Exiting the shower this morning I tripped over the lifeless cranium of Cinderella. Hairstyling Cinderella that is — and my daughter Lily had apparently been trying to comb her hair with a spoon on our bathroom floor while I dozed under the hot water. She had since abandoned Cinderella and run off to a tea party with 5 other princesses. Disney Princesses have taken over my life.

If you aren’t familiar with the Disney Princesses let me bring you up to speed. Someone in Walt’s marketing department had the great idea to resurrect leading ladies from their movies (classic and contemporary), and by packaging them together with pink and glitter, have created a merchandising tour de force. The full lineup includes Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Princess Jasmine (Aladdin) and Ariel (The Little Mermaid). And little girls go crazy for them.

Unless you live with a female under 5 years of age, you probably can’t understand how I have allowed Disney Princesses to rule my home. We have DP headbands, coloring books and crayons, dolls, storybooks, jewelry, sleepwear, costumes, tiaras, bedding, band-aids, even a toothbrush and DP toothpaste. She will tell you that each item in her collection is her “treasure” and the idea she might have to part with any of them would break her heart. And there is always something new for my daughter to discover — and NEEEEEED. Therein lies the genius of Disney branding through entertainment, engaging the consumer to trigger a purchase based on a desire born out of an emotional connection.

This was evidenced on a recent visit to the grocery store. My daughter in tow, I just needed to grab a few ingredients for dinner. But with each aisle we went down, more potential “treasures” were discovered. Squeals of excitement soon give way to serious negotiations and then stifled tears as we zoomed past the DP dress-up magnets, round the corner to discover DP press-on fingernails, followed by DP bubbles, DP stickers and a DP plastic rhinestone emblazoned cell phone. These items are all strategically merchandised just at the height that catches the eye of a small child in a shopping cart. By aisle 5 or 6, just as Disney hoped, I’m giving in to the pleas and negotiations and allowing Lily to select one addition to her collection. Even for a mom in marketing, it inevitably happens (almost) every time. What’s a few dollars when I can watch her face light up? Victory — and sheer joy at her new acquisition. The Disney Princesses rule on.

http://disney.go.com/princess/princess.html