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How Disney, Lyft, Apple, & Netflix launch new products

To sell something new, make it familiar. To sell something familiar, make it new.
When Disney decided to enter the cruise industry with the launch of Disney Magic, they faced a big challenge:
Cruise ships had a perception problem.
In 1998, most families saw them as floating retirement homes.
Or party boats for college students on Spring Break.
And neither one screamed "magical family vacation."
Which was an issue for Disney, because their core customer is families.
So they did something brilliant:
Instead of trying to convince families to try a cruise vacation - something totally new to themā¦
Disney reframed their ships as "floating theme parksā something their buyers were already familiar with.
They painted the familiar Mickey Mouse ears on the ship (called āDisney Magicā)

Tosh1/Wirestock Creators - stock.adobe.com
Ships featured characters āpaintingā the stern.

Studio Porto Sabbia - stock.adobe.com
The horn even plays "When You Wish Upon a Star" from the movie Pinocchio.
And familiar characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse roam the decks.

Via DisneyCruise.Disney.Go.Com
This strategy was a huge success because of how it balanced the tension between two marketing psychology principles:
š¤ Neophilia: Our curiosity about new things
šØ Neophobia: Our fear of new things
I noticed these principles when I was doing some customer experience work with a big global brand a few years ago.
There was a consultancy trying to sell the brand on virtual reality staff training.
But they were struggling.
The company was big, risk-averse, and hesitant to work with technology that was new and unproven (at least to them).
Asked to sit in on the VR consultancies pitch meeting, I was excited but the brand wanāt convinced.
So after the meeting, I grabbed a member of the VR team (who I knew from another project) and suggested that a quick reframe of virtual reality to make it feel more familiar could solve their issue:
Instead of their current pitch, which focused on how new, groundbreaking, and innovative their VR approach wasā¦
I suggested they reframe it as a new format of the brandās existing app-based training.
An evolution, not a revolution.
This new approach worked because our brains are wired to seek out, trust, and choose familiar things.
Thereās even a psychological principle - Familiarity Bias - that spells this out.
When we already know and understand something, itās more persuasive and engaging.
While trying something totally new is a big risk.
And risks freaks people out - consciously or not.
How you do this canāt be copy/pasted from another business.
Itās context dependent - your industry, brand, market, buyers, and offer/products all play a part in how you balance novelty and familiarity.
It's why Netflix described itself as "DVD rental by mail" when it launched.

Image from the Netflix website January 18, 2008
Why Lyft launched its rideshare service as "your friend with a car."

Image from the Lyft website September 17, 2012
And why Apple presented the first iPhone as "an iPod + a phone + an internet browser."
They all made the new feel familiar, while making the familiar feel new.
Until next time,
Jen
PS. Tomorrow Iām sharing an invite to a 90-minute Skill Session to walk you through the AI-driven content creation process Iāve used to cut my marketing time by 66%, while increasing my YOY revenue by 6x.
This Skill Session is about creating quality, psychology and insight-based marketing that attracts clients, faster - not churning out LinkedIn cringeposts or AI slop.
Itās called āThe Painless Content Blueprint: How to Use AI to Create Psychology-Based, Client-Attracting Content 200% Faster (Without Feeling Like Youāve Sold Your Soul).ā
The goal of this Skill Session is helping you create quality, psychology and insight-based marketing up to 200% faster so you can attract more leads, clients, and buyers.
So you can easily implement the Painless Content Blueprint, Iāll share my 3-step process that helped me 6x my revenue while spending 66% less time on marketing.
šļø If you want the details early to make sure you snag a seat, reply āAIā to this email and Iāll share them. šļø
![]() | Jen Clinehens, MS/MBA Founder & Managing Director of Choice Hacking Helping you create 2x more effective marketing with psychology and behavioral science (so sales and profit can 2x, too). |
*Header image credit: penofoto.de - stock.adobe.com