Ask aspiring entrepreneurs what made Walt Disney successful, and chances are you’ll get a stock answer: branding.
After all, Disney’s name graces movies, television networks, cruise ships, theme parks, streaming services, and enough merchandise to fill all the empty storefronts in your town’s dead mall.
Surely, MBAs would say, that empire sprang from brilliant brand management.
Yet history tells a different story. Instead of setting out to build a brand, Walt Disney resolved to create characters people would gladly spend hours with. Their stories came first, Walt’s empire followed.
These days, studios and publishers ignore that lesson. They’re far more apt to begin with grandiose plans for a cinematic universe nobody asked for. Somewhere, probably near the end of the planning meeting, somebody remembers that a story should probably accompany the product.
