Marketing Disneyland in Hong Kong

Today’s Wall Street Journal had a good article on something that is studied in many business schools – how companies marketing a global product often have to localize it to make it more relevant to a local population. In this case, it is the Disneyland theme park in Hong Kong, which has never “caught fire” with the Chinese population. It looks like the management at Disney is getting the message and will begin to tailor its advertising and messaging to suit its audience.

 

“The Disneyland Chinese New Year campaign, which lasts until Feb. 24, features a logo with the kind of visual pun that only the Chinese might appreciate: the Chinese character for "luck" flipped upside-down (a New Year tradition), with mouse ears added on top. Inside the park, vendors hawk deep-fried dumplings and turnip cakes. The parade down Main Street, U.S.A., is being joined by the "Rhythm of Life Procession," featuring a dragon dance and puppets of birds, flowers and fish, set to traditional Chinese music. And of course there's the god of wealth, a relative newcomer to the regular Hong Kong Disneyland gang, joined by the gods of longevity and happiness, all major figures in Chinese New Year celebrations.”

 

I am just glad that the God that I rely on for wealth, longevity, and happiness, is not one that can be recruited by a multinational corporation for marketing purposes. Speaking of whom, where is that box where I have the DVDs of The Passion of Christ, VeggieTales, and the Chronicles of Narnia.