How Disney Creates Digital Magic with Big Data

For over 90 years, Disney has prided itself on producing magical guest experiences that few can match. But in the mid-2000s, as ticket prices climbed and lines lengthened, the sparkle on Disney’s customer experience began to fade.
In response, Disney created an exploratory team called the Next Generation Experience project. Focusing on creating “more immersive, more seamless, and more personal experiences for each and every guest,” the team has four goals: Driving operational efficiency; transforming the customer experience; personalization through connected products, and enhancing interactivity across channels.
So how is Disney using big data and other technologies to create digital magic ?
1. A data-driven approach to operational efficiency
The magnitude of Disney’s theme park operation is staggering. Each week, Disney has to schedule 240,000 shifts for 80,000 employees and pay more than 80,000 cast members. Following the implementation of a rule-based, on-demand technology, Disney’s accuracy in managing labor resources improved by 20%. The project paid for itself in just one year from labor savings alone. Disney also employs analytics to streamline back-house operations. For example, the company uses forecasting models to manage its garment inventory and laundry. The forecast models ensure enough garments are available for the cast members whilst minimizing inventory and unused costumes on the shelf.  
2. Personalising customer experiences
Imagine a trip to Disney where you didn’t have to wait in line, carry cash, or pass through a turnstile? Disney’s MyMagic+ is a high-tech, billion-dollar initiative that eliminates these inconveniences with personalization and connected technologies. MyMagic+ allows guests to book ride times, restaurant reservations and shows in advance using the website. When they arrive at the park, alerts from the smartphone app remind them it’s time to enjoy their selected activities. The mobile app allows guests to change reservations in real time as needed.
MagicBands acts as an admission ticket, the key to the hotel room, and a FastPass+. Guests customise their MagicBand with their name and preferred colour. They can also connect the MagicBand to a credit card and use it for payment and restaurants and stores throughout the parks and resorts. 
3. Unlocking customer trends and isight
The MagicBands are part of a new “vacation management system” which monitors consumer behaviour, analyses purchasing habits, and provides Disney employees with real-time data.
The wristbands track customer behavior using radio-frequency identification technology (RFID), a wireless tracking system that transfers data from minuscule tags attached to objects. To store, process, analyse and visualise the enormous volume of data generated through the MyMagic+ system, Disney built a big data platform based on Hadoop, Cassandra, and MongoDB.
The results have been very promising. The new system helped Disney accommodate 3,000 extra daily visitors during the 2013 Christmas holiday season by managing advanced reservations for high demand rides. That same year, theme parks made up a third of Disney’s $45 total revenue and 20% of its operating profit. Unlocking consumer trends with big data is of huge value to Disney. For example, they employ data mining to analyse past behavior and preferences of individual guests and forecasting models to determine the type of vacation packages they are likely to prefer. With these insights, the company is able to send highly targeted hotel offers to its customers through its call centre, a project that paid for itself “10 times over” in its first year of operation alone.
So, those are how Big Data can create Digital Magic of Disney
It starts with strong digital leadership that understands the transformative power of big data. Disney’s board members include Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook, and John Chen, CEO Blackberry, and Jack Dorsey, Founder of Twitter, is the Executive Chairman.

With such formidable digital leadership, Disney was able to develop a clear digital vision which is supported by an analytics culture and an ongoing investment in digital. In demonstrating the enormous potential of big data to disrupt the entertainment industry, Disney has shown us how digital technology can become indistinguishable from magic.  

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