Hold on to your mouse ears— Disney cranking up the promotion for its streaming service
Forbes Middle East - Get ready to feel the full muscle of Disney’s marketing machine.
At Friday’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, the biennial gathering of Disney’s most ardent fans, the Burbank, California, media giant will push its new streaming service with discounts and promotions that will ramp up through the service’s launch November 12.
Disney will entice D23 attendees to subscribe to the Disney+ streaming service by offering a discount for those who make a three-year commitment. These subscribers will receive $23 off the annual fee of $69 (plus a “founder’s circle” pin because people who attend these fan gatherings are fond of collectibles). The promotion seemed to hit its mark, with lines forming Friday morning at signup kiosks inside the Disney+ pavilion.
Chief Executive Bob Iger has made clear that the success of Disney+ is the company’s highest priority. “Nothing is more important to us than getting this right,” he told investors on a recent earnings call.
So expect to see promotions anywhere that Disney hangs Mickey’s mouse ears.
Disney lit up its social media campaign for the streaming service Monday, using a GIF of Genie from the animated classic Aladdin packing his bags and declaring to Disney’s 6.3 million Twitter followers,“It’s moving day! Is everyone packed and ready to go to @DisneyPlus?”
The Twitter flare burst across Disney’s entertainment brands.
“Almost! But in a shocking turn of events, we can’t find Dory,” replied the Pixar Twitter account, alerting its 11.5 million fans with an image from the 2016 animated film.
“Hang tight,” chimed in Marvel Entertainment to its 8.7 million followers, displaying Tony Stark’s battle attire from Iron Man 3.“We have quite a few suits here.”
The message was unmistakable: Disney will marshal its best-known brands behind the service, which will become the streaming destination for Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars movies,and a collection of originals. The promotional drumbeat for the service going head-to-head with Netflix,started in July at the San Diego Comic-Con convention.
At D23, actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who appears a live-action remake of the 1955 Disney animated film Lady and the Tramp, will host a presentation offering a first look at that film and other Disney+ originals, including The Mandalorian and High School Musical:The Musical:The Series.
A pavilion in the exhibit hall, Disney+ lured visitors with celebrity appearances by actor Jeff Goldblum and Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown. It gave demonstrations of how the new app would work on mobile devices and internet-connected TVs. Meanwhile, the cast of the High School Musical-inspired series will be on hand for an evening screening and panel discussion.
More Disney+ promotion is likely to come to a theater or theme park near you as Disney makes its high-stakes bet on the future of entertainment.
The company is known to spend serious coin to successfully launch key entertainment properties. For example, Disney spent a reported $200 million on a campaign to promote Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, which brought in $2.8 billion in worldwide box office.
“People understand what Disney stands for,” said Peter Sealey, a former marketing executive for CocaCola and Columbia Pictures.“If they fulfill that promise and don’t violate the rules of what Disney means, they’ll have a head start. But it’s going to be a marathon—not a sprint.”