Euro Disney Case Essay Example for Free

Euro Disney Case Essay The success of a business, especially immediately after establishment depends on various factors. Branding and goodwill form some of these major factors. It is worth noting that branding points to the value that customers attach to a given product or service and is often informed by their experience or perception that they have about the name as well as the known history of the producer or the service provider. A business on the other hand enjoys goodwill if it uses a brand name whose reputation has already grown and this growth is not only depicted at local level but both national, international and even global levels. Despite enjoying the fore going, EuroDisney did not perform well during its first year of operation for various reasons. Factors That Contributed to Euro-Disney’s Poor Performance during Its First Year of Operation At the outset, the hotel rooms were so much overpriced and to such an extent that staying overnight was out of question for most of the families around. In addition, poor marketing strategies which were very evident at the time as well as their ill advised source of funding from French banks were all to the EuroDisney’s disadvantage. To add to the bargain was the fact that an unforeseen combination of transatlantic airfare wars and currency movements often boiled down to trips to places like Orlando being cheaper while good weather was guaranteed and beautiful Florida beaches were within reach in Orlando. It therefore bears noting that all these factors as well as the ethnocentrism and negative publicity given by the hostility from the French people against the Disney idea right at the projects planning phase, greatly affected the performance of EuroDisney during its first year in operation (Keegan Green, 2002). The role played by ethnocentrism in the story of Euro-Disney`s launch Ethnocentrism is defined as the tendency to believe and perceive one’s cultural or ethnic group to be centrally important than all others. This is evident in the launch of EuroDisney with French visitors staying away while projections had it that they would make 50percent of the attendance figures. The French perceived the EuroDisney in a very different perspective, as depicted this was viewed as American imperialism. They clung to their culture, and as the article puts it, French culture had its own lovable cartoons and characters that included the Asterix, the helmeted and a pint-sized Gallic warrior which EuroDisney did not provide. As a result of the hostility among the French to the Disney ideas as evidenced at the planning of the EuroDisney project, there was a bad publicity that was given about the project to the various stakeholders (Keegan Green, 2002). Why the experience in France was not transferable to Hong Kong Though the EuroDisney had a nasty experience in France, the knowledge and experience acquired may not be transferable to China’s Hong Kong. On the same note, the experience in France was purely informed by cultural difference between Americans and the French. Needless to say, the case may not be the same between the Chinese and American people. It is however notable that Business experience is usually transferable only if it is informed by business related concepts such as the forces of demand and supply which is not the case in EuroDisney. Lastly, owing to the differences in size between the Disney in Hong Kong and that in France, the effects of decisions may as well be considered to be well out phase with each other. Reference Keegan, W. J. , Green, M. C. (2002). Global marketing management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.