Great Marketing

[kribit]

Yes exactly, as they back up the Brinks Truck.

 

[lucincia]

So, let me get this straight. Disney has come up with this brilliant Marketing idea to give incorrect or incomplete information to their CM's, who a person has to call back 5 or 6 times until you get a CM who will actually honor a discount for which you are never quite sure that you are actually eligible for, leaving the public rattled and worried, and in the interim making themselves look like total buffoons??? Wow, that is just genius!!!

No they didn't come up with it. But smart marketing dept will utilize mistakes like this and turn and spin into their own advantage, as long as it does not impact the profit margin.

 

[kribit]

No they didn't come up with it. But smart marketing dept will utilize mistakes like this and turn and spin into their own advantage, as long as it does not impact the profit margin.

DH is a "marketing guy" and he said the same thing. It may have indeed been an error initially, but if Disney can turn that error into a profit, they will find a way to do it. It's just like all the free dining stuff. We participated in this promotion last year, but I believe Disney in no way, shape or form gave away food. They replace the money "lost" in that promotion with something else (whether it be tacking on .10 here and .10 there or just increasing the rack rates where a non-Dis person ) wouldn't notice. It may not be things we "see," but they do find a way to even out the "free dining." Think about how many people who wouldn't ordinarily have gone to Disney in September went because they were offered free food. We did. Bravo to Disney Marketing - They sure know how to keep us coming back.

Ok - enough of my babbling.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

So, let me get this straight. Disney has come up with this brilliant Marketing idea to give incorrect or incomplete information to their CM's, who a person has to call back 5 or 6 times until you get a CM who will actually honor a discount for which you are never quite sure that you are actually eligible for, leaving the public rattled and worried, and in the interim making themselves look like total buffoons??? Wow, that is just genius!!!

While Disney's reservation centers may not have carried this out well, the marketing department did come up with a good promotion and here is why.

Some of us who got the pin code via e-mail, postcard or attached to your name in Disney's system may have been looking at a deluxe resort, but the $$$ just weren't there to stay at one. What the promotion has done was make it a win-win situation for both guest and Disney. It allowed those of us to upgrade from a moderate to a deluxe for $40-$50 a night instead of the $150-$200 a night that it would have normally cost. Obviously there is a big difference between paying $400 more to upgrade and $1700 and Disney knows this. At the same time, Disney is not only able to get $400 from the guest that they probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but they were also able to free up a moderate resort room for someone else to book.

 

[natenapril]

Yes exactly, as they back up the Brinks Truck.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP......

 

[CanadianGuy]

Obviously there is a big difference between paying $400 more to upgrade and $1700 and Disney knows this. At the same time, Disney is not only able to get $400 from the guest that they probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but they were also able to free up a moderate resort room for someone else to book.

Magic has a great point here..

Lots of people upgraded resorts during low-traffic weeks. This leaves more low-end hotel rooms .. values and moderates to be booked later by the budget conscious last minute traveller.

Given the normal average occupancy rates during the weeks of this promo .. I don't think Disney really hurt itself in any major way with this promotion.

Any accountant will tell you that at a resort destination like Disney... an occupied room at 40% off is far better than an unoccupied room. There is a certain level of operations costs that is the 'bottom floor' for each resort. They can't pare back staff or daily operations beyond that point. It's a fixed cost.

When you take into account that people extended their stays and for every day they are present there will be souvenir, dining and parks spending... which is NOT discounted in anyway... It's a no brainer.

J

 

[lucincia]

I am sure if Disney slashes all the room cost by 40%, they will still be profitable.

I am not sure about you guys, but I plan to spend the money I saved back in the park and Disney stores again

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I am sure if Disney slashes all the room cost by 40%, they will still be profitable.

I am not sure about you guys, but I plan to spend the money I saved back in the park and Disney stores again

Very true. To honeymoon at Poly during the Sept value season is normally $3331.11 just for the room alone. By getting the 40% discount it is costing us $3531.22 for 9 nights at Poly, (2) 9 Day Magic Your Way Ticket with Park Hopper and our food for 10 days. So in the long run Disney will get there money one way or another.

 

[MEK]

As far as I am concerned, the code is a "win-win" situation. Disney makes money and the traveler gets a deal. Everyone is happy.

I am reading a book about the ski industry and all the things they do to capture the vacation dollar. They literally plan where every shop is placed when the build and create a new base area. For example, they will position a candy shop so that people of certain demographics pass by it at certain times of day. They actually know what position the sun will be at various times of day and how that will capture and backlight the candy making process and display the product. They even audition shop owners so that the appropriate proprieter runs the shop.

The ski industry actually learns a lot of their tips from Disney. They are masters at creating an "experience". They are also masters at marketing and producing deals that are profitable. One a traveler gets one of these deals they feel great because they had "saved" $. Ultimately that savings translates into spending (upgrading room, adding premium ticket, spending more on soveniors and dining).

The bottom line is I think Disney is a good value for the vacation dollar. It's a better value when you score a deal!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

As far as I am concerned, the code is a "win-win" situation. Disney makes money and the traveler gets a deal. Everyone is happy.

I am reading a book about the ski industry and all the things they do to capture the vacation dollar. They literally plan where every shop is placed when the build and create a new base area. For example, they will position a candy shop so that people of certain demographics pass by it at certain times of day. They actually know what position the sun will be at various times of day and how that will capture and backlight the candy making process and display the product. They even audition shop owners so that the appropriate proprieter runs the shop.

The ski industry actually learns a lot of their tips from Disney. They are masters at creating an "experience". They are also masters at marketing and producing deals that are profitable. One a traveler gets one of these deals they feel great because they had "saved" $. Ultimately that savings translates into spending (upgrading room, adding premium ticket, spending more on soveniors and dining).

The bottom line is I think Disney is a good value for the vacation dollar. It's a better value when you score a deal!

Yep. For $379 which is the difference between 9 nights at POR and 9 nights at Poly with the discount, Disney gets there extra $$$ and we get to stay at a resort we probably wouldn't have been able to. Where not the only guest who are going to reap the benifits of this code. I'm sure there are many more who upgraded to deluxe resorts because of the ability to do so for only $40 or so more a night.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I was going for those dates & going to stay at value resorts anyway. If I didn't get the 40% off now, I would have just waited for the AP or FL rates for the time frames to have come out. So the only thing Disney got from me was my one nights deposit on each trip a bit earlier than usual...

 

[johnnyr]

I was waiting for a thread like this one. I thought the same thing about a brilliant marketing campaign on their part, but was hesitant to post on the subject. It sure did fill many rooms for them.