BOB IGER, CEO OF DISNEY MEETS THE UK BLOGGERS

One of the major highlights of my recent trip to attend the christening of the new Disney cruise ship, the Disney Dream was our one-to-one meeting with Walt Disney Company President and CEO Bob Iger and Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Our meeting with him proved to be the “hot ticket” of the whole event with bloggers around the world sharing ideas and information in a very intimate surrounding.

It was an incredible coup for me and Jennifer Howze (former Alpha Mummy blogger and founder of the Cybermummy Conference to find ourselves sitting around a table with two other US bloggers and the man himself. Even more so to be crossing paths with none other than Whoopee Goldberg and Jon Stamos!

We discussed Bob’s view on social networking and the concept of blogs being a trusted source of information – a word of mouth recommendation that is essential for the future of large companies like Disney. “How we create, market and interact with our customers” is an ongoing question for us said Bob Iger, “and we are aiming to customise and personalise our product in order to increase it’s universal appeal. We aim to appeal to everyone and want to avoid treating the family as an individual unit. He talked about Disney’s 3-5 year plan to personalise their holidays and how imperative it is to allow each person to take out what is of interest to them”.

“Learning has taught us that the one size fits all experience will not be as successful as providing new experiences that allow us to interact with more customers”.

As Jennifer writes in her article for the British Mummy Bloggers site:-

“If I was any doubt of the growing influence of British mum bloggers (which – let’s face it – I wasn’t) then a recent trip to America left no room for doubt.

Along with Lulu of Family Affairs and Other Matters, Jenography was part of a UK media contingent attending the launch of the Disney Dream cruise ship. Our group also included journalists writing for the Independent, News of the World, The Telegraph and cruise experts shooting video and writing for sites.

The entire cruise was packed with media from North America, photographers, videographers and broadcasters and getting our picture taken with Mickey on Disney’s private island Castaway Cay was pretty exciting. But getting the pictures below taken was way better than that. Bob described how Disney is working to engage and remain relevant to families, including sceptical, slightly jaded British ones. (The UK is “a very important market” for Disney” he said.)

Me with Bob Iger:-

“We don’t have to be edgier. We just have to be good,” Bob said, citing the examples of High School Musical and Pirates of the Caribbean as examples of Disney’s focus on quality and emotional relevancy without changing the ethos”.

He described how Disney aims to use technology not only to entertain but to make the “Disney experience” more customisable. On the ship, for example, in the Animator’s Palate restaurant, a cartoon Crush from Nemo addresses diners by name. In the Oceaneer Club for children, a big screen on the floor features games that allow kids play in a group, using individually controlled floor panels.

Disney’s drive to work with bloggers is driven by the essential question “what is a trusted source?”. The company gets that blogs’ authenticity and personal voices are their biggest selling points.

After Bob said goodbye, Tom Staggs sat down for a quick chat about how Disney cruises are tailoring the experiences to better appeal to both families as a whole and to family members individually.

That’s why you have not only a dazzling kids’ club but also a groovy no-adults-allowed teen club (with teen-only sundeck) and upscale restaurant and clubs for grown-up afterhours fun. “It’s gotta be a great fun vacation but let’s not treat the family as a single unit,” he explains.