The Feng Shui Kingdom
By LAURA M. HOLSON
When building the new entrance to Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney
executives decided to shift the angle of the front gate by 12 degrees. They did so
after consulting a feng shui specialist, who said the change would ensure
prosperity for the park. Disney also put a bend in the walkway from the train
station to the gate, to make sure the flow of positive energy, or chi, did not slip
past the entrance and out to the China Sea.
Heeding the advice of a feng shui consultant is one of many steps Disney
executives have taken at the park to reflect the local culture - and to make sure
they do not repeat some mistakes of the past.
When Disney opened Disneyland Paris in a former sugar beet field outside Paris
in 1992, the company was roundly criticized for being culturally insensitive to its
European guests. Now Disney burns incense ritually as each building is finished
in Hong Kong, and has picked a lucky day (Sept. 12) for the opening.
The financial stakes are high: international growth is a critical part of Disney's
expansion efforts. In Asia, Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear and Winnie-the-Pooh
are hardly household names, and Disney wants to change that. Mainland China
is expected to become one of the world's largest tourist destinations in the next
15 years, according to the World Tourism Organization, an international group
that oversees policy issues. That trend bodes well for Disney, as Hong Kong
itself is already in the top 15.
"It used to be Disney was exported on its own terms," said Robert Thompson, a
professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. "But in the late 20th and
early 21st century, America's cultural imperialism was tested. Now, instead of
being the ugly Americans, which some foreigners used to find charming, we have
to take off our shoes or belch after a meal."
Plans for Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney's 11th theme park and a replica of the
original Disneyland, began in 1999 for the undeveloped Lantau Island, a 30minute train ride from downtown Hong Kong. Built on Penny's Bay and flanked by
mountains, the park is a venture with the Hong Kong government and the first of
the parks that Disney wants to build in China, including one in Shanghai. Disney
invested $316 million for a 43 percent equity stake in Hong Kong Disneyland; the
rest is owned by the Hong Kong government, which contributed $419 million.
(The park has $1.1 billion in debt.)
Some of the dazzling visual effects and nods to cultural differences at Hong Kong
Disneyland may seem like so much marketing. One of the park's main ballrooms,
which will surely be used for Disney's popular wedding services, measures 888
square meters, because 8 is thought to be a number of fortune, said Wing Chao,
who is the master planner of architecture and design at Walt Disney
Imagineering. In Chinese, the number four is considered bad luck so there are no
fourth-floor buttons in the elevators at the Hollywood Hotel or other hotels in the
park.
Cash registers are close to corners or along walls, where such placement is
believed to increase prosperity. And in the park's upscale restaurant, Crystal
Lotus, Disney installed a virtual koi pond where computer-animated fish dart
away from guests who walk on a glass screen. The pond is one of five feng shui
elements in the restaurant; the others are wood, earth, metal and fire, which
glows on a screen behind bottles in the bar. "We could not have real fire because
of the fire code," said Mr. Chao.
After the mishaps at Euro Disney and, closer to home, problems with attendance
at its California Adventure park in Anaheim, it is easy to understand why the
company would take such pains. "I don't know anything about fire and kitchens
and where fire belongs and what doesn't," said Jay Rasulo, president of Disney's
theme parks and resorts division. "But I certainly have learned that you need to
respect people."
Tourists sniffed at California Adventure when it opened in 2001, saying it looked
more like a shopping mall than a theme park. In recent years, Disney added, at
considerable expense, the Tower of Terror thrill ride and an attraction based on
the animated film "A Bug's Life."
The French government recently helped bail out Euro Disney, the parent
company of Disneyland Paris, offering loan concessions and investments to save
it from bankruptcy. Though its finances have been restructured, Euro Disney is
still about $2 billion in debt. And many in the entertainment industry considered
the opening of Disneyland Paris a study in how not to open a theme park.
Mr. Rasulo, who was president of Euro Disney from 1998 to 2000, said
Disneyland Paris grew quickly as a tourist attraction in Europe, with 10 million
visitors its first year. But he conceded the park was initially larger than it should
have been, and was financed using too much debt.
Profits at Euro Disney in recent years have been slim to nonexistent; the park
has shown a net loss for the last three fiscal years, according to Disney. By
contrast, Hong Kong Disneyland is being built in two smaller phases, and is
carrying half the debt of its French sibling.
Disneyland Paris got off to a bad start by not offering wine when it opened, a
culinary faux pas among the French. After wine was later introduced, Disney
hoped to placate parkgoers by offering more French food. "Our guests told us,
'Guess what? That's not what we want,' " Mr. Rasulo said. What they wanted, he
said, was distinctly American corn bread and barbecued chicken.
Disney also misunderstood how Europeans plan vacations. Unlike Americans,
who often book their trips directly with Disney, Europeans rely more on travel
agents. In 1992, Disney did not adequately train travel agents, leading to fewer
bookings, said Mr. Rasulo. By contrast, Disney marketing executives in Asia
have been training travel agents for months, mostly in China, where the company
expects one-third of the park's business to come from.
Teaching the Chinese about Disney may be critical to the park's success there.
Disney merchandise and characters are little known in Asia outside of Japan,
where the company has had a successful theme park for 22 years. China, in
particular, has resisted the spread of Western culture. For Disney, analysts say,
Hong Kong Disneyland is an opportunity to introduce new generations to
princess costumes, Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals and Mickey Mouse T-shirts.
Last year Disney hired the Chinese pop singer Jacky Cheung to host the
"Magical World of Disneyland," a television show where classic animated films
like "Tarzan," "Dumbo" and "Alice in Wonderland" are introduced to the Chinese.
Based on the format developed and made popular by Walt Disney, Mr. Cheung
gives a brief introduction of Disney and the theme park before the movie starts.
Because of the diverse cultures in Asia, said Mr. Rasulo, Disney had to be
flexible. Park employees will speak three languages: English, Cantonese and
Mandarin. At a recent tasting of dishes to be served in the park's eight
restaurants - everything from curry to noodles to sushi - Disney executives
considered a hamburger prepared by a local chef.
"I've had curry before and I've had sushi before, but this was a hamburger that
didn't taste like a hamburger that I knew," said Tom Fitzgerald, a senior creative
executive at Imagineering. (He said it tasted like pork meat loaf.) "You don't want
to say, 'Well, this is the way we make a hamburger in the States and so that's the
way we're going make a hamburger here.' " Disney went with the proposed
burger.
The park has a topiary garden where Minnie and Mickey Mouse and other
characters will pose for photographs with guests, a favorite pastime with
international parkgoers. One of the most anticipated attractions is the Jungle
River Cruise. Unlike other parks with a similar attraction, Disney has created
Cambodian ruins for guests to float past, and an unruly pack of hippos. "Instead
of the guns that scare off the hippos, we actually have our hippos in Hong Kong
have bad breath and then they belch," said Mr. Fitzgerald.
While talk of feng shui may seem like overkill to those with Western sensibilities,
Mr. Rasulo said that as a practice it was just common sense. Mr. Rasulo said Mr.
Chao came to his office recently and suggested putting a mirror on the wall
behind his computer. "Now if my secretary wants to get my attention I can see
her in the mirror," said Mr. Rasulo, with a laugh. "So it actually is an incredibly
practical thing."
a. Where did Disney build a new amusement park?
b. Whom did the company consult?
c. Why did the company put a bend in the walkway to the gate?
d. Why did Disney heed the advice of a Feng Shui expert?
e. What does Disney do to commemorate the opening of each new building in
Hong Kong and why?
f. What does the World Tourism Organization expect China to become in the
next 15 years?
g. What examples does Robert Thompson cite as indications that American
corporate behavior in foreign countries has changed?
h. What organization is collaborating with Disney on the development of Hong
Kong Disneyland and how?
i. Name some of the ways in which Disney has tried to respond to the cultural
differences in China.
j. Why is one of the park's main ballrooms 888 square meters?
k. According to Jay Rasulo, what lesson has he learned from past experience
and why?
l. What mistakes did Disney make when opening Disneyland Paris, according
to the article?
m. What Chinese pop singer did Disney hire and why?
n. Why must park employees speak three languages and what are they?
o. How does the park's most anticipated attraction differ from other parks with
a similar attraction?
Your next task is to develop a business plan to introduce a major company to a
foreign country. What do you need to know about the corporate culture? What do
you need to know about the people and culture of the foreign country?
Your group will be acting as an advance development team introducing a
company to a region of the world for the first time (try to imagine this situation
even if the company already exists in that region today).
You and your partners, will choose a company from one of the following
categories - Fast food, Entertainment, Media, Clothing/Fashion. Suggested
companies include:
--Fast food: Burger King, McDonald's, Subway or other convenience restaurant
chain
--Entertainment: MuchMusic, Paramount Wonderland, Block Buster, a movie
theater
--Media: Newspaper, Magazine, Television or radio station
--Clothing/Fashion: Gap, West 49, American Eagle, other retail clothing line
Next, choose a country. Some suggested countries include:
Dominican Republic
Iceland
India
Israel
Mexico
Nigeria
Singapore
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Next, choose a major city in this country in which to introduce its company.
Within each group, two students will conduct research on the corporation, while
the other two will conduct research on the country they have chosen, answering
the following questions.
THE CORPORATION
--What does the company do/make/sell?
--Who is the target audience or consumer for the company (who typically buys or
uses their products or services)? Are there any cultural differences that might
shift this target to a different population in the country?
--What is the average cost of the company's product or service in Canada (in
Canadian dollars)? What would this price be in the country's currency?
--How many people currently work for the company? What types of jobs do they
have?
--What is the average salary for an entry-level employee (in Canadian dollars)?
For an executive? What would these salaries be in the country's currency? How
do you think the company will adjust these wages in the new country?
--Are entry-level workers required to learn specialized skills?
-What steps might the company need to take to train local residents?
--What are the company's annual profits?
--Who is the company's competition?
--In what countries does the company currently sell or produce its products or
services?
THE COUNTRY --What is the physical environment like?
--What kinds of religious traditions do the people follow?
--What cultural rituals do they engage in?
--What kinds of foods do the people eat? Are there restrictions on the kinds of
foods they can eat?
--What do people do for entertainment? Are there restrictions on the kinds of
images they can see or language they can hear?
--What do they wear? Are there restrictions on what they can wear?
--How do they get their news? Are there restrictions on the kind of information or
news they are allowed to receive?
--What languages do they speak?
--What is the average age of the working population?
--Are there any days or times in which work is restricted?
--Are there restrictions on who can work?
--What is the average income for local workers?
--What types of industries currently exist in the country?
After you have conducted your research in pairs, each group of four will
reconvene to share with one another what they learned. Each group will prepare
an artifact that demonstrates what their company can produce or sell in their
chosen country. For example: the fast food group will prepare a sample menu,
the clothing group will a catalog of the clothes they might sell, the media group
will prepare a descriptive table of contents for a newspaper or magazine or
program schedule for a radio or television station, and the entertainment group
will present a list of movies, music videos that can be shown. Alternatively,
groups may produce an advertisement marketing the product or service they are
offering.