It's called "playing the mighty Wurlitzer." Or rather, getting people to play it for you.
I started to say ... that to recruit and fund a team of propaganda operatives shows lack of faith in the intrinsic appeal of whatever it is you're selling. If you give someone a fantastic vacation, do you really think they're going to hide the news from their friends? More likely they'll brag about it.
Then again, it must be 1000 times cheaper to get 20 people enthusing online about "The Year of Epcot" than it is to build and upgrade enough attractions to make it happen organically ...
They do not fund them. They get some perks and discounts but must pay for their trips and products. This is normal and smart marketing. It doesn't matter how great your product is, many people don't know about it and/or haven't experienced it for themselves. Friends do talk, but social media folks talk more times 10s to 100s of thousands.
IDK, I view Disney's website, brochures, and DVD's as marketing material- not as propaganda which is more deceptive in nature. This so-called "Secret Mom Army" sounds pretty disturbing to me. Plus, why does Disney feel the need to arrange for this in the first place? Aren't they doing so well that honest opinions on social media should be overwhelmingly positive? And if not, then how about addressing the concerns that are voiced instead of making arrangements with a secret mom-army to assist in the spreading of propaganda?
Disturbing? Propaganda? Did you read the article? First of all, the title of the article is misleading: The Moms all talk about their experience and connection with Disney, the big event is publically known, what goes on there is known, and it is talked about all over the Mom and
YouTube 'verse. The only secret is that some - the target audience of the article - are uniformed. Disney is being very smart with their marketing, same with YouTube stars. Every company, no matter how well known, markets their products. Disney is keeping its finger on the pulse of these Mom's and the YouTube stars, and also gathering feedback from them. Rather than the constant and steady whining about everything on this website that Disney knows it can ignore, if a bunch of these Mom's get upset about something, you can bet Disney will know and take action.
That's a bit dramatic. Did you read the article? Disney doesn't pay them and doesn't tell them what to write about. Essentially, they are giving out 150-200 discounted vacations to a group who has lots of social media ties, and leaving it to them to write about whatever they want. How is this any worse than
amazon sellers sending thousands of free items out every day with the caveat that the receive has to write a review in return for the free item? Disney isn't even telling these people that they HAVE to go on about the trip. They are tapping into the egomaniacle nature of these woman who think that social media gives a crap about what they are wearing to Disney or what their handbag looks like.
I was out to a nice dinner with my wife this past weekend and when the food came she whipped out her phone to take a picture. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, as I can't imagine anyone we know cares about what her steak looked like. But the point is, social media people share everything regardless. All disney has to do is give them an event, and bam, they do the rest.
While I agree with the first part of your post, the statement, "the egomaniacle nature of these women who think that social media gives a crap about what they are wearing to Disney or what their handbag looks like." is a bit unkind and harsh. There are lots of people posting bland stuff on social media that no one is looking at. All these Moms have large numbers of followers. The AVERAGE was in the 70,000's for the Moms at the one event. That means there are lots of people that do care what these Mom's say. They are often entertaining and talk about the things others are interested in. I'm a social media nut even as a 55 year old accountant with 2 grown kids. I'd love to be in on these but I don't think they are looking for older married men with no grand kids yet.
I enjoy seeing my friends everyday lives, what their kids are doing, etc. It takes no effort to read or move on. I also use Facebook as a journal and memory tool. I post pictures and other things for my own future reference. Don't knock what you don't know about.
Again, this is all public, all well know, all done above board and properly by Disney, and is all normal marketing. Now that Disney has shown what can be done, many other companies are jumping on board. Way to go Disney! Smart!
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