What is a diamond pendant doing in Disneyland? Ask Giorgio Terrani, Walt Disney's marketing man based in Paris who is responsible for emerging markets. He will tell you that it is the natural transition of the characters the legendary Walt Disney created. Marketing meets modern legends and thus a new business is born. Meet the man who makes these legends work for children as well as for adults.
Diana Balfour, who loved Cinderella's fairy tale as a child, is now eyeing a diamond-studded pendant, at the Popley and Sons showroom at Wafi City in Dubai. Why would a 20-something still be fascinated by Disney?
Take a closer look, and you'll see that it is real jewellery – made of diamonds, platinum and gold – but with a Disney twist that contributes to its emotional appeal. Jewellery has been fashioned around the Walt Disney characters who have been part of many people's lives – whoever has read a Disney comic or seen a movie made by the creative giant.
Inside the showroom, Giorgio Terrani, merchandise licensing vice-president of emerging markets, apparel and accessories at Walt Disney, is hobnobbing with managing director Dilip Popley and Popley group director Rajiv Popley, secure in his knowledge that his gambit has cut it.
"Toys are obviously the mainstay of licensing of the Walt Disney Company. But we have moved a long way from just toys," says Giorgio. He knows his Disney history backwards. "It's been about 80 years since Disney started. The franchising began a few months after Mickey Mouse was created and the first cartoon was released when a man wanted to put the picture of Mickey on the cover of a book.
It started with stationery and Disney characters have appeared on just about everything since then."
I
I come from a family of technicians and had my university education in Milan, Italy. I went into marketing for a company based there for about six years. I got to know the nuts and bolts of marketing in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
I then moved to Calvani, which is full of designers. I worked there for five years as a licence manager. This primed me for the move to the Disney branch in Italy. I diversified my career by taking care of Disney Italy's emerging markets, and France was a priority at that time. Today's emerging markets are diverse including Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East, Russia, India, and Korea. Only China and Japan are excluded. My field of interest spans 120 countries that represent about 60 per cent of the global population.
I never dreamt I would work for Disney. Although as a child, I was a huge fan of the Mickey Mouse Magazine that has been published in Italy since 1948. It was practically the only weekly magazine for children and it was hugely popular. I grew up with it, as any other child in Italy at that time. It's still being published and it's amazing that I am now working for
the same company.
I was inspired by this magazine as a child. What it did for me as a child was to present the world in the form of entertainment from which I learnt sugar-coated lessons for life. That, in essence, is what we are still trying to do. For example, The Lion King is a great story but it goes beyond that in what it teaches you about nature and how nature works.
I have children and they were of course very excited and proud when I started working for Disney. As kids, they are experts in evaluating our products so it worked well for both of us!
I have worked in Germany and Switzerland, apart from Italy. I am currently based in Paris investigating markets in the East. I feel that this
gives me a unique perspective.
I love my work. It includes liaising with a number of local offices established across the various countries that are run by managers of different nationalities and cultures.
We have begun concentrating on accessories specifically. Since it is a local trend concentrated in local markets, we have started setting up and developing local partnerships and products in different regions. The other lines, like toys, are more centralised and more global in terms of products and sales. But we are also experimenting with them, and at present about 70 per cent of the products are locally produced.
What I do is look for appropriate partners, negotiate contracts and commence production as well as business development simultaneously. This is a shared responsibility between Disney – both the local and regional offices – and the partners.
So all of us have to participate.
We strongly believe in sharing the best practices. We don't believe in copying and pasting the business solutions from one country to another. We take the region's needs, beliefs and cultures into consideration before developing products for them. So, in every line of our business, be it toys, stationery or accessories, this remains a priority.
Me
Me and change
My life changed when I started working on this new line with Disney. It has meant a lot more work but it has been much more fun and has involved travelling.
This is where my role as a father came into focus. Earlier, parenthood had brought about quite a change in me
and now it helps me professionally too! My kids are my own private focus group to help me analyse Disney's products.
Me and children
Having children at home does influence my work. I sometimes think of whether or not the marketing accessories or toys will appeal to them. Sometimes I test their reactions, but we need to be professional so we can't limit our judgment to our personal taste, or that of 'our kids'.
Me and Disney
What's so interesting about working for Disney is its history. We are creating a tradition which is now so well-established that it is like a circle; a character creates a franchise that begets another character, and so the circle goes on and on. In some cases you can enter into the circle at a different stage.
For instance, it's quite interesting what's happening in China and Japan. With the introduction of the Tokyo parks – particularly the theme park that is targeted at adults – we have created an awareness about our original products. This takes the audience back full circle to where it all began. This is just one aspect of our franchising.
We are a major business organisation. We have six major lines of business: toys, stationery, consumer electronics and a large aggregate of licensing for a range of activities which is called Apparel, Accessories and Footwear (AAF) which I look after.
About 80 per cent of our business is targeted at children up to the age of nine years. We have a substantial and growing segment in the US as well as in other regions across the world. For example in Europe, adults represent 10 to 20 per cent of our business depending on the area.
When we introduce a product it's not just a matter of merchandising – we have to be responsible. What we
are developing is a range of the character and the art and it will also depend on the picture and story telling aspects. There should be a link between the original story of the character, the region we are using it in and the products that we are developing around it.
Me and Popley
Popley and Sons is one of the capital players in the jewellery industry in India. They have demonstrated that they are exceptionally creative in terms of product development as well as in furthering the business. They have solid distribution within their home market and also a capacity to break into the Gulf market.
They have a promising profile for Disney which is seeking to expand into rapidly developing markets all over the world.
The partnership works as follows: normally, the basis of the licensing business is that the licensor supplies the original designs (artwork) and a brand, while the licensee comes up with creative input to fit the specific needs of its industry and products. The licensee and licensor will then work together to achieve the best possible result from the creative and commercial perspectives.
The reason why we did not consider collaborating with any other established brand in the Middle East is because we invest resources in each of our partnerships and we want to make effective use of every opportunity that presents itself. The fact that Disney is a world-class brand recognised all over the world forms a significant part of the values we invest in the licensing agreement, which is why our associates expect us to be open to encouraging and supporting their international expansion.
Since Popley is already a well-established brand, it made perfect sense to extend the partnership. We feel that the design and quality of the Disney products – which are marketed by Popley – make this product line eminently suitable for opening up more markets, but the exact diffusion will depend mainly on the distribution capacity of the licensee.
We are still at the very early stages of marketing Disney-branded jewellery in the Middle East, so we don't have exact results, but the range is excellent and the two partners are strongly committed to a common goal. We are tremendously optimistic about our success.
Me and products
I don't blindly make the same products for all markets; something popular in the US may not necessarily work in other regions.
The character should be right for the region, the artists involved in creating the product should be able
to convey what is required for the region. So, there is a huge effort involved behind every product that Disney brings to stores.
Our primary aim is to see to it that the expectations in terms of our audience's tastes are not found wanting.
Me and toys and accessories
What does a toy or an accessory mean to me? Normally, it is an object with fun features as I should have fun with anything I am using.
We can't underestimate the importance of a toy for a child. It should form an important part of childhood; it helps in their development. However, an accessory for a child is
a sort of functional toy which can be used outside of normal kid's games. The border remains undefined because most kids can play with any object.
When I see a child holding a toy or an accessory, I feel pure joy. Then my marketing side takes over.
I look at the their smiles: the brighter, the better!
I find that people always check whether I wear any Disney accessory! Naturally, I do. I wear anything which
is useful and nice or emotionally significant. Since Disney is creating products around emotions, I use some of them, ranging from T-shirts to bags to belts and more.
I did not have a lot of toys as a child. In fact, I cannot compare the toys I had, with what is available today. I only got toys for Christmas or my birthday and as they fall so near each other, they were one and the same for me. So I had a limited number of items that I was using, re-using, breaking and repairing for the whole year, and then inventing new ones out of common objects. It was a different age.
Me and satisfaction
It gives you immense satisfaction to
put a smile on children's faces across the world – especially if the smile is long-lasting. I feel proud when my company makes nice products available that tend to the emotions of our audience over time.
Me and favourites
I don't have a favourite Disney toy,
but I do have a favourite Disney accessory. Personally, I like plushes and key rings – any small items with a story-telling artwork.
Me and my time
My favourite way of spending time
is playing with my kids, probably because I am travelling most of the time.
Me and my values
If I had to retain only one thing in my life, without doubt it would be my kids' smiles and voices. They are more precious to me than everything else
in the world put together.
Myself
Do the toys and accessories that you make have an emotional appeal for you? Or is it just a business?
You can't work for Disney without being emotionally involved. If we don't understand that we are not just selling products and films and park admissions, but that we are entertaining people with all our heart, then we are missing the
point, the mission and the fun part of our job.
Do you look to giving back to society or try to change it in any way?
Generally, yes, but the debate is always about the boundaries you are assigning to the concept of society. We always try to impact people and situations we know or understand
not necessarily what or who would benefit more.
Are the toy and accessory industries stable?
How do you view competition?
Toys and accessories are two very different industries. I would say that both are rather stable but competition is quite different: more concentrated in toys, more fragmented in accessories.
Being a Disney ambassador entails certain responsibilities. How do you handle them?
Disney is number nine in the world brands ranking, but we need to remember that it is about entertainment, feeling and fun. What working for Disney means to me is a constant commitment to the brand and to the company. In a way, that means a commitment to the child in all of us.
– Shiva Kumar Thekkepat is feature writer, Friday
