Last week, I was in Orlando, Florida for a business conference. Interestingly enough, I had a short conversation with a few accountants about the fireworks at Disney World.
The conversation was interesting in the fact that a few short sentences clearly identified the different points of view between a marketer and an accountant (or accountants in this case) in terms of cost and memorability. The best part was, although we had different points of view, we were all on the same page.
Our conversation went a little like this:
Accountant #1: “Too bad you can’t see those fireworks over there from our hotel.”
Marketer (me): “Are those Disney or Epcot fireworks?”
Accountant #1: “Disney. Epcot had theirs a few hours ago. Do you know they do fireworks every night?”
Accountant #2: “Crazy to think about – can you imagine the expenses they pay to do that?”
Accountant #1: “I’m sure it costs a lot!”
Marketer (me): “I’m sure it does, but I also think its worth it to them for the experience they give their guests”
Accountant #2: “Yeah – to make it memorable for them”
Key words: Expenses, Costs, Experience, Memorable.
Sure it costs a lot for Disney and Epcot to do fireworks every single night. But, if you have ever witnessed the fireworks over the lake at Epcot Studios, or watched their sparkle form a backdrop behind the Disney Castle it really is quite the experience.
The experience (one that may even make you forget how much money you have spent while you are there) is a moment where time stops as you look up in awe at the brilliant dusting across the sky, as you think this is the perfect ending to your day in Disney.
Whether or not you forget or you know how much money you spent that day, you are still going to go home and have the memories to share with those who were with you on your trip. And when you go home and tell others about your experiences and they want to go (or actually go!) for the same experience, Disney did its job and the expenses seem priceless.
Money well spent, don’t you think?
If we all had the same mindset in our businesses – that sometimes the experiences we give our customers outweigh the costs because the expenses you pay as a business owner don’t always have to be a dollar amount, rather they are memories you give to your customers share with their friends, families and colleagues.
Take it from the man himself:
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Creating Memorable Impressions For Your Brand 