In today’s crowded marketplace, differentiation is more than just a competitive advantage - it’s necessary. As customers become increasingly sophisticated and selective, businesses must look beyond traditional product features and functionalities.
It’s been widely reported that Disney is among the largest private buyers of fireworks globally, spending an estimated $50 million each year to ignite wonder across its theme parks.
Since 1956, fireworks have played a central role in the Disney park experience, lighting up the skies, captivating audiences, and bringing a day to a close with a grand spectacle. In most parks, pyrotechnic shows remain a regular nightly tradition.
However, it’s not just about entertainment.
It’s about engineering a feeling that lingers long after the park gates close.
The fireworks come after the queues, the rides, the meals, the gift shop. After the heat, after the overstimulation, when the energy dips, the music swells, and the sky ignites, something extraordinary happens: guests see the Magic and forget the stress.
It’s the final emotional peak, the crescendo in Disney’s carefully orchestrated day.
A moment so powerful it becomes the story people tell when they get home.
The magic.
The magic they’ll remember growing up.
The magic they’ll want their children to see one day.
That’s what Disney is buying for $50 million a year: Loyalty through awe. Memory through wonder. A goodbye so beautiful it becomes the reason to return. And it works. Repeatedly.
"You can’t buy miracles, but you can see them happen."
Travel through our Lapland Airports and watch northern lights and other miracles unfold before your eyes. - FINNAIR
Just a few steps past security at Helsinki Airport, another kind of magic quietly presents itself.
On a black wall, in both Chinese and English, are the words:
"You can’t buy miracles, but you can see them happen."
Projected inside a glowing character for “wonder” is a natural light show no firework can compete with: the Aurora Borealis, silent and sublime. It’s a very different kind of spectacle which Mother Nature offers us for free.
So what do Disney and Finnair have in common?
They both reimagine their products as an Emotion: people buy products to evoke or sustain an emotional state. It could be a feeling of joy, confidence, validation, relief, or something else.
But the way they deliver moments that matter could not be more different.
One is manufactured; the other, revealed.
One is controlled; the other, observed.
One runs on a precise schedule; the other, with patienceand a cup of coffee in your hand.
Yet both stay with you.
Because both are built on emotion.
In business, we’ve been taught to believe that if you want to create loyalty, you must spend. Give more. Offer discounts. Host lavish dinners. Deliver the fireworks.
But what Finnair understands, and so gently reminds us, is this:
You can’t buy miracles. But you can see them happen.
And that’s where after-sales marketing finds its power.
The best post-purchase experiences I’ve witnessed and designed don’t come from blowing budgets. They come from understanding what matters to people.
Sometimes, it’s not an upgrade.
- It’s a sincere “How are you?” when you actually mean it.
- It’s remembering someone’s goal.
- It’s a small gesture, given at the exact right time.
When you do that, people don’t just stay. They remember. They return.
And they tell others.
