Walt Disney

Before a company even begins to look at its objectives, and marketing strategy, they must first decide what they are selling, and who they want to sell it to. A successful marketing plan requires a clearly defined and well researched target market, without knowing the desires and needs of the people you are selling to, you can not create a product that meets those needs. The well defined target market represents one reason why the Walt Disney Company has been so successful since their public start in 1940. Walt and Roy Disney started this company not to satisfy every consumer's needs, but simple "To make people happy." This quickly segmented the Walt Disney Company's market into children till the age of about twelve. After many years, it was soon realized that the target market is not only young children, but often includes the decision makers. These are usually the parents that take their kids to the movies and buy the merchandise. Disney knows that it's one thing to make a great movie that kids are excited about but the efforts often fall short if parents don't approve of it.

The Walt Disney Company's most recent, slight change in the target market has come from their new ideas of marketing and expanding. To reach kids and teens to promote Disneyland's 50th anniversary this year, Walt Disney Co. will use one of the hottest -- and most controversial -- gimmicks in the media business: "advergaming." (http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-01-17-disney-advergaming_x.htm). Seeing as how the age-range of people that play video games are a little older than kids, they will be targeting at a teenager level. The attempt to expand Disney into a wireless network also stems the interest of an almost different type of target market. "The Walt Disney Co.'s decision to launch a wireless service aimed at its best customers -- pre-teen children and their families -- have focused a spotlight on two significant industry trends: the growing segmentation of services marketing and a fascination with the hottest of those segments, the youth market