Now that the word is out that Disney+ will no longer offer a free week to let people decide whether they like it enough to keep it for a month people might wonder why. The reason is simple. Nobody needs to be educated in order to understand what it offers.
And its appeal is unmistakable. In less than a year Disney+ has established itself in the upper echelon of the streaming services. The top services are now Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and Disney+ and frankly everybody else is far back. Think of how different the marketplace for Disney+ was when the other giants in streaming launched.
When Hulu launched it was a website built on a nonsense word. It had TV shows that came on TV but you had to watch them on a computer. It sounded weird at the time. When Roku launched, (to most people) it was a nonsense word. It means 7 in Japanese. When people started talking about Netflix they had to explain it as a movies by mail library, what’s that? And then as a streaming service you know “like the Internet on your tv on this thing called a Roku, which was a nonsense word to most people.” But now millions of people understand what all this is about. By coming in later Disney let everybody else educate the world on streaming while simply building up a demand for its content and spreading it around through apps. It had content on Netflix, Hulu and other apps. It came to understand its value on the market by looking at the number of people streaming its properties. But unlike a start up getting in later did not require Disney to have to explain itself. Multiple generations grew up with Disney. The Big Game’s MVP’s go to Disney World, a whole generation wished upon a star and another longed to live under the sea. The public no more needs to get an idea what Disney+ is then it does come to an understanding as to what Oreos are. Nobody says, well am I going to be able to eat Oreos for free for a week and decide if I want to buy them after all? Disney to TV is Oreos to snacks. It’s a thing we all understand already. And while not every household buys cookies (poor them) nobody needs to think about what an Oreo is and how it tastes.
Everybody in the premium streaming business typically has the same feel for new customers. First week free, or even first month free. In the case of Quibi it was first 90 days free. But Disney, after a massive launch featuring a free week appears to be moving away from what is otherwise a tried and true model.
Can Disney get away with this? If anybody can it’s Disney. Why? Because sort of like Arby’s says, they have the meats. Disney+ has the majority of the massively popular Marvel Library and will eventually have it all. It has new Marvel original shows on the way and that’s just part of its overall appeal. By Also pulling together the Star Wars Universe it simply controls the top two brands in the most sought after demographic in entertainment. But another one two punch comes in the family/kids safe sector.
Is there a more sought after brand for kids than the nearly 100 years of content from Disney? From the original classics like Snow White to Frozen this one company has meant excellence and innovation. And when it comes to innovation it is accentuated with Pixar. Disney has created a platform where kids can click on virtually anything and parents don’t need to worry. It does not need a kid section. There is nothing on any part of the service rated more than PG13.
Not only that, the service also has Disney Channel original TV shows.
So what is there to wonder about from a customer stand point? Will there be something for my kids check check check. Is there anything I need to be concerned with? No not unless you are apposed to some explosions here and there. But there is nothing like Game of Thrones to worry about. Hey mommy does that little man have more than one wife?
Disney is by far the most expensive theme park to visit in the country. But its streaming service is not the most expensive one on the market by far and the branding is spot on. They sell the feeling of Disney and memories and people want it. You can see this because the company has only grown its subscriber numbers since it launched. It didn’t add 5 million then lose 3 million a month later. And since the COVID-19 crisis emerged Disney has seen gigantic growth.
For these reasons without even getting into its upcoming exclusives Disney+ will probably continue to pull in new subscribers by simply leveraging its brands like ABC, NBC and of course movies that come out seemingly monthly.
Don’t forget about the widespread sponsored freebies like Verizon supplying D+ for free to its customers. I had almost forgotten I’ve not paid anything for D+ so far.