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If Disney comes up with an Amazon Prime-like membership plan, would you subscribe to it?

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Akshata Kamath
Akshata KamathSep 01, 2022 | 15:50

If Disney comes up with an Amazon Prime-like membership plan, would you subscribe to it?

Disney's new offering is going to give you more discounts and perks, at a price. (Photo: Getty Images)

Disney is exploring a monthly/annual membership plan (just like Amazon Prime and Apple One) to cross-sell its products and services and understand its customer's behaviours. Though the cost and the official launch of this service are yet to be decided, Disney's membership plan aims to give you better privileges and higher discounts at its theme parks, resorts, and exclusive merchandise. 

Any Star Wars fan who watched the series on Disney's streaming service Disney Plus will obviously be obsessed with collecting Star Wars merchandise. Imagine spending years watching Star Wars on Disney Plus, going to your favorite theme park Disney World in the US only to find that they have an exclusive version of Dark Saber sword available for a massive discount in the store only for Disney Plus subscribers!

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This might be the reality in the coming future, thanks to Disney's plans of clubbing their products and services together. 

So, what is this new monthly/annual membership plan all about? You know how an annual or monthly Amazon Prime membership gives you additional benefits like 1-day delivery, access to movie streaming, reward points on shopping, free access to books and massive deals during an Amazon sale?

Similarly, Disney is planning to launch a time-based membership program that will offer discounts or special perks on all of Disney's products and services. This includes discounts and value-added benefits on theme parks, resorts, merchandise and streaming services. You can call this service- 'Disney Prime' for now till the official name is announced if it is announced.  

Why is Disney doing this? Just like Apple and Amazon have bundled their offerings into 'Apple One' and 'Amazon Prime' respectively, Disney wants to offer more value to its casual customers by way of cross-selling its offerings through this bundle. Cross-selling is a business practice where companies sell related or complementary products and services to their customers. For eg: Apple has bundled its cloud storage, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade together into a membership plan that costs $14.94/ month, whereas Amazon Prime members receive free shipping and perks like access to the Prime Video for about $14.99 a month. 

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Disney Plus has some good movies to watch. Photo: Unsplash

The idea behind creating a time-based membership is that Disney can provide more financial and non-financial value to its customers while customers spend more on its products and services. There is another big benefit: an insight into a customer's viewing and spending patterns and preferences.

What is Disney offering at the moment?  For Disney Super fans, the company had launched has a special program earlier called 'the D23 Official Fan Club'  which costs about $99.99 to $129.99 a year and gives customers access to exclusive events and merchandise. This program offers members a discounted three-year subscription to Disney+ in 2019.

Disney Land is every kids' dream place to visit. (Photo: Getty Images)

Disney's new prospective membership plan aims to be different as it wants to target more casual Disney fans and customers.

How will it work for Disney? Say for eg, you love watching Star Wars on Disney+. When you go to a Disney Theme Park, you and other Disney + subscribers will be able to exclusively shop for some exclusive Star Wars toys (like the Dark Saber) and merchandise at the theme park. Thanks to your Disney + viewing history, you will also be able to access exclusive related experiences and may even be the first to try new ''Star Wars'' rides. All you have to do is scan a QR code on the service that links to the Shop Disney website.

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Disney has merchandise that can tempt people of all ages. (Photo: Getty Images)

The membership program will help Disney to learn more about its customer's behavior by collecting data about their preferences. By understanding the customer's preferences like - which shows they watched, trips they took, and merchandise they purchased, Disney can harness this data and recommend what their customers can watch on Disney Plus. They can also launch discounts and create new offerings in products like toys and clothes based on what's popular among the audience.

There also seems to be a hint of using this data in Disney's metaverse strategy.

So, if Disney comes up with a monthly/annual subscription service, will you buy it?

Last updated: September 01, 2022 | 15:50
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