Disney Case Study

Case Studies- cross-media convergence and synergy

Disney Marketing 

Cross-media convergence is converging multiple media platforms to promote a product. 

the Avengers Alliance Facebook game developed by the Disney Interactive division uses social media to promote the Avengers film; this is a clear example of cross-media convergence. 

On Instagram, Disney has over 9m followers and uses this as an adverting platform to promote products at a young audience.

Disney is dominating the digital sphere through horizontal integration with the animation industry and through vertical integration with other media industries such as online social networks, TV streaming and the gaming industry.

What are the businesses Disney owns and how Disney uses CMC for things like soundtracks/video games/ TV commericals run by their own TV network or using famous stars to promote the film etc.


Disney has vertically integrated with the television and radio network company called ABC  (American Broadcasting Company) as well as the cable company called ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) with ownership shared between Hearest Communications (20%) and The Walt Disney Company (80%).

Streaming 
By 2018, box office tickets were reduced because of streaming services such as Netflix. Disney planned to introduce a streaming service with original Disney content. Disney+ was launched on November 12, 2019. As of April 2020, there are 50 million users of Disney +. 

Key Disney Acquisitions
1993 Miramex $60m 
1995 Capital Cities $19m (ABC) 
2001 Fox Family $2.9b
2004 The Muppets Studios $78m
2006 Pixar Animation Studios  $7.4b
2009 Marvel Entertainment & Studios $4b
2012 Lucasfilm $4b (Star Wars Franchise) 
2019 Fox $71.3b 

four divisions:
- Film (Walt Disney Studios)
- TV (Disney Media Networks- ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel)
-Theme Parks and Resorts (Disney World, Disney Land) 
-Consumer Products and Interactive Media (Marker Studios, Disney Store, Social Media). 


The top 10 highest-grossing movies in 2019:
1. Avengers Endgame ($858m)
2. The Lion King ($543m)
3. Frozen 2 ($450m)
4. Toy Story 4 ($434m)
5. Captain Marvel ($426m)
6. Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker ($390m)
7. Spiderman: Far from Home ($390m)
8. Aladdin ($355m)
9. Joker ($333m)
10. Jumanji: The Next Level ($235m)

 Walt Disney distributed 7/10 of these movies, two out of ten of these movies were distributed by Sony Pictures 
( SpiderMan: Far From Home & Jumanji: The Next Level) and The Joker was distributed by Warner Bro. Adventure is the most common genre with action (top 1)  and thriller (top 9) alongside it. 

Synergy is 'the way in which media conglomerate work together to promote linked product across different media'. Unlike cross-media convergence, it promotes non-media products. 

These are the three companies Disney owns:  Marvel, 21st Century Fox and Walt Disney Company 

Marvel 

• Marvel Entertainment: TV, film, publishing, finance ( Marvel Character Inc.), publishing ( Marvel Worldwide Inc.- Marvel Press, Marvel Comics & Cover Concepts Inc), consumer goods ( Marvel Toys ) 
• Marvel Studios: film ( Marvel Productions), finance, publishing ( Marvel Music )  

21st Century Fox
- Fox Entertainment Group (film)
- Endemol Shine Group (film) 
- National Geographic Partners (TV & publishing- National Geographic Magazine) 
- Fex Network Group (TV) 
- Fox Star Studios (film) 
- Hulu (digital/ misc ) 
- Star TV (TV) 

Walt Disney Company
- Disney direct-to-customer and international largest asset (digital/misc) 
- Walt Disney Parks, Experience and Consumer Products (property & parks): $20.3b revenue doubles movie revenue of $10b 
- Disney Theatrical Group (theatre)
- Disney- ABC Television Group (tv)
- Disney Channel Worldwide (tv)
- ESPN inc (tv) 
- Walt Disney Studios (film) 
- Disney publishing worldwide (publishing) 
- Disney Music Group- Walt Disney Records, Hollywood Records, Disney Concerts, Disney - - Music Publishing (music/radio) 
- Disney Game and Interactive Experiences (gaming) 
- Sphero (consumer good)