Friday, August 16, 2019
Limits of Planning
Disney, hotel operators and everyone connected to its amusement parks thought the new Star Wars attraction would be a smash hit. So far, they are wrong. The 14-acre section of Disneyland has been an early flop. What happened? And, if Disney, the entertainment giant, can't get planning right, who else can do better? Disney, after all, has grown to a mighty company through understanding and fulfilling the desires of the public. How could it have missed so badly after the hoopla of building and promoting Galaxy's Edge, the formal name of the exhibition? It is a reminder that the "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley, " as Robert Burns penned. That doesn't mean one shouldn't plan, but in marketing and PR, one should always allow a huge risk factor and fallback if a "sure thing" turns out to be a dud. Disney fanned expectations, as only Disney can. It raised prices to deter the mob of early attendees. Local hotels did the same. Everyone waited for the crowds to come. They didn't. The might eventually. Meanwhile, Disney has a futuristic white elephant.
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