How did Disney’s “Frozen” become Japan’s Biggest Hit in 2014?
“Frozen” Tops Japan's Hit Product Ranking
Japan's monthly magazine, Nikkei Trendy, has announced that the popular Disney movie, “Frozen”, has reached the top of the country's products and services ranking. The film's Japanese title, "Ana to Yuki no Joou", translated into English is “Anna and the Snow Queen”. While the title is different, the content of the film isn't significantly altered from the original American version. The film remained at number one in Japan's box office ticket sales for a remarkable 16 straight weeks. In total, it brought in 254 million yen at the box office. Over 3 million DVDs of the film were sold in Japan as well. These sales figures represent an all-time record for a product released by Walt Disney Studios Japan. Many are wondering why the film achieved such dynamic success in Japan. Let's take a look at what accounts for the film's remarkable profits in this mature market.
How To Explain Frozen's Success
Japan's leading financial analysts and university professors believe that Frozen achieved such considerable success for a variety of reasons. They point toward the “strategic localization of the dubbing and the promotion”, “promotion emphasizing the theme song ‘Let it go’”, and “the storyline about sisters as the two heroines”. Yet, there is more to the story of Frozen's success in Japan beyond these factors. Disney movies released since 2000 have underwhelmed at the box office; so it is unlikely that Frozen's amazing success occurred naturally.
The 3 Principles of Disney's Workplace Success
Executive Vice President of Disney Animation Studios, Andrew Millstein, has offered his unique insight in regards to Frozen's remarkable popularity. He mentions both the localization and story as solid reasons but also points out that “in order to create a great production, it is necessary to have a workplace model based on three basic principles”. These principles are: Open communication, ownership and a climate without fear of risk or failure.
- Open Communication: A workplace where people with differing positions can come together and engage each other in constructive criticism (including fault-finding), jointly contributing better ideas in order to polish the final production.
- Ownership: A workplace where visions and ideas for the works that each individual member wants to produce can be created through a sense of ownership where they feel that “the studio is ours”.
- A Climate Without Fear of Risk or Failure: A workplace where fears of “we might fail if we do this” have been removed. This allows a variety of chances to be taken in order to create innovative ideas regarding the storyline and also for technical aspects.
A Focus On Organizational Innovation
Much of Disney's success with Frozen can be attributed to its push for constant organizational innovation. Millstein led Disney's efforts to improve organizational innovation according to the 3 basic principles outlined above. He has helped Disney release numerous hit productions until finally achieving the revival of full-length Disney animated films with the historic success of Frozen. Disney's accomplishment with Frozen is unique in the Japanese market as it was one of the country's few hit products of 2014 to have been produced with such an intense focus on organizational innovation. It seems that the success of Frozen has taught us that taking on the challenge of improving organizational innovation is the greatest secret to producing a massive hit product in a mature market.
What sorts of products/services/businesses will achieve “innovation” and succeed in the Japanese market in 2015?
1. Nikkei BP, Inc. "Nikkei Trendy", Trend Focus, November 3, 2014.
http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/pickup/20141030/1061085/?rt=nocnt
2. “The 4 Types of Innovation: Product / Process / Marketing / Organizational” is quoted from the OECD Oslo Manual.
3. Nikkei BP, Inc. “Nikkei Trendy” Trend Focus, March 28, 2014.
http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/pickup/20140328/1056241/
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