(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 14, 2023
Happy Valentine's Day!
August 9, 2020
@Macy's - Cool Minnie Mouse
They seem to be trying to get rid of all the merchandise built up during Coronavirus.
On line was this stylish lady in an orange dress with a white handbag.
On her arm were happy, playful tattoos, including a Minnie Mouse with her tongue out on her upper arm.
Life goes on with Disney characters cheering us up with or without a global pandemic. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
@Macy's - Cool Minnie Mouse
October 9, 2014
Mickey Isn't Smiling On Everyone
That's nice you say...only Bloomberg reports that Orlando has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation @ 20%--and that's not amusing!
Even though Disney just upped their minimum salaries to $10 an hour, they have thousands on the rolls (ride operators, bus drivers, maids, etc.) earning less than $25,000 a year (and that is similar to 40% of all the jobs in Orlando), and for that even Mickey Mouse couldn't buy any cheese.
Funny though that Disney costs a family of 5 about $1,500 for a 4-day pass, and they just earned a profit for the quarter of $2.2 billion.
Maybe next time you go to the fun house at Disney, you'll think for a moment that it's really a house of horror for tens of thousands of hardworking, decent people.
Mickey Mouse is a louse and Donald Duck is a F-unny character, indeed. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Mickey Isn't Smiling On Everyone
March 17, 2014
Time To Spread The Magic
But to me, the rides alternate between fake or nauseating (when they're not broken down), the characters are outdated, the parks are hot, overcrowded, and the lines and wait times are long, and the ticket prices are sort of crazy for what you're getting (not).
Let's see, a day at Disney or day at the beach--uh, I'll take the beach any day!
But Disney is doing something magical these days.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports how Disney's new MagicBands are using technology to make the theme park experience more convenient, even if not more fun.
The MagicBands are like an all-in-one electronic link between you and Disney:
- No need for an admission ticket, because the MagicBand does that.
- Reserve your favorite rides, use your wrist band.
- Hotel room keys, that's right the band unlocks your door.
- Shopping at Disney kingdom, the band functions as your debit/credit card.
- Being greeted by name or wished a happy birthday, the bands make your experience more personal.
What's more Disney uses the bands for "big data" analytics--for capturing your likes and preferences for rides, restaurants, food, and souvenirs--and this adds up to customer service enhancements like restocking shelves, opening up reservations, expedited queues, and even targeted mail and text messaging/advertising.
The bands have radio frequency identification tag/chips (RFID) as well as GPS sensors, so Disney knows who you are, where you are, and even much of what you're doing.
Spooky from a privacy standpoint--sure, you are really sitting there exposed in just about every way.
But this technology has arrived, not just at Disney, but via embedded RFID in your smartphones or your body someday soon.
The synthesis of man and machine...the mystery is gone in the magic kingdom, but maybe the service gets better. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Time To Spread The Magic
February 3, 2013
Paperman, For Dannielle
Valentines Day is next week, but I wanted to share this with someone very special to me, Dannielle.
This wonderful movie short by Disney called Paperman shows the amazing chemistry between two people that draws them to each other.
I love how the man and women laugh on the train platform holding the paper with the lipstick on it and how from his office when he sees her in the skyscraper across the street, he jumps up and down waving trying to get her attention.
The movie reminds me of another favorite, The Red Balloon, where a little boy Pascal at the end is carried off by a cluster of sentient balloons, just as in this movie the man is carried off to his love by the paper airplanes he made to try to connect with her.
While I am usually not one for animation, this one captures it just right! ;-)
Paperman, For Dannielle
January 24, 2008
Globalization, Localization, and Enterprise Architecture
The world economy is globalizing, but sales and marketing is still a local activity.
How should organizations architect the way forward to address the duality of globalization and localization?
The Wall Street Journal, 23 January 2008, reports that “Disney Localizes Mickey to Boost Hong Kong Theme Park.”
Disney has gone global and extended their famed theme parks to Asia. However, the first couple of years have not been a success. “Since it opened in 2005, Disney’s Hong Kong park, the media and entertainment company’s flagship for the booming Chinese kid’s market has struggled to connect with consumers. The park a joint venture with the Hong Kong government, missed public targets of 5.6 million visitors for its first year of operation, and attendance dropped nearly 30% in the second year to about four million.”
Where did Disney go wrong in going global?
Disney did not localize their brand or product to their foreign consumers. Instead, they expected the global consumer to behave the same as their U.S. counterpart with no differentiation for culture, nationality, beliefs, values, and so on. “In the past, it was the Chinese consumer who was expected to understand Disney, or so it seemed. Chinese tourists unfamiliar with Disney’s traditional stories were sometimes left bewildered by the Hong Kong park’s attractions.”
Disney also did not tailor their marketing to the local Chinese consumer, in a big snafu. “Disney’s marketing efforts also have misfired. A Hong Kong Disneyland ad in the summer of 2006 featured a family of consisting of two kids and two parents. China’s government, however, limits most couples to just one child.” Ouch!
So how is Disney changing their Mickey Mouse tune?
“Now, Disney is going on the offensive by going local. Its first big opportunity on the front is a stroke of astrological fortune. In the traditional Chinese calendar, it will soon be the year of the rat. As the Feb. 7 New Year holiday approaches, Disney is suiting up its own house rodents, Mickey and Minnie, in special red Chinese New Year outfits for its self-proclaimed Year of the Mouse.” This sounds good, though I’m just not sure Mickey and Minnie mouse appreciate being equated to rats, as in year of the rat.
Disney is also changing their park exhibitions to address local tastes. “Inside the parks, vendors hawk fried dumplings and turnip cakes. The parade down Main Street, U.S.A., is being joined by “Rhythm of Life Procession,” featuring a dragon dance and puppets of birds, flowers, and fish set to traditional Chinese music…” This also seems good and local, except shouldn’t this be Main Street, Hong Kong or China and not U.S.A.?
Anyway, according to Disney, they are going local all the way to their brand. “We are working as the ‘Chinese’ Walt Disney Company—ensuring that all the people who work in Disney understand the Chinese consumer to forge a deeper emotional connection with the brand.”
From the perspective of User-centric enterprise architecture, we need to focuses on the end-user and stakeholders. Going global and ignoring localized culture, nationality, beliefs, and values may be a cost conscious approach, but a poor architecture one. EA must respect individual, national, and cultural differences, and promote trust, respect, and integrity in doing so. A unified, consistent brand is good, but outreach to consumers based on their localized needs and requirements is absolute. Whether we are dealing with product, process, marketing, brand, or technology, EA must on one hand develop standards and seek out enterprise solutions where possible, but on the other hand, must tailor the enterprise’s offering to local tastes and requirements. It’s not always a one size fits all.
Globalization, Localization, and Enterprise Architecture