Why is Disney so successful?

Disney is successful for variety of reasons, which just so happen to fall under the categories of the exam questions, for example, its synergy and cross media convergence, its media ownership, its proliferation of hardware etc. I will explain in this essay why disney is so successful through the section B headings.

Disney is a conglomerate and one of the 6 top oligopolists as it owns its production companies, distribution companies, forms of exhibition companies (such as disney cinemagic), its own theme parks, radio channels etc. This benefits them as it makes them more money and then through the money they earn with media ownership they are able to afford bigger actors, for example, Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, they are able to film in more than just one location (that are also quite well known), for example, the Dominican Republic and California. They are able to use more expensive props to create verisimilitude for example, Pirates of the Caribbean were able to recreate pirate ships and certain sets within the film. Within Pirates of the Caribbean all of this proved to be very beneficial as they made a profit of $509,954,103 just at the worldwide box office. Media ownership is very influential to create a successful company as Ill Manors, which was produced and distributed by independent companies such as Film London, BBC Films, Aimimage Productions and Revolver Entertainment only made an overall profit of $1,008,176. Ill Manors wasn't able to use such big things because of the lack of media ownership, for example, Ill Manors was only able to use the location of Forest Gate, a less wealthy end of London, also Ill Manors could only use stars they hadn't quite made a debut yet as they were cheaper to use. All of the elements mentioned make a difference to the overall profit of the film as it is likely if you have more well known stars you are likely to attract a larger audience due to fans and people assuming a film will be good due to previous experience of viewing an actors acting and thinking they are good. Also if various filming locations are used it is more than likely national audiences will be attracted to the film as it becomes more internationally appealing.

Disney also has access to a lot of synergy and cross media ownership because of its media ownership, for example, disney owns stores which sells merchandise and which also sells other products such as soundtracks for certain films. Concerning synergy, disney has the ownership of the theme parks, the stores, shows such as disney on ice, costumes for the children, books which have been made for the film etc. Concerning cross media convergence disney has websites which contain games for its target audience, they have apps created for games e.g. Frozen Free Fall, they have downloadable soundtracks on iTunes and they have TV channels which can show trailers or even show the film after the cinema release. This increases the amount of money Disney has an institution as consumers feel the need to buy such products as they enjoy the film. Such synergy and cross media and convergence also helps promote a film, especially if it is before the film, and concerning Disney, this is them using 360 degree marketing. Ill manors marketing was done through cross media convergence as they released a single containing clips from the film within it, this was big for the target audience whom were Plan B fans as he was in front of the camera within the video however for the film he wasn't featured into it as he was the director.