Здравствуйте, Mickey!
As has been announced a recently, Walt Disney is plunking down about $300 mio to acquire a major stake in the Russian Channel Seven with the objective of entering the Russian market. This is their second attempt. About three years ago, Disney had plans to acquire a 49 percent stake in Russian Media-1 TV. Back then, the acquisition was not approved by the Russian Antitrust Agency which cited “problems with Disney’s paperwork”. It looks like Disney has learned an important lesson about Russian culture and has figured out how to work with the country’s bureaucracy. Why is Disney so eager to enter the Russian market? Is it a case of cultural imperialism that US companies are often accused of? Very unlikely. The simple fact is that growth rates in Russian TV advertising are between 20-30% whereas they have been relatively slow in the West. After a Swedish and a Luxemburg-based group, Disney is now the third foreign investor in Russian TV.
I think Disney expanding into Russia is a great idea, not only does it widen Disney’s viewing audience but it opens them up to a whole new demographic. I think Disney was smart to research more about the Russian culture before attempting to work with them again since the first approach wasn’t successful. This shows that Disney is committed to going the extra mile to keep everyone on the same page and to do what it takes to expand.
I think Disney’s expansion sounds like a great idea and they will certainly be targeting a new demographic by doing so. It will be interesting to see what kind of changes they make to the channel and if they choose to incorporate the Russian culture. Disney is a well-known and wide-spread global company so we already know that they have done the appropriate research it would take to expand into a foreign country.
I think it is great that Disney has decided to expand into Russia. The demographic it opens up creates an endless amount of possibilities. The success that Disney has seen with its brand in other parts of Europe shows that it can make an impact in Russia as well. Disney is the type of company that will not make the same mistake twice and find a way to be successful this time around in their plans to expand in a Russian market.
Disney’s expansion into Russia seems to be a great idea that will be extremely beneficial to the organization now that they have learned more about the culture and have taken the necessary precautions. Cultural differences are proving to be a challenge to overcome presently, especially with globalization as it is today. It seems that Disney did not take cultural variations into account when they first attempted expansion into Russia. However, they seem to have done their research this time around which should definitely help the company to be successful in this country. This is also a huge feat for Disney as Russia’s population falls among the ten highest populations in the world. Should Disney employ effective marketing and become as powerful in this country as they aim to be, it will be extremely beneficial to the organization as a whole.
Walt Disney is extremely smart to enter the Russian market. I believe there strategy to begin marketing will help them enter the market and open opportunities for them. Globally expanding is always a great avenue to go down especially for a big company such as Walt Disney. I am glad to hear that the Walt Disney has learned and educated themselves on the culture of Russia to negotiate better with them.