Labeling the Magic

There’s a quote from the movie “Fight Club” that I think is suitable to what I have to say to Disney’s marketing strategy:

“Sticking a feather up your a** doesn’t make you a chicken.”

Inappropriate language aside, these words speak volumes as to the kind of ideas Disney’s Marketeers are coming up with to get people to visit the park. Namely, their tendency to label everything associated with the Disney parks as “magical.”

Just labeling something as “magical” doesn’t get you anywhere. Instead, it creates seriously heightened expectations that, due to the overwhelming drive towards mediocre attractions as of late, some parks and attractions will fail to match. This is an inherent problem in labeling, one that Marketers around the world are unwilling to address. At the heart of the problem is this:

Labeling something will inherently narrow the expectations of all those who experience it.

Think about it. If I were to advertise that “It’s a Small World” was “An edge of your seat THRILL,” wouldn’t you be disappointed when you found out that it wasn’t? I mean, sure, “It’s a Small World” has many good qualities to it, but “edge of your seat thrill” is not one of them. Therefore, even if you or I would normally find the attraction enjoyable, we would be disappointed with the attraction because it did not live up to the expectation of “an edge of your seat thrill,” and denounce it as a failure.

You may think this to be an extreme example, but really, it’s not. Take a look at Universal, who find absolutely no restraint in brandying their parks as “Faster,” “More Exciting,” “Edgier,” “More Adult,” and even “Funnier” than any other park in the world (if you don’t believe me, just drive Westbound on I-4 from Orlando), and than Disney at the very least. Yet, most people who have visited Universal will find this laughably untrue. Of course, some people might disagree with that last statement, but unfortunately Universal has tried to get people to agree with their overblown advertising (who will then stay longer and spend more money), in the process sacrificing their entire customer base (who would have seen that the parks have its merits in other areas), causing these potential customers to see the parks as not living up to expectations.

Or how about good ol’ Cedar Point? Those Ohio guys and gals have absolutely no qualms about saying how they are “THE BEST PARK IN THE WORLD” on EVERY SINGLE television advertisement. Or how they post banners AT THE ENTRANCE to the park proclaiming that their roller coasters are the BEST EVER (do you think they’re compensating for something)? What they don’t realize is that if your customers don’t think it’s the “greatest park ever,” your excessive labeling has failed (and they wonder why attendance and per capita spending has been tanking lately), and your customer base will simply stop believing what you say, or just not listen. Either way, you lose.

You see what I mean? Disney is doing itself a great disservice by labeling their parks and attractions, be it “magical” or “enchanting,” or whatever nonrepresentational adjective you want to replace it with. This is especially true with that God-awful “Top 7” embarrassment that can be found on Walt Disney Worlds’s resident TV advertising. This show is exactly what the Marketers should not be doing: forming a “Top Seven” list of things to do at WDW, not based on consensus Guest opinion, but based on what attractions are new, under the Machiavellian guise that these “selections” are actually the most popular things to do, or the most “must-see.” With this, Disney has not only labeled certain attractions as “better” than others (something that Marketers should NEVER, EVER do, because it undermines the entirety of your other products or services), but has deliberately LIED to its Guests that these “Top 7” attractions are the most popular. This is absolutely unacceptable.

So what’s the solution? Well, don’t label. Instead, MAKE the parks magical instead of labeling them so. All you have to do is build awareness for the parks and attractions, and let people judge for themselves. If you’ve done your job, those parks and attractions will be very popular, and make lots of money in the process. More importantly, you’ll be surprised on how many people find these parks and attractions enjoyable for COMPLETELY different reasons (just look at “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Haunted Mansion”- two of the most quintessential Disney attractions), made possible ONLY by the lack of false expectations. It’s worked for Disney before. Labeling was unnecessary for the Disney parks for decades. And a neat little trick that comes with it: your Guests will tell you what they ACTUALLY think about a park or attraction, rather than whether or not they agree with what you force them to think.

I’ll talk more about the short-term and long-term strategies with Marketing in a later post. Till then, do the right thing, Disney!