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April 8, 2008
Media Mogul Opines
I attended a star-studded breakfast this morning at New York’s Plaza Hotel where Disney CEO Bob Iger was interviewed by Ken Auletta of the New Yorker Magazine under the auspices of the Newhouse School of Journalism. Here are some of his most important comments:
1) “Windowing”—Disney will release Camp Rock, a made for TV movie featuring the Jonas Brothers on sequential evenings, first on Disney Channel, then ABC Network, ABC Family Channel and ABC.com. By contrast, Dancing With The Stars will appear first on ABC Network, then on ABC.com. Iger believes this approach, staggered release dates on cable or broadcast before digital, maximizes awareness and advertising revenue.
2) Global Markets—There is no homogenous global market, especially in film. Media companies must be creators, not just exporters, of product. Disney made an original film in Mandarin last year. There is still demand for US television product, such as Desperate Housewives, but the content needs to be created locally versus doing voice-overs in local language. He considers ABC’s most successful prime time dramas as global brands.
3) Social Networks—Disney’s experience with Club Penguin indicates that young consumers reject marketing of the site, preferring to spread the word themselves, so they feel ownership in the property. “They have a visceral reaction in being marketed to; we have to constantly upgrade and improve the site based on consumer feedback,” he said.
4) Multiple Sources of Information—Access to multiple sources will change the way stories are told. Today, ideal skills are creativity, technology (in presentation and on platform) and globalization. We need to have the artist with a great idea push the technology people to present the story better (and vice versa).
5) Local News Drives Differentiation—The key to success for a local broadcast station is news. News people are in control of their own destiny. They need to contend with new consumer demands on access from all platforms and speed to market.
6) Simplicity—Iger spent time describing a successful consumer model (iTunes) and then was frank about the failure of the ESPN phone. He said that educated sales people are an often overlooked aspect of the value chain—a brand can pull you into the store but there has to be magic at the moment of purchase.
7) Brands—There are two brands at his company: Disney and ESPN. While ABC is a destination, the ABC brand doesn’t drive behavior. Its properties, such as Lost or ABC News are what determine viewership.
For the PR profession I think Bob’s observations means that we need to have big ideas that can work globally, but must emphasize local content and connection. We should be conscious of the trend toward “repurposing” of information across platforms, by appending video and offering opportunities for consumer generated content. We should be very mindful of the reticence of young consumers to accept marketing, and our programs need to have room for spontaneity and innovation based on listening and feedback. Finally, we must have substance in our content—Iger’s point about local news being the differentiator can be extrapolated to our business. I look forward to your comments.
Posted by Edelman at April 8, 2008 3:25 PM |
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Comments
While I admire a number of things that Disney has done recently, I think Bob needs to take a closer look at the application of his ideas.
First, distribution/windowing. Humans are creatures of habit and in these time crunched times we look for the fastest way to get what we want. While the varied windowing approach might help with research, it will most likely confuse his audience and it does not sound simple. He also needs to focus more on the Internet, cell phones and ipods.
Brands, what about EXPN and ESPN2. These are two brands that I am aware of because of my business(I am sure there are more). They are diluting the ESPN brand already. I do like the EXPN idea, but maybe it should include other edgy sports not currently considered "action sports"
Simplicity, Bob really needs to spend some time on his web site and then comeback and tell us about simplicity. I represent one of the X Games Gold athletes and host a motorcycle internet radio show. Trying to get valuable media information from their site to help promote the various X Games properties and sports is painful at best. The site needs some major help, although it looks great - functionality is not even close to where it needs to be. I did watch some of the events on ESPN this past weekend, but that is over - now what. There was so much opportunity to create traffic to the site pre and post the event. That is the sweet spot for Disney. I do give them huge accolades for creating the best property in action sports.
Posted by: Ed Kuhlenkamp at April 16, 2008 10:07 PM