6. Case Study ? (Euro Disney) Disneyland Paris:
Importance of Researching the Customer
Disney assumed that its reputation and success would transfer to Europe.
The case highlights that the organisation did not take into account customer
differences or the marketing environment into which Disney was moving.
Amidst high expectations, Euro Disney opened just outside Paris in April
1992. Success seemed guaranteed. After all, the Disneyland Parks in Florida,
California, and most recently in Japan, were all spectacular successes. But
somehow all the rosy expectations became a delusion. The opening results
cast even the future survival of Euro Disney in doubt. How could what
seemed so right be so wrong? What mistakes were made? And what lessons
can be learned?
Optimism
Perhaps a few early omens should have raised some cautions. Between
1987 and 1991, three, 150 million dollar amusement parks had opened in
France with great fanfare. All had fallen flat, and by 1991, two were in
bankruptcy.
Visit London Module 2 ? Researching Customer Insights
September 2005 16
By now, the Walt Disney Company was finalising its plans to open Europe's
first Disneyland early in 1992. Company executives initially predicted that 11
million Europeans would visit the attraction in the first year alone. After all,
Europeans accounted for 2.7 million visits to the U.S. Disney parks and spent
$1.6 billion on Disney merchandise. Surely a park closer to home would draw
many thousands more?
As Disney executives thought more about it, the forecast of 11 million seemed
most conservative. Adding fuel to the optimism was the fact that Europeans
typically have more vacation time than do U.S. workers. For example, fiveweek
vacatio ...