Disneyland Hong Kong Essay

1. What led to the eventual woes growd by Hong Kong Disneyland in its send-off year of operation? How should Hong Kong Disneyland rectify its market situation?The venture into Hong Kong by Walt Disney was a simple example of a large successful westbound company non doing its homework. The font presents a clear picture of the grandness of understanding a foreign market thoroughly before doing occupancy there. Several factors led to an unsuccessful first year of operations and a majority of these factors could have been avoided with a better cultural understanding in the planning stages. 1 of the kitchen-gardening differences that was obvious to Disney was the fact that the peasantren argon not familiar with the Disney characters. Disney has launch its fall guy and is a marketing poster child in the unite States, notwithstanding this usefulness goes out the window in a country such as china that has sheltered itself from the international world until recently. Disney tho ught that making a meager attempt at introducing the characters before the launch of the park would help, however familiarity isnt synonymous with strike off attachment. As listed in Global marting Management by Kotable & Helson, pagan Distance is adept of the six external criteria for choosing a mode of entrance into a foreign territory, which was not accounted for by Disney. Cultural distance a same have it offs the fact that distinguishable glosss have different expectations.This was besides the case with China. As stated in the case, for the tourists of Mainland China, going to Hong Kong means a shopping experience, and so they choose the inexpensiveer alternative to Hong Kong Disneyland The case goes on to allude to the fact that the culture in China is one about dollars and cents when a Chinese mortal spends his/her money, they are more interested in what they are physically getting. This is truly culturally different from a Western vacation where relaxation and e xperience is the expectation. Disney does a great job at providing amagical experience, only when in my opinion this is what led to their struggle in Hong Kong the Chinese tourists do not value that very magical experience that westerners do. There were also other factors such as neglecting to do homework on how Chinese tourists select a destination. The Chinese tend to have a steadfast relationship with travel agents where as in the U.S a vacation is loosely booked online without any personal interaction. Failing to account for these small differences conjugated with the lack of fall guy attachment created nothing but an overpriced base park.All hope is not lost however Hong Kong is a massive tourist market and there is plenty of opportunity, but the only appearance for Disney to rectify its market situation is to bridge the gap of cultural distance. One way to do this would be to add an educational element to their park. The case notes that the Chinese put a indemnity on education, and in this culture the parents are the ones making the decisions so appeal to them and attract more people. If Disney wants to surveil it needs to also remember what made it so successful in the U.S. After year one it is clear that their brand is not constituted and would not do all the work for them, and must take the inevitable steps to reestablish themselves all over again. It must create a magical feeling in every Chinese child paddy wagon as well as fit the consumer expectations of their parents.2. To what extend could Hong Kong Disneyland adapt its crossing to Chinese consumers without diluting its image?Hong Kong Disney obviously requires a lot of changes in hostel to be successful but at what point to these changes start impacting its brand? Being such a different culture from Disneys principal(prenominal) operations, China presents a challenge in that Disney is at risk of tarnishing its bid if it changes its product to suit the Chinese expectations. Th e best way to handle this would be to introduce characters and elements of the theme park that are brand new to China, and not introduce them anywhere else. Instead of using Mickey Mouse as the brand image they rear introduce something completely new and later on due time this could be successful because it is not as though the Chinese consumer has any attachment to the already established brand, as a matter of fact they are not even familiar with it. It foundation also change the layout of its parks.China is more interested in winning home physical itemsrather than memories so why fill up the park with aesthetically pleasing creations? Instead they can introduce big rides in order to allow for pictures. They can even put a super-sized mall within their park in order to establish a collection-type phenomenon surrounding Disney products in China. The text refers to this strategy as International Market Segmentation. A list of reasons is given by Kotable & Helson for the segment approach, and the first one is Identifiable The segments should be easy to define and measure. A country like China certainly calls for this approach because of the potential dilution of brand image, however by keeping the Hong Kong Disney defined as just that Hong Kong the brand in the United States will be unharmed.3. How should Hong Kong Disneyland address competition?Hong Kong Disneylands main competition is Ocean Park, a homegrown theme park. First Disney must recognize the advantage that Ocean Park has over them. Ocean Park has an advantage in that it understands the battlefield, so to speak. It is a Chinese company and it understands the expectations of its consumer. There is brand recognition and a little bit of loyalty since it was established in China. They have a popular educational segment which bodes well with the Chinese and generally provide a good overall experience for the price. They are recognized as the best way that Disneyland can separate itself is done d ifferentiation they have to make their product unique. Another way that they can address competition is by going after a different part of the market. As stated on Ocean Parks website, a midweek ticket is 320 HK which translates to about 40 bucks in US dollars. A potential opportunity might be to offer Disneyland as the premium option. At 40$, Ocean Park offers a pretty cheap admission and there is not much room to beat their price, however by offering upscale restaurants and shops, Disneyland can capture the upper echelon of tourists. by differentiation and a focused market, Hong Kong Disneyland can coexist with the large and established Ocean Park.