enhance the visitorrsquos feeling of being wrapped up in a fairy talersquos

atmosphere

For this campaign the characterrsquos classic designs will be made into street

decorations This is the first time appears in Disneyland too Some of the characters

like Mickey Pluto and Winnie the Pooh the earliest designs like 60 years ago design

will be selected Visitors are like taking time machine back to the birth of Disneyrsquos

characters watching their old friends accompany to their growth

Fig 6 Development of Mickey Mouse Design

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 59: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

52

5 Limited commodities and Souvenirs

Seasonal commodities and souvenirs launched in every new celebration This

time classic cartoons like Bambi Dumbo and Peter Pan will be made as souvenirs

Since those characters are rare in the Disney product they can thus satisfy the niche

market and wants Unlike the past souvenirs the new commodities will not emphasize

too much on color and clear pattern light and plain color will used to create a simple

fashionable design Ensure that the souvenirs are suitable for adult and they will not

feel embarrassed when using it in public

Targeted on high-consumption customers a series of high priced goods will be

launched The Park is going to cooperate with well-known designers artists and

international brands providing high quality fashionable clothes household item

artwork knick-knack or even furniture to the target customers Similar with the last

crossover between Disney and Clot detruding limited fashion goods to attract

customers

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 60: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

53

Fig 5 Limited Product of Disney and Clot

6 Fine Dining

New menu will provide in the celebration Corner Cafeacute is going to provide to

best American Midwestern cooking also China and Southeast Asian food to visitors

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) After playing visitors can taka a rest enjoy

delicious food at the Victorian-style cafeacute In this special period Disneyland is planned

to introduce the classic American food to all visitors such as Pecan Crusted Tilapia

and Grilled Seafood Cakes

In the Chinese restaurant Plaza Inn is inspired by the movie lsquoMulanrsquo It serves

Cantonese-style dim sum barbecue food and other Chinese meals

(hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) During the lsquoBack to Classicrsquo celebration this

restaurant will provide a seasonal menu to visitors including some classic Chinese

dim sum

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 61: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

54

Although attractions and entertainment are the most important elements in the

campaign the importance of food should not be underestimated Special dishes

launched in the campaign can make the whole scheme more complete and

comprehensive

72 Promotion Tactics

Promotion is the most critical part of publicizing the campaign Facing the

huge competition Hong Kong Disneyland is going to put many resources in this

1 Television Advertising

Obviously television advertisement is important It offers mass coverage with

a high reach Through the impact of sight sound and motion audiences are easier to

receive the message and attract by the advertisement High prestige can present by

using television as promotion tool Audiences usually agreed that the brand which

using television advertisement is having higher class or ability although there is no

evidence to prove According to the Broadcasting Service Survey 2007 841 of the

interviewee claimed that TVB Jade is the most frequently watched channel Therefore

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 62: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

55

the television advertisement will be put on TVB Jade (hkbahk 2010)

The campaign is planned to use Jacky Cheung the spoken person of Hong

Kong Disneyland as the advertisement character Jacky Cheung is 49 years old and

totally fit in with the projectrsquos target visitor His positive image social status good

publicity can absolutely help the Park increase its reputation and bring out the

message of the advertisement

2 Print Advertising

Print advertisement is going to use in this project too Compare with television

advertisement the cost of print advertisement is relatively low while the circulation

creates high coverage to reach lots of our target visitors Also print media allow high

information content the details of campaign can be introduced clearly in news paper

and magazine

Advertisement will publish in the main news paper in Hong Kong like Apple

Daily Oriental Daily and Ming Pao Daily For the magazine since not many

magazines particularly suitable for the 40-ish readers the topic of political magazine

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 63: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

56

and financial magazine are too serious and not suitable for placing a relaxed

advertisement there Therefore the advertisement will publish in Weekend Weekly U

Magazine and Eat amp Travel Weekly the topic of these three magazines are interesting

relaxing and fit in with the targeted visitors who are enjoying life optimistic and

positive Also the advertisement will publicize in male and female magazine that

aimed to those people have higher income and status

3 Direct Mailing

Targeted readers can contact accurately by direct mailing Having a large data

base Hong Kong Disneyland can select the correct targeted group easily and send

them an invitation of new celebration Information can be found in the data base of

Disneyland Annual Pass In fact not only the 40-ish pass holder invitation can also

send to every annual pass owner It is because the owner can recommend the

campaign to anyone that may interested

4 Internet Marketing

It is a new trend of using internet as promotion tool because it can build the

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 64: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

57

interactive relationship between company and audience The users can select product

information themselves and not controlled by others The campaign is going to make

use of the Hong Kong Disneyland official web-site and Facebook Like every

celebration a new Disneyland homepage will launched in its web-site introducing

everything about the campaign and all the attractions

The updated news and hottest topics will be posted in Facebook sharing to the

fans worldwide An activity named as lsquoCollecting Memoryrsquo will hold in Facebook

encouraging the Disneyrsquos fans commented on their favorite cartoons and movies

Meanwhile focus on those famous web-sites like Yahoo and Hotmail pop up

advertising will be used When the computer user clicks into those web-sites the

advertisement of new attraction will come out hoped that can aroused the user

interest immediately

5 Public Relation

Public relation is the communication tool between company and public Hence

it is placed important on the relationship with Disneyland and the press During the

whole preparation Disneylandrsquos PR will report the interesting news to journalists

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 65: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

58

with the official press release as well And after the works finish there is a lsquotrial dayrsquo

special for journalists Let the reporters first experience the new attractions hoping

that they can report the first personrsquos opinion to the public

6 Sales Promotion

Sale promotion is a tool to speed up sales and attendance Aimed at the brand

loyalty sale promotion will be used in this campaign A discount will be offered to the

Disneyland Annual Pass owner The premium and deluxe annual pass owners can

bring a guest to the Park for free while the value annual pass owner can invite one

guest to Disneyland by paying HK$80 only The premium can give an extra incentive

to the sale and increase the Park profit

7 Joint Promotion

For attracting more 40-ish visitors joint promotion will be addressed in this

proposal Hong Kong Disneyland will cooperate with MTR Corporation providing a

better memory to the 40-ish visitors Hong Kong residents can have a 10 admission

discount if they visit the Park by taking MTR The sale promotion can increase the

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 66: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

59

two companies profit and thus become the win-win situation

73 Price

To maintain the image of Disneyland there will be no price deduction on

admission fee The admission fee of adult is HK$350 the child who between 3 to 11

years old is HK$250 Ticket of the senior who is 65 years old above is HK$170

Nevertheless like what mentioned above a joint promotion with MTR Corporation is

carry out in this proposal Hong Kong residents who between 35-55 years old they

are have an extra 10 discount after they take the MTR to the Park There is a sale

promotion for the annual pass owner Value Annual Pass owner can invite a guest by

just paying HK$80 and the Deluxe and Premium Annual Pass holder can bring a

friend to the Park for free

The two promotions are mainly focus on the campaignrsquos target group and

brand loyalty The Park can make profit and also maintain good relationship with

these people by proving just a little discount But the price reduction may harm the

Park a lot since people may think the Park is facing financial crisis and lose confident

to it

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 67: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

60

74 Place

Of course Disneyland is located in Lantau Island For the celebration since

the theme is not linked with any festival or big day therefore it is planned to launch

between April and May It is because there is no specific festival that time it will not

crash with other seasonal celebrations

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 68: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

61

8 Summary

Can you feel the love tonight The peace the evening brings

The world for once in perfect harmony With all its living things

- The Lion King ldquoCan you feel the love tonightrdquo

Disneyland ndash a big project established by Walt Disney Company one of the

most influential brands in the world Early in 2005 the fifth Disney Theme Park

located at Hong Kong with the uniquely innovative world-class entertainment that

Disney is famous for the Park are committed to supporting Hong Kongs position as

an international tourist destination (hongkongdisneylandcom 2010) However it is

not easy to take a firm stand in this little city

Facing the endogenous strengths and weaknesses Hong Kong Disneyland is

owned by the Walt Disney Company the brand identity and image of its parent

company has already provided confident to the public To some extent Walt Disney

Company ensures the quality of the Park as well The Park will have full supported by

the parent company and the joint company of HKITP and the Walt Disney Company

They give strong financial support and resources to the Park Also Disneyland is the

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 69: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

62

only amusement park designed base on unrealistic fairy tales It created unique theme

and clear position in the marketplace

For the weaknesses apparently Hong Kong is too small Although the Phase 2

Extension construct in the Park and Disneyland will feature a total seven themed

lands after the extension But this cannot cover the damage that already brought to the

Park Under the control of the originator Hong Kong Disneyland is managed in

American style which may not suitable to the Chinese culture based society And the

incomprehension of Chinese culture may limit the development of Hong Kong

Disneyland as restricting the Disney Imagineersrsquos idea

On the other hand exogenous factors like opportunities and threats influence

the Park too The relaxation government restrictions of China individual travelers to

Hong Kong can attract the potential customers to Hong Kong Moreover Hong Kong

people are more willing to spend on leisure goods or going to theme park after the

growth of Hong Kong economy This can benefit the Hong Kong tourism directly

Competitors are the most serious threats to Hong Kong Disneyland Ocean

Park Ngong Ping 360 and the Hong Kong Wetland Park are the local competitors of

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 70: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

63

the Park But the worldwide theme parks like Universal Studios in Singapore or even

the other four Disneyland are completed with the Park too

Like what remarked before the improvement of Hong Kong economy create a

new group of people They are educated having higher income level and purchasing a

better quality of life They are the target market of this campaign Focus on the 35 ndash

55 years old visitors a series of attractions will be launched out The campaign named

as lsquoBack to Classicrsquo Emphasize on the movies of Disney a musical will show in the

Disney Storybook Theatre classic love songs and memorable scene will act again in

front of the audience Before the fire work Night parade lsquoDream Nightrsquo will present

in the Park ten new floats covered by colorful lights and just talent-made for Hong

Kong Disneyland Nostalgic dance party and street decorations can found in different

themed lands as well It is hoped that the visitors can experience their childhood via

the old Disneyrsquos cartoons

To advertize to the public different media channels will used as promotion

tool Television advertising prints advertising direct mailing and internet marketing

are aimed to publish as many as information to the target market Sale promotion and

joint promotion with MTR Corporation are going to provide premium to the brand

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 71: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

64

loyalty and the 40-ish as maintain a good relationship with them

From the first animation movie Walt Elias Disney already did a lot of thing in

order to achieve his goal ndash bring joy to the world The dream did not deter by war

financial crisis or misunderstand by others Today the miracle has already created his

company achieved more than his first expected But the most important the little

mouse teaches us the power of dream and the spirit of never give up For many people

Disneyland is not just only an amusement park or business But a place that created by

love and hopes

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 72: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

65

9 References

Alibabacom (2010) ldquoHong Kong Disneyland lifes lid on string of financial lossesrdquo httpnewsalibabacomarticledetailmarkets100234611-1-hong-kong-disneyland-lifts-lidhtml ATV Television Ltd (2007) ldquoWalt Disney drag the overall performance of Hong Kong Disneylandrdquo httpwwwhkatvnewscomv3share_out_content20071109atvnews_110966html Broadcasting Authority (2010) ldquoBroadcasting Services Survey 2005 ndash Executive Summaryrdquo httpwwwhkbahkenaboutuspublicationshtml Brad A (2003) ldquoJustDisneycomrdquo httpwwwjustdisneycomdisneylandhistoryhtml Bryman A (1995) Disney and his Worlds New York Routledge Census amp Statistics Department (2010) ldquoHong Kong Statisticsrdquo httpwwwcenstatdgovhkhong_kong_statisticsindex_tcjsp CNNMoneycom (2010) ldquoWhy Disney wants DreamWorksrdquo httpmoneycnncom20090209newscompaniesdisney_dreamworksfortunepostversion=2009020914 English C (2010) ldquoDisney Dreamercomrdquo httpwwwdisneydreamercomaboutabouthtm Finch C (1973) The Art of Walt Disney From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom New York Harry N Abrams Findlay JM (1992) Magic Lands Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 California University of California Press

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 73: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

66

FindTargetcom (2010) ldquoOcean Park Hong Kong Informationrdquo httpreferencefindtargetcomsearchOcean20Park20Hong20Kong Hong Kong Tourism Board PartnerNet (2010) ldquoResearch Statisticsrdquo httppartnernethktbcompnwebjspcommindexjspcharset=enamppageContent=2Fjsp2Frso2Frsojsp Katy (2010) ldquoWalt Disney Quotesrdquo httpwwwplan-a-magical-vacationcomwalt-disney-quoteshtml Ko CL amp Ho T C (2004) ldquoDisneyland not attractive enough say mainland touristsrdquo httpwwwhkbueduhk~tyrej37_3_n06htm Nye RB (1981) Eight ways of looking at an amusement park Journal of Popular Culture 15 63-75 Ocean Park Hong Kong (2010) ldquoGeneral Factsrdquo httpwwwoceanparkcomhkhtmlenfootercorporate-informationfactshtml ReferenceAnswers (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwanswerscomtopiccollective-memory Schiffman LG amp Karuk LL (1997) Consumer Behavior Six Edition United States Prentice Hall Smith D (2006) Disney A to Z The Official Encyclopedia Third Edition Untied Stated The Walt Disney Company Sorkin M (1992) Variations on a Theme Park The New American City and the End of Public Space New York Noonday SoyeForce (2010) ldquoRanking of the Brandsrdquo httpwwwrankingthebrandscomDefaultaspx The University of Illinois (2010) ldquoCollective Memoryrdquo httpwwwuiceduclassescommcomm200amteamprojectsMemoryTechnologiesCollective_Memoryhtm

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom

Page 74: Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland – Back to Classiccomd.hkbu.edu.hk/macomm/maproject/image/projects/2010_project/... · Attraction Proposal of Hong Kong Disneyland –

67

Universal Studios Singapore (2010) ldquoUniversal Studios Singaporerdquo httpwwwsingaporetvlcomuniversalphp Youblishercom (2010) ldquoWalt Disneyrdquo httpwwwyoublishercomp5829-walt-disney (2007) ldquoDream of Disneyrdquo httpwwwtaconetcomtwdreamofdisney (2007) ldquoHong Kong Disney Talkrdquo httphongkongdisneytalkblogspotcom