MUCH is being said these days about leisure. Shortened workdays and lengthened vacation periods appear to be the outlook for most Americans. Sociologists wonder about the impact of leisure on our society, and psychologists fret over how the individual will fare as work becomes less of his total life experience. In other words, behavioral scientists are beginning to recognize leisure as a field worthy of serious study.
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This sketch tells of a man whose 30-year business career has been deeply involved with the development and marketing of entertainment to the peoples of the world. E. Cardon Walker, Vice President in charge of Marketing for Walt Disney Productions, is a pragmatic student of the leisure market. He is responsible for sales, advertising, publicity, and promotion for all theatrical and television product throughout the world as well as marketing at Disneyland, Celebrity Center in Denver, and the forthcoming Florida and Mineral King projects. In the discharge of these duties, Card Walker has developed a marketing philosophy for the Disney complex of enterprises.
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The Wall Street Journal once summarized the Disney modus operandi with this catch phrase: “Dream, diversify-and never miss an angle." The company's best-known diversification is Disneyland, located near Los Angeles. The huge amusement park, opened in 1955, marks a shift from indoor to outdoor entertainment. Cardon Walker sees the latter as the true opportunity area in the leisure market field, and future expansion of company activities will accentuate outdoor recreation.
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Around the Burbank headquarters of Walt Disney Productions it is said that Walt, who died in 1966, left enough work to keep the company busy for the next 20 years. Cardon Walker, along with his colleagues, has the task of keeping the Disney ship on even keel. Fortunately, the winds of cultural change are blowing in a favorable direction along with the tides of more leisure time and increased family income. Sound policies act as charts to the marketing sea. The future should be thrilling for Cardon Walker and for anyone trying to tap the leisure market.
