INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Carefully read the case study presented below (read it as many times as necessary, it is also available at the back of your textbook).

2. Critically analyze the problem facing the organization.

3. Use the tools learned in the class on internal and external market analysis to answer the questions.

DISNEY: BUILDING BILLION-DOLLAR FRANCHISES

DISNEY IS the worlds largest media company and is world-renowned for its Walt Disney Studios and the popular Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. In 2019 it achieved $60 billion in annual revenues. As a diversified media company, Disney is active in a wide array of business activitiesmovies, amusement parks, cable and broadcast television networks (ABC, ESPN, and others), as well as cruises, retailing, and streaming. It became the worlds leading media company by pursuing a corporate strategy of diversification and vertical integration, executed through a series of high-profile acquisitions, which included Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012) (the creator of Star Wars), and 21st Century Fox (2019).

Disneys Corporate Strategy

Disneys main goal in pursuing its corporate strategy is to build billion-dollar franchises based on movie sequels, park rides, and merchandise. CEO Robert Iger leads a group of about 20 executives whose sole responsibility is to hunt for new billion-dollar franchises. This group of senior leaders decides top-down which projects are a go and which are not. They also allocate resources to particular projects. Disney even organizes its employees into consumer product groups built around franchises such as Frozen, Toy Story, Star Wars, and other cash cows. Disneys corporate strategy around building billion-dollar franchises is certainly paying off: It has seen steady growth, earning $14 billion in profits in 2019up from a mere $3 billion a decade earlier. Disney has been the most profitable movie studio for years and thus has enjoyed a sustained competitive advantage.

Disney and Pixar: Try before you buy.

To understand how Disneys corporate strategy of growth through acquisition came about, lets look at one of its most successful deals: Disneys acquisition of Pixar, around which it then built a number of billion-dollar franchises. It all began with a strategic alliance. Pixar started as a computer hardware company that produced high-end graphic display systems. One of its customers was Disney. To demonstrate the capabilities of the graphic display systems, Pixar produced short, computer-animated movies. Although sophisticated, Pixars computer hardware was not selling well, and the new venture was hemorrhaging money. To the rescue rode not Buzz Lightyear, owned by Steve Jobs. Shortly after being ousted from Apple in 1986, Jobs bought the struggling hardware company for $5 million and founded Pixar Animation Studios, investing another $5 million into the company. The Pixar team led by Edwin Catmull and John Lasseter then transformed the company into a computer-animation film studio.

To finance and distribute its newly created computer-animated movies, Pixar entered a strategic alliance with Disney. Disneys distribution network and its stellar reputation in animated movies were critical complementary assets that Pixar needed to commercialize its new genre of films. In turn, Pixars assets gave Disney what it needed to rejuvenate its floundering product lineup. (Disney retained the rights to all Pixar films and their sequels).

Pixars success exceeded expectations. It rolled out one blockbuster after another: Toy Story (1, 2, and 3), A Bugs Life, Monsters, Inc., and The Incredibles, collectively grossing several billion dollars. Given Pixars huge success and Disneys abysmal performance with its own releases during this time, the bargaining power in the alliance shifted dramatically. Renegotiations of the PixarDisney alliance broke down in 2004, reportedly because of personality conflicts between Steve Jobs and then-Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.

Enter Robert Iger, who was appointed the new CEO in 2005. Under his leadership, Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion a year later. The success of the alliance demonstrates the power of complementary assets and shared core competencies. It gave Disney an inside perspective on Pixars core competencies (computer animation) and allowed Disney to transfer and apply some of its unique competencies, for example, marketing, brand building, and product extensions.

Acquisitions ever after & integrating to infinity and beyond.

In 2009, Disney turned to acquisitions again. The acquisition of Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion added Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America to its lineup of characters. Marvels superheroes grossed a cumulative $15 billion at the box office, with The Avengers bringing in $2 billion. In 2012, when Disney acquired Lucasfilm for more than $4 billion, Mickeys extended family was joined by Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker.

In 2014, Disney acquired Maker Studios, a YouTube-based multi-channel network, for $675 million. Under Disney, Maker Studies no longer had to support 60,000 YouTube creators through channel promotions and ad sales. Instead, it had to focus on no more than the top 250 YouTube content creators with large followingsthe goal: Build billion-dollar franchises in the new on-demand TV space.

In 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox for $71 billion, adding the Simpsons, Deadpool, and the Fox-owned Marvel heroes, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, to its character lineup. The acquisition also added Fox television networks (FX cable network, National Geographic properties, and Fox Searchlight). In addition, Disney took over Foxs 30 percent ownership of Hulu, a streaming service that competes directly with Netflix, the streaming giant in family programming (an already hypercompetitive market). With it, Disney now owns two-thirds of Hulu, but has full control over the streaming service. (The remaining third ownership stake in Hulu is owned by Comcast). Fox is by far the largest acquisition in Disneys nearly 100-year history, and the company is placing major bets on Fox becoming a core element of Disneys corporate strategy. This move represents a new effort from Disney to compete in the online streaming space, already the preferred way for most people to consume media. Hulu allows Disney to compete more effectively with Netflix, the success of which has forced traditional studios to rethink how to modify their business models to more directly engage with consumers through forward integration.

Disney did not stop there; it went on to develop a streaming service of its own. In late 2019 it plans to launch Disney+, a direct-to-consumer streaming service built around some of Disneys most popular franchises, such as Star Wars and High School Musical. Subscriptions will be offered at half the price of Netflixs monthly fee. Thus, in addition to creating its own content, Disney will also distribute its own content through its streaming services. Disneys foray into the streaming space is not new, however; in 2018, it launched ESPN+, a sports streaming service that currently has more than 2 million subscribers, a number achieved in less than a year.

Foxs extensive library of entertainment hits, in conjunction with Disneys well-known characters and franchises, should give Disney a major play-to-win advantage. However, whether this forward integration strategy will pay off in the long run, and make up for revenue losses resulting from lucrative Netflix licensing ties, cable fees, and even movie ticket sales, cannot yet be determined. If this strategy does succeed, it would result in a steady stream of recurring revenue from tens of millions of Americans and potentially even hundreds of millions of international subscribers. To succeed in this industry, Disney needs to transform itself into a fully integrated, but agile technology company capable of adapting quickly to a rapidly changing environment.

Building billion-dollar franchises.

After taking the reins in 2005, CEO Iger transformed Disney from a lackluster firm of inferior performance into one refocused around franchises, which generally begin with a big movie hit and subsequently follow up with derivative TV shows, theme park rides, video games, toys, and apparel. Rather than churn out 30 movies per year as it did prior to Iger, Disney now produces about 10 movies per year, concentrating on box office hits. Disneys annual movie lineup is now dominated by franchises (Star Wars), superheroes, and live action versions of animated classics such as Aladdin, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast. The biggest Disney franchises include Pirates of the Caribbean (grossing more than $4 billion), Toy Story (over $2 billion), Monsters, Inc. (close to $2 billion), Cars (over $1 billion), and Frozen (over $1.5 billion).

Most recently, Disneys Marvel franchise released Avengers: Endgame, which was a smash hit in the box office. It surpassed $2 billion in sales in record time and is currently the second-highest grossing movie of all time. It is the last installment in a series of 22 films, which has grossed over $8 billion in the domestic box office and is the highest grossing franchise series in the United States.

The Star Wars franchise, however, remains Disneys crown jewel. Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at New York University, estimates the Star Wars franchise to be worth over $10 billion.1 Product extensions beyond box office receipts (over $2.5 billion) include streaming revenues from Netflix, AmazonPrime, and other providers ($2.5 billion), toys and merchandise ($3 billion), gaming ($1.5 billion), as well as books and ebooks ($500 million). Again, this astonishing valuation is explained by Disneys ability to build billion-dollar franchises through product extensions. Damodaran shows that the Star Wars empire has a far reach in many corners of commerce.

Clouds on Disneys Horizon

While things seem to be sunny right now in Southern California, there are some clouds on the horizon. First, relying on a few big franchises is risky. What if the pipeline dries up? Many of Disneys greatest franchises such as Star Wars joined the family through an acquisition. An acquisition-led growth strategy, however, may not be sustainable because of the limited number of media companies that Disney can acquire. Indeed, a number of recent tech acquisitions such as online video producer Maker Studios (2014) and social-gaming company Playdom Inc. (2010) have not yielded the desired results. So far, success with these recent acquisitions is eluding Disney.

Second, some critics assert that focusing too much on billion-dollar franchises reduce originality and bore consumers more quickly. Disney has been dubbed a one-trick pony by some critics for its formulaic recipe of success: a blockbuster hit followed by derivative shows, merchandise, and other spin-offs. Moreover, all of Disneys recent blockbuster successes were remakes or sequels. This may not be a sustainable strategy in the long run as the number of sagas worth remaking begins to dwindle.

Third, and perhaps most important, roughly half of Disney's profits come from its TV networks ESPN, ABC, and others. The media industry, however, is being disrupted: People spend much less time and money watching movies on the big screen and spend more time-consuming content online via YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. While ESPN is certainly very successful, the cost of rights to show the big sporting events live has escalated dramatically in recent years. In addition, more and more subscribers have cut their cable cord to get their media including sports and entertainment online. As a response, cable providers are more likely to unbundle their service offerings, which may pose challenges for ESPN, often the most expensive part of the cable bundle (some estimate $10). The resulting narrow focus may not appeal to everyone. Although Disney has already launched ESPN+ and will soon launch Disney+, there appears to be room for only a few, if not just one or two winners, in the highly competitive streaming landscape where Apple, Netflix, Comcast, AT&T, and Amazon are all chasing after the same end goal. This fierce competition has shifted the conversation in the direction of who has the most valuable and high-quality content, which will ultimately attract the greatest number of subscribers.

Finally, Disneys corporate strategy of building billion-dollar franchises was masterminded and executed smoothly by CEO Robert Iger. Although he was scheduled to step down in 2015, he decided to extend his tenure until 2021. No heir apparent is in sight, thus no one knows for certain who will fill the void created when Iger steps down. This void may dampen the growth prospects of the worlds biggest media company, and its star may shine less brightly in the future.

QUESTIONS

1. What type of corporate strategy is Disney pursuing? Which core competencies are shared across its activities and how? (PS: In your response, define corporate strategy and identify its core dimensions; identify Disney's corporate strategy; identify Disney's core competencies and key activities in its value chain) (15 points).

2. Why do you think Disney's acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucas films were so successful, while others such as Sonys acquisition of Columbia Pictures or News Corp.s acquisition of Myspace were much less successful? (PS: In your response, identify Disney's corporate strategy; explain the benefits Disney derived from this; identify the corporate strategies of its competitors, and explain why Disney was more successful) (15 points).

3. Given the build-borrow-or-buy framework, do you think Disney should pursue alternatives to acquisitions? Why or why not? Explain. (PS: In your response, briefly explain the build-borrow-or-buy framework and highlight its core components and utility; based on the build-borrow-or-buy framework explain four alternatives available to Disney; critically analyze these alternatives and explain why Disney should or should not pursue each of them) (15 points).

4. Do you think focusing on billion-dollar franchises is a good corporate strategy for Disney? What are the pros and cons of this strategy? (PS: In your response, briefly describe 3 pros and cons of focusing on billion-dollar franchises; explain why this is or is not a good corporate strategy for Disney) (15 points).