Key Takeaway #1: A clear vision drives perseverance and innovation
The Walt Disney Company’s international and intergenerational success didn’t occur by accident. Its founder’s clarity of vision and unrestful spirit drove him to take multiple risks in his career and achieve some of the greatest innovations of his industry.
His failures and setbacks, though many, didn’t extinguish the flame of his creativity. His best creations came after his biggest failures and he never sacrificed his freedom to pursue his cause for a safer and easier future. Although he made many mistakes, he was constantly exploring new ways to advance his vision and supply the world with wonder, magic, and unique and safe experiences.
Disney’s Expansion
The Walt Disney Company didn’t grow to its current enormous size overnight. Since the opening of Disneyland in 1955, the company has made numerous strategic moves to expand its parks and resorts and its services and assets. Among others, it increased its distribution capabilities, obtained media assets, increased its channels, and widely diversified its activities.
Media expansion
Although Disney had produced and aired many shows, films, and other television content, it always did so through other, already established networks. It wasn’t until 1983 that the company launched its own premium channel and used it as a content distribution platform to promote other activities and events like the openings of its new theme parks.
Shortly after that, Disney expanded its audience, launching channels in Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. There was a specific reason that Disney needed to expand its media reach to foreign markets and develop its audience. Once it had attained a baseline of viewers, it could then advertise the new rides of its later installed theme parks.
In the following decades, various moves were made to expand internationally, but at best the penetration to foreign markets was decent. Despite major moves that increased its reach in the US market, it wasn’t until much later, after 2005, that serious effort was made for deeper international market penetration.
However, the biggest transformation of the company’s media segment happened in 2019, when Disney made the massive acquisition of 21st Century Fox for more than $71 billion, the biggest acquisition in its history. From that point on, Disney became mostly a media company concerning its assets.
