Disney launches a social media “memories” campaign

Disney advertises itself as the place where fantasy meets reality; and thousands of families head there each year in search of this. While there, almost every guest of the park takes a photo or video to preserve the memory of their visit. Disney is now inviting people to share this content.

The new ad campaign, called Disney Memories, was launched with a series of YouTube videos showing a selection of visitors at different Disney parks.

On the website you’re able to browse by Theme Park, Category and even Emotion. You can also search the content by photo, video or story using keywords.

This campaign is designed to bring back memories and feelings of when people visited the park with hopes of getting them to visit again – which I think it will do.

Disney’s theme parks have a niche in that, unlike most theme parks, they were the first to base the attractions around films, TV shows or animations, meaning people felt more connected with the rides.

Some parents have criticised the campaign on the grounds that it gives paedophiles easy assess to videos and photos of children, but no one is forcing parents to share this data. If parents feel comfortable sharing it, why shouldn’t they? Indeed, they might already have a YouTube or Flickr account and have uploaded this data elsewhere online.

I think one of the main issues has been overlooked by most critics of the campaign: the end user licensing agreement says that if you upload any information to the website, Disney can use it in their future TV or online adverts for the Disney Memories promotion.

If I were a parent I would be more concerned about watching TV and having my child appear in an advert that I wasn’t told about.

Disney announced it would be focusing all of its future TV adverts on user-generated content, starting in 2011.

Additionally, each night from the beginning of 2011, Disney Park guests will be able to have their own photos projected in a “larger-than-life” way onto two of the parks most iconic attractions – Cinderella Castle in Florida and It’s a Small World in California.

Some people have claimed this is a cheap way to make adverts; but I think it is a very clever marketing idea from Disney. They know their customers and have decided to go where they are online to attract them to visit.

I’m sure one in every thousand parents will be up in arms about this promotion but the majority will see it as a fun way to let their kids see other children having fun. And once on Disney.com I’m sure there will be adverts for merchandise and films.