Disney's China Strategy: From Extended Products to Media Business

Zhang Zhizhong, executive vice president of Disney International and managing director of Greater China, said that the mainland is a market that is very different from other countries. It is different from other countries in terms of cultural background, society, politics, laws and regulations. There are differences between different regions, that is, there are also differences between the eastern and western, southern and northern parts of the mainland.

Zhang Zhizhong said that in the past, Disney also had its own usual development model in other international markets, that is, to develop the film and television market first, and then develop and extend its products and content. However, this road is not very clear.

strong > seize the Chinese market to achieve global success / strong >

Zhang Zhizhong said that Disney ranked 10th in the 2009 "Interbrand/Business Week" list of the world's top 100 brands, with excellent results. As an internationally renowned multinational company, why does Disney want to do business in mainland China? That was the idea of Walt Disney International more than five years ago.

Disney understands that emerging markets must be developed if high growth is to be maintained in the next 10 to 15 years. China is one of the most important markets. It has a large population, rising incomes, higher entertainment consumption and greater business opportunities. What we do is home entertainment, and although we can develop our business all over the world, the mainland attaches great importance to family values, which is naturally a good opportunity for Disney.

strong > Development focus: internationalization of creative science and technology / strong >

from the perspective of the head office, there are three key points in the development of our company.

first: creativity. That is to say, to increase creativity, the acquisition of Pixar a few years ago and Marvel, which was completed on December 31, 2009, are strategic plans to increase creativity and create more entertainment content.

second: science and technology. On the one hand, we should make good use of technology to give full play to creative content. Pixar is an example, and on the other hand, we should develop new media outside the traditional media. we have long developed the use of the iTune platform in the United States to sell Disney-ABC, movies and Disney Channel content and programmes, as well as the popular Disney website. The new consumption pattern is obviously different from the traditional one, and we need to capture this business opportunity.

third: internationalization. We need to develop international business to maintain rapid growth, in which the Chinese market will play an important role, and development in China is in line with the focus of development in this area.

when it comes to India or other markets, it's hard to compare. In any case, the company's commitment to China and the development of the market is very obvious. In Greater China, we have set up a theme park in Hong Kong and started to talk about building a second park in Shanghai. We have invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, which shows that China is the focus of the company's development.

the uniqueness of the Chinese market

what do you need to pay attention to when entering the Chinese market? When multinational corporations enter China, the first priority should be to identify their own company's strengths to integrate the needs of the local market.

many companies have their own development model, which they think can be copied in China, but they often have to re-examine it. Disney used to have its own development model in other international markets, that is, to develop the film and television market first, and then to develop extended products and content. However, the characteristic of the mainland is that the media is a restricted industry, and the development of the television and film industries is limited in the short term. Although the film market has been opened up today, the television business has not been fully opened up, and this road is not very open.

do extension products first and then enter the media business

We originally wanted to put a lot of resources into TV, but this platform was not provided in the mainland before. So after I joined Disney, I did some deep thinking, and we decided that we could first make an extended product, take advantage of its success, and then see how to develop the media business in response to the changes in China's development. So in China, instead, we do a good job of extending the product first.

A few years ago, China had a certain understanding of several important Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, the Disney Princess series and Winnie the Pooh, and it was easy to make these products. In addition, we have also developed some related business, such as Disney English Learning Center.

Today, we understand that we need to focus on developing a series of character stories (character franchise) such as Mickey Mouse, developing the storytelling, character attraction and positive emotional resonance of each series, and then extending to other entertainment and media platforms to achieve a comprehensive story experience.

the most important thing before entering the Chinese market is to be psychologically prepared. The mainland is a market that is very different from other countries. Its cultural background is different from that of other countries. There are differences, there are differences in political laws and regulations, and there are differences between different regions, that is, there are also differences between the eastern and western, southern and northern parts of the mainland.

before entering the Chinese market, although I have read a lot of books and taken many classes, the context (background) in China is very different from my growing background and the set of college textbooks.

Senior managers often make many assumptions when making decisions, but these assumptions may not be directly applied to the mainland market. Therefore, I think I should understand the mainland market with an open mind, and then see how to apply my knowledge.