Thursday, December 9, 2010

Spot the "Disney"

Disneyization or Disneyfication : the transformation of something to resemble Disney theme parks.
Disneyization is portrayed as a globalisation factor and homgenisation of a society, the four dimension include Themeing, Hybrid Consumption, Merchandising, and Performative Labour.
To read and find out more on Disneyization, The Disneyization of Society by Alan Bryman.

EVERLAND
In South Korea, one of the most obvious Disneyfication product would be Everland. The largest theme park in South Korea. Some have said that Everland is the lower-scale version of Disneyland, based on the architecture, themes, and atmosphere.

 Aerial view of Everland

Everland is decorated with many replicas of castles and architectures from Middle Eastern countries, France, Spain and India. Throughout the site, one can experience the different cultures from other countries. However, is South Korea's culture itself brought into the theme park? Take a look at the youtube video below. It shows scenes of certain parts of Everland.




The theme park has been themed and designed to look like the original Disneyland. With all the architectures and details, such as uniforms and design of a booth, all very westernised and lack of Korean culture. A theme park definitely cannot lack merchandise being sold, the souvenir shop sells character themed gifts. Character products or theme park merchandise are simply a branding strategy. The indistinguishable items no longer hold a meaning, and are just to entice consumers into spending more and therefore higher revenue. There are two gift stores in Everland, the largest being Grand Emporium. It is Greek and Roman mythology themed. The other being Lacian Memorium.

Lacian Memorium 
All the cultures of many different countries have been brought into this one theme park. Visitors might not understand the differences, but yet get influenced by the westernised culture of the place. One can see how the staff were made to dance to the catchy tunes during one of the rides. They were not traditional or folk dances that were part of their culture, but catchy english tunes and dances to display their happy moods. The staff of the theme park are no longer just simple staff for the smooth operations, but part of the product and are expected to constantly smile to ensure they are the top in service and expectations.



LOTTE WORLD

 
Lotte World is not just a theme park, but is more like a small city that houses an amusement park, shopping centres, a Folk museum, sports and activities centre and facilties, movie theatres, a luxurious hotel all linked. They even have monorails inside to link the different locations.


Just a short introduction on a few facilities inside Lotte World. To find out more, do visit the official website, LOTTE WORLD.
Check out the video below to see a visitor's experience at Lotte World. It shows some theme park rides and few other facilities with the premises.


 


The amusement park is claimed to be the largest indoor theme park in the world. It has all sorts of rides to suit any age group and the theme park even has several scheduled shows a day, and also costumed mascots roaming the park.
The Folk museum has viewing areas and viewer participation areas. The museum displays Korea's history and culture through both miniature and life-sized representations of daily lifestyles and special festivals and events.
Within the Sports centre, there is a swimming pool, ice skating rink, bowling alley, table tennis tables, indoor golf range, tennis courts, shopping mall, art gallery, and movie theater complex. There is even a Lotte World Health Club, a private club. There is a barber shop, hair salon, sauna, and rest area, all located within the premises.
The department store, which is one of Korea's leading department store, has dozens of small specialty shops and has a large food court. It even has a large duty-free store for foreigners.


 


Lotte World has themed itself as a very westernised establishment. Within the whole premise, there are infact, several themes within. Such as 'Adventure' theme and 'Magic Island' theme. It has basically everything one needs for entertainment under one roof. Instead of visiting a single place for just one purpose, one can find all sorts of facilities and services needed in that single place.


Hybrid consumption refers to the blending of many products and services, in order to retain customers longer. Lotte World has done exactly that. A consumer can not only enjoy amusement park rides, but even dine and do sports and shopping as well. To attract more visitors, they even opened a new segment back in 2009 called Lotte World Star Avenue. It features korea's top stars and it is where fans can feel closer  and communicater with their idols. Sets from famous dramas were erected too. 


Merchandising, or also refered to as branding, suits Lotte World well. Lotte World has thoughts of expanding into China. Now with Lotte World having the largest indoor theme park and the top department store in South Korea, they can promote their goods and have merchandise with their logos and names. They have character products as well, which once again brings me back to the point on branding strategy and the product not having a significant value but just a branded merchandise for earning more revenue.


Performative labour is definitely an important factor, with this being a huge organisation. Events and festivals are held within the premises, the theme park has character mascots and scheduled shows. Staff are important in providing quality service in the whole establishment. They are no longer just for the operations once again, but included in the daily activities and events taking place to facilitate the visitors and retain them for a longer period or to come back again for more.



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Posted by Then and Now at 2:33 PM
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