Empressario Speaks January - 2014

Vol. I Iss. 1

Foreword Continuing with the tradition of spreading awareness about entrepreneurship through Empressario, Prarambh, The Entrepreneurship Cell of IMT Hyderabad, presents Empressario Speaks, which would try to connect with other schools and encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship. Each issue of Empressario Speaks, a fortnightly bulletin, would have an article of interest or an interview of an entrepreneur, chosen by the editing team. We aim to bring students of the entire B- School fraternity of India on a common platform – Entrepreneurship. We also aim at creating awareness about entrepreneurship, start – ups, and various other entrepreneurial ventures going all over the world. We hope this new effort by us would help students gain insights about different entrepreneurial ventures and also would inculcate the objectives erstwhile mentioned amongst students and other readers and make our output more promising and addictive as time progresses.

Happy Reading, Warm Regards, Team Prarambh.

The Walt Disney Company ‘Disney has focused on the “Disney difference” -a value creation dynamic based on high standards of quality and recognition that sets Disney apart from its competitors.’ Introduction: Since its inception in 1923, Disney has been a brand known to provide quality entertainment for the entire family. The company, originally founded by two brothers Walt and Roy Disney, stretched the boundaries of entertainment during the 20th century.

Walt Disney

Acquisitions: The company had announced that it has reached a marketing and distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures to acquire control of all upcoming Indiana Jones films. It’s the latest gigantic pop culture acquisition for Disney, which has spent the last decade, stockpiling many of the world’s most beloved franchises. 1. Disney spent more than $100 million to purchase the Muppets in 2004. 2. Two years later, the company shelled out $7.4 billion for Pixar, home of Toy Story, Monsters Inc., and Cars. 3. Marvel Entertainment came next (in 2009, for $4 billion) 4. In October 2012, Disney snapped up George Lucas’ company Lucas film—and all rights to a little franchise called Star Wars—for $4.06 billion. 5. It recently announced an ambitious new deal with Netflix to create four new Marvel series beginning in 2015. 6. Followed by a push into the Disney Parks, with an Iron Man-themed ride planned for Hong Kong Disneyland in 2016.

Roy Disney

Beginning with simple black and white animation cartoons, the company grew into worldwide phenomenon that today includes theme parks, feature films, television networks, theatre production and consumer products, but the company has to draw a line somewhere to enable its brand to be resonant with the newer generations coming as the entertainment industry changes fast and there is new technology almost every decade.

History: In the first 2 decades, Walt Disney productions were a struggling cartoon studio that introduced the world to its most famous character ever, Mickey Mouse. Very few believed in Disney’s visions, but the smashing success of the first ever full length animated film ‘Snow white and seven dwarfs’ in 1937 led over the next 3 decades to other animated classics including Pinocchio, Bambi ,Cinderella, and Peter Pan, live action films such as Mary Poppins and the Love Bug , and television series like Davy Crockett.

Vol I Iss. I | Empressario Speaks | Prarambh E-Cell IMT Hyderabad

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When Walt Disney died in 1966, the company had expanded the Disney brand into film, television and consumer products and the Disneyland in southern California - its first theme park, where family could experience the magic of Disney in real life even giving it 4D effects which are now common. The company stumbled after losing leadership of the two founding brothers, but by 1980’s The Walt Disney company was back on its feet and expanded in new areas that would Page 1 retain older audience as well as influence new generations. It launched Disney channel, Touchstone pictures and touchstone television. In addition to that it sold Disney classic films during the Disney Sunday night movie and videos at extremely cheap rates in order to reach the whole new set of children. The brand continued to expand in 1990’s as it tapped into publishing, international theme parks in Hong Kong and Paris, and theatrical productions that reached a variety of audiences around the world. Today Disney is comprised of 5 business segments:1. The Walt Disney studios which create films, recording labels and theatrical performances. 2. Parks and resorts, 3. Cruise lines and other travel related assets. 4. Disney consumer products which sells Disney branded products, 5. Media networks which include ESPN, ABC and Disney channel and other interactive media.

Challenges: Disney’s greatest challenge today is to keep its 90 year old brand relevant and current to its core audience while staying true to its heritage and core brand values. As a brand that people seek out and trust, it opens doors to new platforms and markets, and hence to new consumers. When we deal with a company that has a great legacy, we deal with decisions and conflicts that arise from the clash of heritage versus innovation versus relevance. Disney leverages all aspects of its businesses and abilities to touch its audience in multiple ways, efficiently and economically. Disney’s Hannah Montana provides an excellent example of how the company took a teen-targeted television show and moved it across its various creative divisions to become a significant franchise for the company, including millions of cd sales, video games, popular consumer products, box office movies, concerts around the world, and ongoing live performances at international Disney resorts like Hong Kong, India and Russia.

The Author of this article is Mr. Mufaddal Dahodwala MMS – 1st year JBIMS, Mumbai [email protected]

Vol I Iss. I | Empressario Speaks | Prarambh E-Cell IMT Hyderabad

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Team Prarambh Faculty Mentor Dr. Archana Pillai

Core Committee Prateek Mukherji Tanay Kotriwala Pankaj Gaurav Harsh Kapadia

Editors Rohit Seth Anshika Rai

Editing Support Manish Agrawal

Designing Support Pushkar Ghatole

Vol I Iss. I | Empressario Speaks | Prarambh E-Cell IMT Hyderabad