• Variety, Tuesday, December 13, 2005 12:17 PM

In a brilliant example of how effective a global marketing strategy can be, the Walt Disney Company turned a line of dolls that generated just $100 million in revenue five years ago into a machine that is projected to hit $3 billion next year. The dolls are part of Disney's Princess brand, which worldwide consists of about 25,000 different Princess products, including dolls, sticker books, pajamas, sleeping bags, toothbrushes, vanity tables, digital cameras, cell phones and multi-level Nintendo video games.

The line's success can be attributed to Disney consumer products chief Andy Mooney, who came to the company from the Nike marketing department five years ago. At that time, the marketing of consumer products for Disney characters like Snow White and Cinderella was almost exclusively tied to releases and re-releases of their signature movies. Mooney bundled Snow White and Cinderella with six of their peers--Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas and Sleeping Beauty--and repackaged the whole group as princesses. No longer were these characters identified only with their isolated fairy tales. They were an exalted sorority, a justice league for the sandbox set whose collective popularity was unrivalled.

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