Mouse in the Sub-Continent

Diz Co., despite a big investment, appears to be struggling inside the Indian market.

India Remains A Dream For Disney: Not A Reality

Disney is going back to its brand in an attempt to connect with the tough Indian market. The only demographic being reached by Disney in India is the educated, elite class, it must go beyond them to grow. Executives abandoning UTV after Disney acquired it suggest there is still a cultural disconnect that has to be solved. ...

The major hurdle is the very localized tastes of the people of India, which results in many films being accepted in some areas, while in other areas comparatively doing almost nothing. Indian filmmakers know this, which is why it produces many more films each year. They must produce according to local and regional tastes, which requires many more productions. ...

Disney's strategy in India was the acquisition of UTV. At that time of the closing of the deal the company reached over 100 million Indian viewers on a weekly basis.

UTV is comprised of five foundational brands - Disney; Marvel; Bindass (which targets Indian youth); Hungama TV, a children's channel; and UTV.

Initially the deal did well for Disney, as a number of decent performances from its film releases showed promise. Again, the problem is how it can successfully reach beyond the elite, educated consumer to a much larger market. ...

Branding is one of its biggest, if not the biggest challenges, because many people have no emotional connection with Disney, if they've heard of them at all. I also know from people that have worked in India in other areas of life, that it is just as hard to make inroads among the various ethnic groups as it is anywhere in the world. It appears Disney faces the same challenge in the film and TV business there. ...

Disney's India business is going to weigh on the company for a long time. It's going to have to go incrementally across numerous ethnic groups and geographic regions, probably having to figure out how each one can be penetrated and won over. ...

Disney spent close to half a billion to acquire UTV Motion Pictures; by all accounts, the investment isn't anywhere close to paying off. And now that UTV's top staffers have gone elsewhere, Ciz Co. is faced with starting over and rebuilding from the sub-basement up.

Apparently not every corporate acquisition Disney makes pays off like a rigged slot machine. Odd.