Unit 4- Assignment- Paige Ryan

docx

School

Purdue University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

512

Subject

Arts Humanities

Date

Jan 9, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by GeneralTroutPerson1057

Collectibles for Circle D Utilizing the Collector Card Model to Increase Guest Engagement with the Horse-Drawn Streetcar at Disneyland Resort 1

Paige Ryan May 2023 Table of Contents Memo………………….….………………………………………………………………………3 Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………… 4 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………5 Execution …………………………………………….….………………………………………6 Market ………………………………….…………….….………………………………………7 References…………………………………………………………………………………….…8 2

TO: Erin Simon FROM: Paige Ryan SUBJECT: Implementing collectible cards for the Streetcar TO: Erin Simon FROM: Paige Ryan SUBJECT: Implementing collectible cards for the Streetcar Erin, An avid Disney fan when she turned 19, Wendie felt the most natural career was to become a cast member at the Disneyland Resort. For 15 years, she made magic for guests. When her love for horses led her to move far from Disneyland and onto a different career path, Wendie remained a fan and frequented the park when she could. In 2022, over a decade after her time as a cast member, two worlds collided when Wendie met a current Circle D cast member after purchasing a horse I had for sale. This turn of events sparked a wonderful new friendship and inspired Wendie to visit the parks for a new reason. For the first time in more than 30 years of Disney fandom, Wendie, a horse owner and former cast member, rode the Horse-drawn Streetcar. When we embarked on our journey down Main Street, USA, the idea was born, how to encourage guests to ride this beloved ride. From that moment on, I knew I had to find a way to create memorabilia befitting the Happiest Horses on Earth. This anecdote shows the potential to launch collector cards for Circle D. Best, Paige 3

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

In Summary In a world of trackless ride systems and multi-billion dollar franchises, the cast members at Circle D take another approach to theme park rides. Running smack in the middle of Main Street USA at the iconic Disneyland Resort, the Horse Drawn Streetcar has been a fixture since the park opened on July 17, 1955. Competing against rides like Rise of the Resistance or interactive experiences like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, the Horse Drawn Streetcar is often edged out of busy guest schedules. However, those who take the time to answer the call of its magical bell step aboard a piece of living history to travel to a different time and place. An old-school approach is needed to help drive guests to answer that call. By launching collector cards for the horses of Disneyland, the team can capitalize on the $458.2 billion collectibles market to drive guest engagement and boost ride numbers. (Collectibles Market size..., 2023) Disneyland Resort Horse-Drawn Streetcar May 2023. 4

New Ways to Make Magic A roughly $52 billion global market, The Walt Disney Company is the world's leader in theme park entertainment. However, they have quite a hill to climb. Since 2019 the California-based Disneyland Resort alone has seen a 10.1 million person drop in guest attendance. (Themed Entertainment Association, 2022) Despite this drop in attendance, driven partly by post-COVID park capacity requirements, Disneyland boasts more significant revenues. A recent earnings call stated that the goal has been to "prioritize the guest experience." (MacDonald, 2023) With a push for a better user experience, Disneyland has to think of new ways to make magic for its guests. As people hustle down Main Street USA, their sights set on the park's flagship attractions, several unassuming rides fly under the radar. The Main Street Vehicles, a group of vintage automobiles older than Disney itself, offer a chance for parkgoers to ride in style to the entrances of the varied "lands" of Disneyland. At the heart of Main Street Vehicles is the Horse Drawn Streetcar. The Streetcar is a California-style car on 3 ft wide standard railway gauge tracks pulled by a real horse. The Disneyland streetcar is reminiscent of the horse-based public transit that emerged in New York during the early 1830s. (Tarr, 2008) Horses at Disneyland? A piece of Disney history since before the park opened in 1955, the Circle D Ranch has been home to various equine cast members and attractions over the years. Currently, the Circle D cast cares for a herd of 20 draft horses whose main job is to pull the Horse- Drawn Streetcar at Disneyland. When the four-legged friends of Circle D are not on Main Street, they help to host magical weddings and appear in parades or special events both on and offsite. Like most animals, the "happiest horses on earth" each have a personality all their own. The crew has garnered a social media following and even "regulars" who ride the Horse-Drawn Streetcar weekly. The Horse-Drawn Streetcar has been a staple at the Disneyland Resort since 1955. The current herd at Circle D consists of twenty draft horses, a group of horses bred for pulling vehicles and carrying large loads. The Circle D team consists of four breeds of horses, Percherons, Belgians, Clydesdales, and one Shire. The team at Circle D ranges from 3 years to 16 years old. With a well-trained crew caring for their health, diet, and training needs, the horses of Circle D are genuinely the "Happiest Horses on Earth." One crucial element that extends from backstage to onstage is the Road to Main Street, where the horses of Disneyland prepare for their future career on Main Street USA. As we head into the summer and Disneyland's busiest time of year, it is the prime opportunity to roll out a new tool to help the Horse Drawn Streetcar to engage with guests. It is commonplace for Disney to offer limited merchandise that can only be purchased at the parks or during special events. Obtaining these pieces in person and not through resale is a marker of social capital. (Williams, 2020) First introduced in 1999, pin trading is a staple of Disney culture. This unique subset of Disney fans is 5

primarily adults who are regular parkgoers. When interviewed regarding their pin trading habits, 71% reported that their collecting was exclusively Disney. (Lafferty, 2014) Old Idea, New Execution Using Disney's current pin trading culture as a model, one way to expand guest interaction with the Circle D team is through a tangible giveaway. The horses are the best assets to help drive guest interaction with the Horse-Drawn Streetcar. The team has been increasing the number of "meet and greets" or personal opportunities for guests to meet and physically interact with Disney's four-legged cast members. It is time to introduce Circle D Collector's Cards to build upon the momentum of the increased face time with guests. It is no doubt that we live in a digital world. However, research by the Advertising Specialty Institute shows that promotional giveaways, or branded items given for free to a customer, have retained their value. "The recall rate for promotional products is a record 85% for some products." (Wood, 2017) To help dive further into the idea of collectible cards, we look to their inventor, Major League Baseball. The premise of this product is that the cards are collectible and have the potential for an increase in value. (Meihong Chen, 2022) However, what if the customer does not purchase the cards and is instead a limited giveaway? The MLB conducted a study to understand the correlation of promotional giveaways with ticket sales. The study found that "a promotion increases single-game attendance by about 14%." (McDonald, 2000) Returning to the topic at hand, Disneyland. Writer Gary Cross completed an informal study with shocking data. Cross found that 10 percent of students had visited any of the Smithsonian exhibits. In contrast, around 20 percent had not attended the Walt Disney World theme park. (2015) Cross found that Disney evokes a strong drive in its attendees, that of nostalgia. By offering guests a chance to live a fantasy story in real life, Disney has a robust quality that many theme parks lack. "Disney's success was built not only on nostalgia for a fantasy place and Disney's attractive evocation of his own childhood." (Cross, 2015) Whether it is the MLB or Mickey Mouse, humans have long sought relationships through shared interests with others. By leveraging this desire for connection, a brand can create an emotional link for its customers, thus driving loyalty. "Brands become a tool with which consumers seek to strengthen their belonging to one or more social groups." (Guzman, 2022) Research shows that material objects are ideal for collapsing the distance between groups and driving fandom. (Baker, 2019) By creating this emotional connection with a brand, the guest experiences a feeling of "home" as it begins to exist both in the physical and emotional realm. To substantiate this fact, we look to the collection of 6

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

material objects. In the scenario by which a connection with "home" has been made, the objects provide "a narrative for identity." (Baker, 2019) An example is the vast network of Disney collectibles, ranging from guests who attempt to sell "parts" of rides to the massive pin trading industry. The Disney collector holds an identity as part of the Disney community, as they take a piece of their "home" at the Disneyland parks home to their brick-and-mortar dwellings. Mastering a New Market One audience that is largely untapped for the Horse Drawn Streetcar is millennials. While the "middle generation" grows their disposable income and families, they look to experiences like Disneyland to help fill their time. As Lawrence and Greene touch on, Millenials have a unique perspective on their brand loyalty; their strong affinity to brands likely stems from their upbringing. However, they incorporate a new component, sharing this with their network. (2020) By introducing a tool, trading cards, we can help drive millennial engagement with the Horse Drawn Streetcar. Giveaways like horse-themed trading cards incentivize millennial guests to interact with and ride our attraction. As Lawrence and Greene mention, Millenials prefer to interact with their network through a conversation. Receiving a tangible item from their trip down Main Street drives the discussion about the Horse Drawn streetcar. Evoking Emotion "Nostalgia is a psychological phenomenon that many brands use by aligning their products and/or services with their consumers' positive memories of the past." (Bansal, 2022) We again suggest a promotional giveaway on the Main Street Horse-Drawn Streetcar to bridge the gap between nostalgia and the concrete. Bansal's research argues that millennials are likelier to engage and convert into return customers when nostalgia is the primary call to action. As a whole, brands have begun to compete with emotional rather than functional value. The most crucial component of emotional value is customer experience. (Lawrence, Greene, 2020) To illustrate this point, we look to an anecdote shared in the research. "After they got back to the hotel room, Mickey sent them a letter saying we hope you feel better really soon. She also said, 'every interaction with Disney is a positive one.'" (Lawrence, Greene, 2020) To leverage the emotional interaction, the cast member in the story completed a small action that took very little overhead. What if we could utilize the nostalgia of the Horse Drawn Streetcar with the network- driven customer behavior of millennials? The idea of network meets nostalgia is the premise of introducing collectible trading cards representing our herd. Providing a small token to share with their networks, we drive millennials to interact with the Horse Drawn Streetcar, increasing ride counts. As millennials ride the Horse Drawn Streetcar, their 7

conversation with their network about our horse trading cards will help others discover our hidden gem and join in on the fun! References Baker, T. A. (2019). "It was precious to me from the beginning": material objects, long- distance fandom and home. Soccer & Society, 20(4), 626–641. https://doi- org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.1080/14660970.2017.1376187 Bansal, U. (2022). Nostalgic Consumers: A Study of the Impact of Nostalgia Marketing on the Consumers. Artha Journal of Social Sciences, 21(2), 1–16. https://doi- org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.12724/ajss.61.0 Collectibles Market size, statistics, growth trend analysis and forecast report, 2023 - 2033. (n.d.). Marketdecipher.com. Retrieved May 24, 2023, from https://www.marketdecipher.com/report/collectibles-market Cross, G. (2015). Consumed Nostalgia: Memory in the Age of Fast Capitalism. Columbia University Press. Guzmán Rincón, A., Carrillo Barbosa, R. L., Amado Mateus, M., & Ordoñez Saavedra, N. (2023). Symbolic consumption as a non-traditional predictor of brand loyalty in the sports industry, football club segment. Heliyon, 9(4). https://doi- org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15474 MacDonald, B. (2023, February 9). Disneyland visitor spending increases despite 20% smaller crowds during holidays. Orange County Register. https://www.ocregister.com/2023/02/09/disneyland-visitor-spending-increases-despite- 20-smaller-crowds-during-holidays/ McDonald, M., & Raseker, D. (2000). Does Bat Day Make Cents? The Effect of Promotions on the Demand for Major League Baseball. Journal of Sport Management, 14(1), 8. https://doi-org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.1123/jsm.14.1.8 Meihong Chen, Fuzhi Su, & Feng Tai. (2022). Major League Baseball Marketing Strategies and Industry Promotion Approaches. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi- org.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.802732 Lafferty, B. A., Matulich, E., & Liu, M. X. (2014). Exploring worldwide collecting consumption behaviors. Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies, 8, 1. Lawrence, K., & Greene, H. (2020). CUSTOMER LOYALTY THE DISNEY WAY. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 13(1), 83–94. https://libauth.purdueglobal.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/ customer-loyalty-disney-way/docview/2506762699/se-2 8

Tarr, J. A., & Mcshane, C. (2008). The horse is an urban technology. Journal of Urban Technology, 15(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10630730802097765 Themed Entertainment Association. (October 19, 2022). Attendance at the Disneyland theme park (Anaheim, California) from 2009 to 2021 (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved May 19, 2023, from https://www-statista-com.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/statistics/236154/attendance-at-the- disneyland-theme-park-california/ Williams, R. (2020). Theme Park Fandom: Spatial Transmedia, Materiality and Participatory Cultures. Amsterdam University Press. Wood, M. (2017, December 14). Branded giveaways and other promotional products: Do they still have an impact? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2017/12/14/branded-giveaways-and-other- promotional-products-do-they-still-have-an-impact/?sh=5e8c6b5a7790 9

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Unit 4- Assignment- Paige Ryan

Related Documents