This power point presentation is about Disney's approach to market nutrition to children in a fun way.

1. Disney Consumer Products :
Marketing Nutrition to Children

2. History
1923-Debut of mickey mouse in steamboat willie
1923-licensing became a formal business unit
1950-expand beyond film and television
1955-opened Disneyland in Anaheim,California
2004-the obesity epidemic
2006-DCP launching offerings of fresh fruits

3. Disney Consumer Products
• DCP was a global
product organization
comprised of six lines
of business:
• Softlines (apparel,
footwear and
accessories)
• Buena Vista Games,
• home & infant,
• Hardlines(food, health
& beauty, electronics,
and stationery)
• publishing and toys.

4. DCP’S Licensing and Distribution
Models

5. Disney at the Supermarket
DCP executives
believed that the
company’s changing
licensing models,
retail industry
consolidation and the
obesity epidemic
offered DCP an
opportunity to
simultaneously
broaden and
rationalize its product
offerings.

6. In winter 2004, DCP
conducted
research to size
the food business
opportunity and
to discover if
Disney’s brand
equity would
transfer to a line
of children’s food
products.

7. Research Findings
Through market research DCP discovered there was a gap
between the foods children requested and the foods their mother
was willing to buy for them.

8. DCP also
discovered that
children influence
purchase decision
whether they
were in store with
their mothers or
not.

9. Peer pressure and
advertising strongly
influence kids’ preferences

10. Kids demand
products that make
them ‘in’ with their
peers and that
means either
national or character
driven products.

11. To appeal to mothers,
products needed to
be portion controlled,
be high quality, taste
good, omit or reduce
fat and sugar and be
requested by their
children.

12. Kids want fun
graphics and
shapes, good
taste, and great
fun. Hence the
products need to
make them feel
special and must
be non-patronizing
and Mom-

13. Disney faced CRITICISM from activists,
parents and government for contributing to
the growing obesity epidemic

14. In 2004, health
experts estimated
that more than 30%
of American
children between
the ages of 5 and 9
years were
overweight
Growing Obesity Epidemic

15. 14% were
obese.

16. Problem Definition

17. Can Disney be a part of solving obesity
problem and use its brand strength to reach
out to children?
Could Disney use its “magic” to switch
children from sugary to more nutritious diet?

18. Problem Analysis

19. Disney saw the
controversy as an
opportunity to
reconsider its entire
range of products,
hence DCP embarked
on a mission to
improve the nutritional
value of its food
products

20. But firstly DCP managers
needed to establish
credibility with U.S.
governments, parents and
nutritionists.-a significant
challenge given the
company’s existing licensing
deals with candy and treat
manufactures.

21. “Right now, kids eat the wrong foods—and too much of the
wrong foods. The solution is to promote healthier categories
for kids like water, milk, yogurt, and fruit, reformulate foods
like cookies and cereal to be healthier and to control portions.”
-NDI,VP,Product Development,DCP

22. Could Disney meet up with
nutritional guidelines set up by
USDA?

23. USDA Dietary Guidelines
That children and
adults adopt a
“balanced eating
pattern.”
They should
consume a variety of
nutrient-dense foods
and beverages.
 Limit their intake of
saturated and trans
fats, cholesterol,
added sugars, and salt.

24. Solution

25. PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Main meal
Side Dish
Snacks
Drinks
Treats

26. Disney’s goal was to balance its
portfolio so that 85% of its products
could be classified as main meal,
side dish, snack or beverage and
only 15% could be categorized as
treats.

27. Disney’sNutritional Guidelines
products would be
minimally processed.
Have controlled levels
of added sugar.
contain no trans or
hydrogenated fats.
Calories were limited by
either adjusting a
food’s formulation or its
portion size.

28. Disney’sNutritional Guidelines
minimized the use of
additives.
set limits within the
problem areas of
calories, fat, added
sugar and sodium.
promote fiber and
calcium
 whole foods that are
intrinsically dense in
nutrients.

29. Before officially
implementing its nutrition
guidelines, DCP audited
2,100 of its food products
and found that while 41%
already complied with the
guidelines, more than a
quarter of its products
would need to be phased out

30. Therefore DCP began
reformulating some
products and
shrinking portions for
others; as a result, by
September 2005, 75% of
its U.S. products
complied with its
nutritional standards.
The company planned
to have all its
products brought into
compliance or phased
out by 2008.

31. As a result of which
DCP had to part
ways with its
licensees who
could not meet with
their nutritional and
portion
requirements.

32. DCP executives knew that creating foods that met tough
nutritional guidelines was only half the
battle—the foods had to appeal to children and deliver on
the brand’s promise of Disney magic.

33. Disney adopted three approaches towards
creating Disney Food Products
1.
Take
products that
were already
healthy and
make them
more FUN.

34. •2.
Offer Products
that already
had broad
appeal.

35. • 3.
Use
packaging to
inspire
product
sampling.

36. The bottom line is
that the food has
to taste good. Kids
have to like it.“If
the food is
nutritious, Moms
like it too. Then it
is a win for
everyone.”

37. Imagination Farms
Product
Disney and
Imagination Farms,
in March 2006
collaborated on
their mission to
increase
consumption of
fruits and
vegetables among
children

38. • By June 2006,
Imagination Farms was
distributing peaches
and grapes with Daisy
Duck and Goofy
stickers
• To differentiate
commodities such as
peaches and apples,
PLU stickers were
adorned with Disney
characters.

39. Product
Development
Strategy
• 1.
Differentiate commodity
produce through promotion
DCP and Imagination
Farms used a three-
pronged product
development
strategy:

40. Product
Development
Strategy
• 2.
Create value-added
products through
product preparation or
packaging.

41. Product
Development
Strategy
• 3.
Develop exclusive
produce varieties that
would yield more child-
friendly foods.

42. Bagged fruits and vegetables featured a
back panel that provided nutritional facts,
jokes and other child-engaging information.
DCP and Imagination Farms tried to explain
nutrients to children in a kid friendly way.

43. Disney alone was not fighting Obesity. It had to
face competition from multiple companies.

44. Nickelodeon
As the top rated U.S.
basic cable network
since 1996 chose to opt
in and be a part of the
solution of rising
obesity issue in kids’
lives.
Spinach, baby carrots
and clementines
bearing SpongeBob
Squarepants and Dora
the Explorer character
images of Nickelodeon
appeared on
supermarket shelves in
the Fall 2015.

45. Nickelodeon
By the end of the 2005, unit sales of
Darling clementines increased by almost
25% after the
Dora and SpongeBob characters were added
to the product packaging.
Nickelodeon announced plans to extend its
fresh fruit and vegetable line to apples,
pears, and cherries, soybeans, and carrot
and apple dips.
“My goal is to have every fruit a kid would
want to eat with a Nickelodeon character.”
-TORRES,LICENSING VICE
PRESIDENT

46. Sesame Workshop
Del Monte peas, corn
and green beans
featured Elmo, Grover
and Cookie Monster
characters on its
labels.
Study conducted by
Sesame Workshop
found that
preschoolers’
consumption of broccoli
increased by 28% when
the vegetable was
branded with a Sesame
Street character.

47. Warner Bros
Ready Pac, a produce company
signed a licensing agreement with
Warner Bros.Ready Pac planned to
feature Warner’s Bugs Bunny,
Tweety and Tasmanian Devil
characters on itsCool Cuts Ready
Snax single-serving packages of
fruit.

48. Warner Bros
The company also
marketed carrots
and celery served
with ranch dip or
peanut butter,
which it
described as a
“healthier snack
alternative” and
“the original
‘kidpleasin’, ‘mom-
lovin’ dippity
delicious snack!”.

49. Disney and Kroger-The companies were committed to
ensuring that the Disney-branded products would fit
Disney’s emerging “good for you” nutrition
guidelines. Together, they selected grocery categories that
supported Disney’s efforts.

50. Pricing and
brand exclusivity were key to Disney’s DTR
strategy

51. Disney Magic Selections
“We wanted to use Disney’s storytelling and characters to help
kids understand and internalize information—to communicate
to kids in a fun, Disney way.”
-Honeck,TeamLeader,DCP,grocery &drug business

52. In addition to DCP’s nutritional
efforts, the company made “nutritionally-beneficial
changes” to the meals served to children
at all Disney-operated restaurants in its parks and
resorts.

53. “Disney will be providing healthier options for
families that seek them , whether at our parks
or through our broad array of licensed foods,”
- Robert Iger ,Disney President and
CEO
.

54. Disney had to face it too!!!
Risk & Challenges

55. 1. Pricing And Value
DCP managers understood that its
products had to be affordable.
“We’ve conditioned the market to
expect premium pricing from Disney
and this is a marketing challenge
for us, to go out with lower pricing,”
- Leslie.
“But for these products, affordable
equals value, not price.” “We have
to deliver quality to represent our
brand well.”
------- Mooney, President, DCP

56. 2.Legacy
Though they were confident that
the products would be healthful,
child-friendly and fun, they had
been subject to vocal criticism in
the past and expected to
encounter some skepticism as a
result.
This was the time to leave back
the legacy
DCP’s wanted to focus on its
current “Better for You”
strategy rather than its legacy.

57. 3.Differntion & Competition
DCP wasn’t first to
market with fresh
produce and Nickelodeon
packaged products had
been on the shelves
DCP managers believed
that the combination of a
broad product line, wide
distribution and the
Disney brand would win
over Moms.

58. 4.Growth &
Distribution
Other than its DTR relationship with
Kroger Disney wanted to license or
develop additional lines.
DCP managers believed that the
company could differentiate additional
lines using characters, brand and
price.

59. “We expect competition and channel friction but
we believe we can beat the competition because
even if they develop and match our nutritional
standards , they cannot access the Disney
magic.”
-Embola Ndi,VP, Product Development,DCP

60. Thank You

61. DISCLAIMER
Created by Shirsha Chakraborty, Institute of Engineering
and Management Kolkata, During the marketing internship
by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.