I remember back in the 70’s, my mother hosted “Tupperware Parties.” A gathering of chatty, middle-aged women, grazing on dip, “burping” colorful plastic containers and marveling over the Flavor Saver.
Home parties were popular not only with Tupperware but with Avon, Mary Kay and more and housewives across America were jumping at the chance to host one. Today, the pink Cadillacs are gone, but home parties are not. Companies like Pampered Chef rely heavily on home parties to get their product into the hands of consumers.
Having a party where you can showcase the latest kitchen gadgets is one thing, but having a home party to push cruises, well, only Disney can get away with it.
Tonight “The Sanfilippo Family” got an email from Disney Cruise Line:
As a veteran cruiser who has spent plenty of days at sea on lines such as Cunard, Crystal, Regent, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Disney and others, I don’t need to go to a house party to be sold a cruise. However, for the demographic that Disney is reaching for – families – the idea may just work.
Imagine the family of four returning from their Disney cruise with the memories of their Caribbean adventure fresh in their heads. They rush to share their experience with their Wisteria Lane neighbors and Saturday morning soccer pals. They get them interested in this vacation of a lifetime, and BINGO! A week later they get an invite to attend a Disney Cruise Line House Party.
When it’s all over, they’re going to walk out of the host’s home not with a Salad Spinner, but with a receipt for a 7-night vacation for the whole family.
This is going to be a very successful program for Disney. I can feel it. After all, the mouse did plenty of research in advance to see if house parties were the way to go to get their message, and product, out there. And Disney doesn’t fail.
I’ve often said that when it comes to marketing to today’s consumers, what was old is new again. Disney didn’t invent the house party, but you can count on them reinventing it.