Marketing is 100% about creating a perception. Some business, for their products or services, need to create a perception of quality. Other create a perception of need. Still others build perceptions of value, speed, fun, and so on.
Marketing you wares to build a certain perception does not mean you don’t have it, nor does it mean that you do. Disney has reached a point where they can sell just about anything, thanks to their marketing. Take their California Adventure theme park, talk about a total waste of time and money!
My three oldest kids (seen in the picture above via a poor-quality phone cam) could barely find four rides worth standing in line for, and one of them was out of service! Out of the three main ride attractions, only one was worth going on twice. And the rest of the park? Well, a few shows here and there, some pretty lame carnival-like rides, and a lot of walking back and forth.
So how does this happen? Why is Disney able to sell tickets to an entirely separate theme park that really has no business being a park of its own, and, at best, should be “California Land” in the main park? The answer to that is… excellent marketing.
Just like the picture above gives the illusion that the road goes on and on (it really only goes ten or so feet beyond the ropes), Disney’s marketing machine made us feel that this California Adventure was a must-do addition of the Disneyland experience. We bought into that marketing ploy ticket, long lines and mis-adventure!