The NotSoWonderfulWorld Of Disney Essay Research Paper — страница 3

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doing. “Many French were hostile to the entire Disney idea from the beginning and a Paris theatre producer Ariane Mnouchkine described it as ‘A cultural Cherynobyl.’” To the men from Disney, all of this French hostility was seen as amusement and was not taken seriously. The executives at Disney had no idea how much trouble their ethnocentric values played in the nonsuccess of EuroDisney the first year. Disney marketed EuroDisney like it markets in the United States. It did not keep in mind the cross-cultural issues that faced them by doing business in France. Ethnocentrism played a huge role in EuroDisney’s failure. The executives at Disney failed to study and evaluate the imperatives in France as well as the languages of time, space, things, friendships and agreements.

They also failed to realize that the European culture is broad and different marketing strategies need to be taken to market to the different European cultures. EuroDisney could have been a success from the start; instead many changes had to be made in areas of marketing and day-to-day operations. As Disney considers establishing new theme parks in other countries there are many things they should do before another disastrous opening like EuroDisney’s. The country they are thinking of locating should be heavily studied. Edward T. Hall’s silent languages in overseas business in regards to time, space, things, friendship and agreements should be understood for the country they are thinking of doing business in as well as the imperatives and exclusives that must be followed in

that country. The foreign uncontrollable must be noted especially in regards to legal issues, the economy, the country’s geography and infrastructure, and the cultural forces dealing with that country. In thoroughly studying the country and knowing the needs of that country, adaptations to the marketing mix must be made to accommodate what is best for that country. Ethnocentrism, the assumption of similarity and our self-reference criterion are obstacles that must be avoided and overcome to successfully build a theme park in a foreign country. It is also important to respect that country’s culture and to not do anything that would turn you against the people that call that country home. Costs that deal with the theme park must be relevant to consumers there and marketing

campaigns should focus on what is important for the consumers of that country and the surrounding countries to know. Possible problems should be noted and handled before opening day of the theme park and expectations should be realistic. EuroDisney was faced with many challenges after its doors opened in 1992 and if all the proper steps would have been taken before opening day, many of these challenges could have been eliminated beforehand. Cross-cultural literacy is required to do successfully do business in any country and making decisions based on assumptions should be avoided at all costs. “Disney assumed Europeans would vacation like the American and Japanese; that they would be happy to stay away for several days at a theme park. But middle-class Europeans try to get away

from it all on their vacations by going to the beach or the mountains, and EuroDisney lacked that kind of appeal.” The challenges surrounding EuroDisney forced Disney to realize many things, most importantly it made Disney realize that it is imperative to understand all cultural differences that they will encounter when doing business in a foreign country and it is highly unlikely that Disney will see this kind of failure again anytime in the near future.