The world was hit with an icy blast when Disney's 'Frozen' was released in 2013. Its catchy songs and lovable characters are only responsible for only half the success, the other half of success is from Disney's genius marketing and distributing techniques behind the magic.According to Scott Davis,
What Marketers Should learn from Disney's 'Frozen' , "Disney has stuck with female protagonists accompanied by great storytelling and songs that belong on Broadway and, in turn, continue to capture young girls' and their parents' hearts and money time and time again." Disney's approach to this film was that of a slow reveal, meaning that they only released certain commercials and advertisements leading up to the release. this also went hand in hand with the chosen title, 'Frozen'. The title was chosen to make the film more unisex rather just selling it to primarily to young girls. The film's slow reveal and title choice turned out to be highly successful as 43% of the audience was males. Additionally, Disney understood the importance of giving the consumer what they wanted. By making it a musical that included Broadway stars to be the voice of many characters such as Idina Menzel and Josh Gad, the popularity reached out to more than just young girls as audience members. As said by Scott Davis "Last week, Frozen knocked Beyonce out of the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, only the fourth animated film soundtrack in the charts 58 year history to do so." Disney also included advertising for the movie before its release at the Disney Parks in which park visitors could meet the characters and learn their story while building anticipation for the film as well as allowing consumers to become a part of the magic.
With production at this large of a scale, Disney animators were faced with the challenge of creating realistic looking snow. As a result, Disney created several new tools in order to show the heaviness and depth of the snow as the characters interacted with it. Disney also created new video games in order to promote the film such as Olaf's Quest which was released a week before the film. This large Franchise is soon to have a ride at Disney World Florida as well as be adapted into a Broadway stage musical due to the sheer popularity of the movie.
Disney's marketing and distribution of 'Frozen' have set the stage for all animated films following its release. Its massive amounts of merchandise, music sales, new technology, and slow reveal all facilitated the success of the film. By making the film interactive through the means of meeting the characters at Disney Parks, the popularity of the film grew and now sets the stage for future Disney Films that will capture or hearts and make us believe in the Disney Magic time and time again.
References:
Davis, S. (2014, January 15). What Marketers Should Learn From Disney's 'Frozen' Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottdavis/2014/01/15/what-marketers-should-learn-from-disneys-frozen/
Frozen (2013 film). (2014, April 12). Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)
It was very interesting to learn about the reason behind choosing the title of the film. I would of never guessed that it was to attract both boys and girls, and that this strategy was quite successful. As a fan myself, the songs are addicting and really catchy. About two days ago I found myself singing Frozen songs with my six year old cousin, and we knew every word to all the songs! It's a great idea of having the characters come to life at Disney parks because young girls love to admire princess-like figures. These marketing techniques have definitely shown through the success of the film. Fun fact: over three million girls were Elsa, one of the film's main character, for Halloween.
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