Marketing Assignment: The Objective Of The Integrated Semest

Marketing Assignmentthe Objective Of The Integrated Semester Is To Hel

The assignment focuses on Disney, exploring how to turn its weaknesses into strengths or threats into opportunities, and developing strategies to rebuild its brand image following harassment scandals. It involves analyzing Disney’s internal and external challenges and proposing comprehensive actions across marketing, finance, management, and operations. The objectives include strategic proposal development, internal communication planning, external brand reputation management, and understanding cross-disciplinary impacts, ensuring a respectful workplace culture and positive public perception.

Paper For Above instruction

Disney, as one of the world’s most recognizable entertainment conglomerates, faces multifaceted challenges that require strategic responses to ensure sustained growth, brand integrity, and a healthy workplace culture. This paper explores how Disney can convert a specific threat into an opportunity, and how the company can effectively rebuild its brand image after damaging scandals. These initiatives necessitate coordinated actions across marketing, finance, management, and operations to produce a cohesive turnaround strategy.

Part 1: Turning a Threat into an Opportunity

Among the threats faced by Disney is the predicted global recession, which could lead to decreased attendance at its entertainment venues and negatively impact revenue. To mitigate this risk, Disney can leverage this economic downturn as an opportunity to innovate its value proposition and deepen customer loyalty. One effective approach is to enhance the personalization of its offerings—through targeted marketing campaigns, customized experiences, and value-based pricing strategies. This would make Disney’s experiences more appealing to cost-conscious consumers during tough economic times, turning the threat of recession into a chance to strengthen customer relationships and stimulate revenue.

By investing in digital transformation and expanding its streaming services, Disney can offset declines in physical attendance. The launch of Disney+ was a strategic move that allows the company to reach audiences directly, generate recurring revenue, and build a loyal subscriber base, cushioning the impact of reduced physical attendance (Chen & Zhang, 2021). This shift also aligns with broader industry trends where consumers increasingly prefer at-home entertainment, making Disney’s streaming platform a valuable asset during economic downturns.

Furthermore, Disney can use the crisis as an opportunity to reinforce its brand values of family-friendly entertainment and community connection, promoting content that resonates with audiences seeking comfort and escape during tough times. Promotions that emphasize value, family togetherness, and community support can help maintain consumer engagement and loyalty, thus transforming a potential threat into a strategic advantage.

Impact on Business Functions

The actions outlined above—enhancing personalization, expanding digital offerings, and emphasizing brand values—would collectively influence Disney’s marketing, finance, management, and operations.

• Marketing: These strategies require targeted campaigns emphasizing value and family entertainment, fostering emotional connections and brand loyalty. Personalization efforts can improve customer engagement, while promotional messaging can reframe Disney’s image as a compassionate, customer-centric brand.
• Finance: Investment in digital infrastructure and marketing campaigns will increase short-term costs but are expected to generate long-term revenue growth through increased subscriptions and customer retention. The focus on recurring revenue streams like Disney+ aligns with financial stability during economic downturns (Garrison et al., 2020).
• Management: Leadership must prioritize operational agility to adapt programs quickly in response to economic changes. Strategic decision-making will involve balancing investment in new digital initiatives with ongoing commitments to core business areas, ensuring financial health and competitive positioning.
• Operations: Expanding digital distribution channels and creating personalized content require operational adjustments, including technology upgrades, content development, and customer service enhancements. Streamlining operations to support increased digital demand ensures efficiency and quality of service (Rogers & Pilkington, 2017).

Part 2: Rebuilding Disney’s Brand Image Post-Scandal

As the new CEO, the critical priority is to restore Disney’s reputation after harassment scandals that tarnished its public image. The strategy involves a comprehensive cultural shift within Disney’s global workforce, emphasizing trust, respect, and inclusion across its 32 divisions and 203,000 employees. To effect this change, Disney must not only implement internal policies but also communicate effectively to all stakeholders to rebuild confidence and demonstrate its commitment to a safe, respectful workplace.

First, transparent communication about the new initiatives is essential. Announcing a company-wide program accompanied by a clear narrative—highlighting Disney’s dedication to fostering an inclusive, harassment-free environment—can reassure employees and external audiences alike. Engaging senior leadership and employee ambassadors to endorse the initiative and participate visibly in training programs underscores genuine commitment.

Marketing and internal branding should focus on promoting a culture of respect and diversity, emphasizing Disney’s values of inclusivity, safety, and community. Launching internal campaigns that showcase stories of positive cultural change, along with the certification process facilitated by HR experts, will motivate employee participation. Recognizing and rewarding respectful behavior helps embed new standards into everyday work life.

Externally, Disney should communicate these internal improvements through public messaging—press releases, social media, and corporate social responsibility reports—demonstrating accountability and progress. Collaborating with reputable HR consultancy firms ensures that policies align with best practices, creating a consistent, credible message about Disney’s renewed commitment to a respectful workplace.

Implementing these initiatives not only impacts internal culture but also positively influences Disney’s external brand image, restoring consumer trust and loyalty. As Disney aligns its brand values with internal practices, consumers and stakeholders will perceive the company as a responsible, inclusive brand committed to positive change.

Impact Across Business Functions

• Marketing: Internal cultural improvements will be highlighted in corporate communications, enhancing Disney’s reputation as an ethical and socially responsible brand. External campaigns can emphasize Disney’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, appealing to socially conscious consumers.
• Finance: Rebuilding brand trust can lead to increased customer loyalty, higher ticket and merchandise sales, and improved shareholder confidence, ultimately stabilizing revenue streams affected by past scandals.
• Management: A culture of trust requires management at all levels to lead by example, enforce policies consistently, and foster an inclusive environment. Training and certification programs will empower managers to uphold new standards effectively.
• Operations: Operational protocols, including diversity training, grievance procedures, and support systems, must be revised and uniformly enforced across all units. Ensuring consistency in policy implementation safeguards the organizational culture and supports long-term change.

By adopting a comprehensive communication and cultural reform strategy, Disney can transform its internal environment and external reputation simultaneously, ensuring resilience against future crises and aligning its brand image with contemporary values of respect and inclusion.

References

• Chen, J., & Zhang, X. (2021). Digital transformation in entertainment industry: the case of Disney+. Journal of Business Research, 124, 540-550.
• Garrison, R. H., Noreen, E. W., & Brewer, P. C. (2020). Managerial Accounting (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
• Rogers, C., & Pilkington, R. (2017). Innovation management in digital entertainment: practices at Disney. International Journal of Innovation Management, 25(6), 1750081.
• Schmidt, R., & Hargadon, A. (2020). Corporate storytelling for brand rebuilding. Journal of Brand Management, 27(6), 679-693.
• Smith, A. (2019). Corporate cultural change: Strategies for sustainable transformation. Harvard Business Review, 97(3), 102-109.
• Thompson, L. (2018). Employee engagement and internal branding. Journal of Human Resource Management, 56(4), 683-698.
• United Nations Global Compact. (2021). Diversity and inclusion in the workplace. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5780
• World Economic Forum. (2022). Navigating corporate ethics in times of crisis. https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/navigating-corporate-ethics-in-times-of-crisis
• Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. Sage Publications.
• Zhao, L., & Liu, Z. (2021). Consumer perceptions of corporate social responsibility efforts in the entertainment industry. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 38(2), 182-192.