I had the opportunity to attend a special event hosted at the TIFF
Bell Lightbox, presented by Disney and Christian Louboutin. Before going, I
didn’t know what to expect, however upon arriving I started to understand the
structure of the event, and quickly realized that I was witnessing Disney’s
public relations efforts in full effect!
In what I thought was an effective PR move, Disney commissioned
Christian Louboutin to create 20 limited edition pairs of shoes inspired by Disney’s
Cinderella in celebration of the blu-ray release of Cinderella: the Diamond
Edition. To launch the release of the blu-ray, and Louboutin’s new shoe,
Disney also held a competition to find today’s ‘modern Cinderella,’ with the
winner receiving a pair of Christian Louboutin’s infamous red soles. I thought
this competition and collaboration with Louboutin was a very smart move by
Disney, in order to bring the right publicity and audience to their product.
The event started with a cocktail reception where the event’s host, Jeanne
Beker, engaged the press with photos and interviews with the finalists of the
competition. Later, the guests were taken into a theatre where the Cinderella
inspired shoes were being presented, and the winner of the competition was
announced. I thought this competition was not only a good way to bring
publicity to the product launch, but also publicize what the Disney brand is
all about. When the contestant won, she told the audience that she felt
“special and incredibly happy,” which I realized is exactly how Disney wants
their consumers to feel. As I left the event, I couldn’t help but think about
it with a PR perspective. I started to very much admired how Disney was able to
further strengthen what their brand stands for, through the use of this PR
event. Do you think Disney’s PR efforts were successful?
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