Harvard Case Study Disney Consumer Products: Marketing Nutrition to Children

1. DISNEY CONSUMER
PRODUCTS :
MARKETINGNutrition TO CHILDREN

3. • Founded by Walter
Elias Disney and Roy
Disney in 1923 with
the debut of Mickey
Mouse in Steamboat
Willie.
• In 1954, Disney
debuted its first
television program,
The Wonderful
World of Disney.
• In 1955, Disneyland,
a theme park, was
opened.

4. $32 billion Company
with net income of
$2.5 billion in 2005

5. Mickey Mouse was
valued at over $5.8
billion in 2004
Winnie the Pooh was
valued at over $5.6
billion in 2004

6. • Managed Disney’s 10 TV stations, 72 radio stations, cable
television stations and Internet holdings
1. Media Networks
• Licensed 10 theme parks as well as 35 Disney Vacation Club
resorts and two luxury cruise ships
2. Parks and resorts
• Created animated and live action films
3. Studio Entertainment
• Licensed Walt Disney characters, visual and literary properties
and published books, magazines, etc.
4. Disney Consumer Products
MAJOR BUSINESS SEGMENTS

7. DISNEY
CONSUMER
PRODUCTS
(DCP)

8. In 2005, DCP was the world’s
largest licensor with more than
$21 billion in retail sales

10. Obesity problemsin2004
• In America, more than 30% of
children aged 5 to 9 years were
overweight and 14% were obese.
• In Europe, more than 10% of children
aged 5 to 9 years were obese.

11. DCP faced
criticism of being
responsible for
the growing
obesity epidemic

12. New set of rules were passed
stating that advertisements must
not encourage or condone
excessive consumption of food

13. This caused the
company to consider
the nutritional value
of its own food
products.

15. Could Disney use
its magic to get
children shift
from sugary,
processed foods
to a more
nutritious diet?

16. Could Disney
meet Nutritional
Guidelines and
establish
credibility with
the government,
parents and
nutritionists?

17. Could Disney
provide leadership
for the rest of
the food industry
and use its brand
strength to reach
children?

19. DCP discovered
that there was a
gap between the
foods children
requested and the
foods their
mothers were
willing to buy for
them

20. Mother :
• Portion controlled
• High quality
• Good taste
• Be requested by their
children.
Child :
• Fun graphics and shapes,
• Good taste
• Make them feel special
• Must be Mom-approved
NEEDS AND WANTS

21. DCP decided to develop a quality
range of Disney integrated foods
that answers children’s daily needs
in an entertaining way-in short,
Good Food, Great Fun

22. COURSE
OF
ACTION

23.  Main Meal
 Side Dish
 Snacks
 Drinks
 Treats
85% products to be categorized as main meal, side
dish, snack or beverage and only 15% as treats
PRODUCT CATEGORIES

25. DCP’s products were now minimally
processed, had controlled levels of added
sugar, contained no trans or hydrogenated
fats, and had minimal additives.

27. Three approaches
towards creating
Disney food products

28. 1. Offer products that already had broad
appeal.
Eg. Milk or peanut butter
2. Take products that were already healthy
and make them more fun.
Eg. Mould whole wheat pasta into
character shapes
3. Use packaging to inspire product
sampling.
Eg. Water bottles in the shape of
characters

30. • Disney licensed its characters to Imagination
Farms, a national fresh produce marketing
company.
• Imagination Farms distributed peaches with
Daisy Duck and Goofy stickers and table grapes
displayed in Mickey and Minnie Mouse growers’
boxes.
• It provided retailers with customized marketing
programs.
• Bagged fruits and vegetables featured a back
panel that provided nutritional facts, jokes and
other child-engaging information.
• They focused smaller and sweeter fruits and
vegetables that would appeal to children’s
palates.

32. DISNEY
ADVERTISEMENTS

34. COMPETITORS

35. “My goal is to have every fruit a kid would want to
eat with a Nickelodeon character.”
- Sherice Torres (Licensing VP at Nickelodeon)

36. Del Monte Foods signed a licensing deal with
Sesame Workshop and marketed fruits and
vegetables featuring Elmo, Grover and Cookie
Monster characters on its labels.

37. The company marketed carrots and celery served with
ranch dip or peanut butter, which it described as a
“healthier snack alternative” and “the original pleasin’,
mom-lovin’ dippity delicious snack!”

38. RISKS

39. The biggest challenge
for DCP was to
deliver quality at
affordable prices
PRICING & VALUE

40. LEGACY
DCP was unsure of
whether the public
would embrace the new
food products. They
feared to encounter
some skepticism due to
past vocal criticism

41. DCP wasn’t first to
market with fresh
produce and Nickelodeon
packaged products had
been on the shelves since
the mid-1990s
DIFFERENTIATION &
COMPETITION

42. GROWTH AND
DISTRIBUTION

44. DCP managers are confident
about the long-term viability of
their entry into the food business
and plan to capitalize on the
vast resources of the Walt
Disney Company to gain market
share and acceptance.

45. Created by Mihika Daga,
VNIT, Nagpur, as a part
of the Marketing
Management internship
under Prof Sameer
Mathur, IIM Lucknow.