Coporate Brand

“family”, “fun”, “magical”, “imagination”, “dreams”….
These all words that go along with the Walt Disney brand image.

The entire Disney company has a wholesome family feel to it. It provides good clean family entertainment. The theme parks specifically have the motto “happiest place on earth”. The brand image for the theme parks specifically is that it is a place for family vacations that brings family together when families are not as close as they once were. There was a study done about the brand image of Disney specifically the theme parks. It said that even down to the employees that work the rides they are trained for the Disney way and are to be nice and friendly.
The focus of this blog and the study is the launching of the Walt Disney Magical Gatherings vacations and the PR that has gone into this campaign. The purpose of this launch was to provide a way for large groups, or multi households a way to vacation together. It also gave an interactive way, through the Internet, for families to plan their own vacation. The following is one of the phrases that is used when focusing on why people should go on family vacations (or a magical gathering to Disney,

“This year, the Walt Disney World Resort celebrates Magical Gatherings experiences—the special occasions that occur when you come together with friends and family in a place of enchantment to share old memories and make new ones. There’s never been a better time to plan your dream Walt Disney World Resort vacation. And now you can share the magic with those that mean the most to you.”

Through these vacations and through the PR done for these vacation its seems as though the company is trying to solve the following problems, families don’t spend enough time together, other entertainment is bad and inappropriate for families and that friends and families are growing apart.

The website that is used for the Disney family vacations does not focus on the cost. It talks about cost savings or special events families can attend.. These Disney vacations at Disney world have a lot of the work done for them because of the brand image associated with the entire company. Which are things like “fun”, “magical”, family, and “imagination”. On the website for these gatherings they have pictures of big family groups eating and laughing together. Throughout the whole process of planning a vacation is scattered with pictures of the park and is surrounded by the brand image.

This link is to a commercial for the magical gatherings website, it’s a little out dated but it shows how the company was promoting the website and the fact that you can plan your own trip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xgIZlb8RWk. In this you can see the mother with her daughter planning the vacation, which promotes family and planning your own vacation. Through the brand image of the company as well as these magical gatherings, people feel that this is the best vacation they could provide for their families and friends. They feel that will have a once in a lifetime vacation.

corporate crisis

Corporate crisis
· This crisis has to do with the film part of the Walt Disney Company. On January 8th 1999 Disney did a recall of the movie, The Rescuers, a 1977 Disney film because in the background of one of the scenes there is a topless woman. This happens about 38 minutes into the film and occurred in two frames which are shown above. Although there have been rumors of other inappropriate thing in Disney movies this one is clearly true and the images were purposely put there.
· It was confirmed by the Disney spokes person that this image had been present in the film since its theatre release in 1977 and also that the film had been tampered with not by any of the animators but during the post production stage.
· The company decided to recall 3.4 million copies of the film. In order “to keep our promise to families that we can trust and rely on the Disney brand to provide the finest in family entertainment”. This was done after its second release onto VHS and was Disney’s first movie recall. It does say that unless you stop or freeze the movie it is hard to even notice the image in the background. Disney made this announcement but before they did no one even really knew about it.
· After this the Disney Company instituted a policy of inspecting each frame before the release to ensure that this type of thing does not happen again.
· I think that it was good of the company to recall the film, but many are skeptical as to why the company decided to recall this one when other movies have been rumored to have inappropriate images. Another this is why did it take so long to realize this, it wasn’t until 1999 that the movies were recalled even though the movie had been released several times. It was also good that Disney instated policy that this type of thing doesn’t happen again. These slip up or if done intentionally look really bad to the company and they should do all in their power to avoid these things from happening in the future.

Investor Relations blog

Investor relations blog
Annual Report
The annual report is a little over 100 pages. It has both marketing and economical aspects. It shows charts and then describes what is meant by it. There are so many components of the Disney Company that the annual report has to go through. For example there are the parks, radio stations, and also the films. I feel that the annual report is to completely update people on the inner workings of the company in a way that shareholders can understand, not just through numbers. It talks about shows and programs that the company produces; the report describes what the company has been promoting throughout the year.

Letter to the shareholder
There are several messages that the letter to the shareholders is trying to convey. Overall I think it is a positive connotation to the letter, definitely highlighting the positive innovations and products of the year. It also does talk about the challenges faced by the company, which shows that company is being real with its shareholders.
Some of these messages are the successful release of two Disney animated movies, UP and Princess and the Frog. Another message that they shared was the Chinese government gave approval for a Disney theme park in Shainghai. They highlighted the positive effects that this will have for the company to work in this country. The other big message was that Disney acquired Marvel entertainment and they said that marvels work complements their own. The company is constantly saying what sets Disney apart and saying that even in the downturn they have seen in the economy and the negatives effects on the company, they keep moving forward.
The letter also talk about the success ABC has had with new shows such as Modern Family, Flash Forward, The Middle and V. Then they go to talk about the Disney Channel. Then they talk about ESPN and the sports center iPhone app, which shows that they are up on new technology and always innovative.
They also talk about the corporate responsibility and what the company is focused on. The letter has a positive yet realistic tone. I think shareholders would feel good about the honest tone and feel comfortable with how the company is expanding even through its struggles.

Latest news release
The news release had a lot of numbers and technical language that if one is not familiar with them the reader may not understand. There were a lot of numbers and charts in the press release but Disney also has blurbs about each of them to explain it to the reader. The press release is to the point and less “fluff” as there was in the letter to the shareholder. One way that makes it easier to read is that it is divided into sections depending on what branch of the industry, for example cable networks.
I liked the quote from the CEO; the quote focuses on the future. It talks about upcoming events and talks about growth. I feel that is well written and believable. The only suggestion was maybe more of a follow up on the first quarter earnings, like why they were the way they were.
It was very straight forward and to the point. If there was a decrease in something they simply explained why. It did not discuss what was being done to address the problem which I feel would benefit the reader so they are comfortable in believing the company is fixing its decreases. I still feel over all the shareholders still have confidence but they may have a few concerns. I like a lot of what the news release did, I also like that at the end they inform the reader that Disney will in conjunction with the news release they will have a conference call and how to access the live webcast.

Walt Disney Company-Community Relations

1. What is your company doing to show community support?
The Walt Disney Company does so much to give community support. There are countless programs and events put on by the company. The main organization is called Disney helps kids shine on and in 2009; 700,000 dollars in grants were given to 34 non-profit organizations to support their work. Since 1972, Disney has honored Central Florida non-profit organizations with cash awards totaling more than $10 million. Basically what it is is Disney works with more than 100 local non-profit organizations to make dreams come true throughout Central Florida. As the New Year approaches, charities that share Disney’s commitment to building a better future for local families and children may be eligible for financial support in 2010.
· “Shine On” Prize Patrol Report: Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida
o “The goal of the program is to raise a generation who understands the ultimate cost of racism and prejudice and who has been exposed to examples of men and woman who have had the courage to take risks in order to protect others. Last year, more than 11,000 students participated in the Holocaust Center’s programs.”
o with a Disney’s Helping Kids Shine Grant for $20,000
· Shine On” Prize Patrol Report: Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida
o $40,000 Disney's Helping Kids Shine Grant
o “Five-point high school graduation strategy for high-risk teens, parents and high school staff work with youth to promote the importance of a high school diploma, thereby increasing graduation rates.”
· Shine On” Prize Patrol Report: Foundation for Orange County Public Schools
o “$10,000 Disney Helping Kids Shine Grant, the money went to help pay for literacy materials to support their Read2Succeed program.”
There are other events that the company sponsors, almost all which focus on the local community and on children/Families. To illustrate what the company’s focus is I will list examples of these events that company puts on.
· Disney Cast Members Help “Hope for Haiti” TelethonLocal VoluntEARS Play Supporting Role in Worldwide Broadcast
· Works with Make a wish foundation for Disney VoluntEARS Help Create a Winter Wonderland at Give Kids the World
· Disney Cast Members Collect Thousands of Toys for Local Children
· Gifts that Keep on Giving to Central Florida’s Children and Teachers
· Everyday Leftovers Put to Good Use- given to central Florida food bank

Here is the URL to the page of the website dedicated to the community relations efforts, http://www.wdwpublicaffairs.com/TopicContent.aspx?PageId=6a66f05e-1d44-4549-8d61-a9af3f807a74, there are also videos on this page that discuss the community relations of the past year.

2. Is there a single focus?
There is the main focus of children and families, as well as organizations in the Orlando area, which is the local area of the company. The following are statements from the website that explain the focus of the company.
§ Walt Disney World Co. extends a caring hand to the children of our community. Our programs and partnerships help to build better futures for our children and, ultimately, a stronger community for us all. It is the goal of Disney—Helping Kids Shine to engage children in society by creating healthy, guiding relationships with adults, providing constructive free time activities, offering character-building opportunities, and encouraging a sense of compassion for others, while helping those children who face adversity.
§ This provides funding for organizations or agency programs that focus on four specific ways of helping children: connecting with adults, constructive use of free time, character development, and compassion.

3. How does your company’s Community relations program support the mission of the company?
When I looked at the mission of the company in terms of children and families, which Is what the community relations focuses on, I found the following statements.
· Children and families are at the heart of The Walt Disney Company. They are our most important audience and are at the forefront of our imagination when we create content and products for the Disney brand. Our support for the well-being of children and families is deeply rooted in Disney's history and manifests itself in many ways throughout our businesses.
· What We Believe
· Walt Disney built his company on the idea that children and families can and should enjoy entertainment together. Since those early days, the notion of entertainment has evolved and families have changed too, but the desire for shared experiences remains. Whether at our Disney parks or on our Disney-branded television programs, movies and websites, we are focused on offering high-quality entertainment that can be enjoyed, as Walt used to say, by "kids of all ages."
· We believe that the key to Disney's success is finding ways to delight and surprise our consumers and Guests, and to do so in a contemporary and relevant way without losing sight of the core principles that guide us. These principles can be summarized as follows:
Clearly seeing the concern for children families in the corporate responsibility terms, it can be seen that the community relations uphold what is important to the company. The entertainment of company is as important as those who are being entertained by it, children and families.

4. Is this good public relations for the company- why/why not?
I feel that the community relations department and mission of the Disney Company go hand in hand and are great PR for the company. The main audience and target of the company are the main focus of the community relations program and the company is making significant differences in the lives of many children. Also the company focuses the Shine on program to the local area and helps organizations in the Orlando region of Florida. For Community relations it’s important to be a positive influence on the community in which ones company is based out of.

5. What else could the company is doing?
I honestly feel the company is doing a great job in terms of community relations. I feel it meets all the requirements of a great community relations program. The only thing I think I would change would be that people do not really know what the company is doing. Before I researched this, because of not being from the area right around the company, people are not informed of the things that company is doing.

Media Relations

Media Relations (at the top are pictures for the upcoming movie)
Right now the public relations and social media seem to be focusing on the release of Alice in Wonderland which is to come out on March 5th.
Here is an example of a promotion for the new Alice in Wonderland movie. “Happy Friday! Kick off your weekend with @importantdate and the Ultimate #Alice Fan Event tonight! http://ow.ly/18YdF.” When I clicked on this link that this tweet led me to, I was led to the MySpace page of Alice in Wonderland. The Page was set up to look like the movie which had an interesting effect. Also on the page they had a video that was recorded live with interviews of the cast. This was the event that twitter was publicizing. I watched the video and it had interviews with actors from Anne Hathaway to Johnny dept. I feel that this was a great way to help further advertise for the event. It was a good public relations activity for the film and the charcters.
The Walt Disney Pictures website also helps with the Public relations for the event. The background is set to an Alice in Wonderland theme and when people go on the website they are met with the trailer for the Movie. On the Facebook page, back at the beginning of February there were wall posts with the trailer for the movie. Another post they had on the facebook wall for the movie is a clip that shows the commercial that was played during the Super bowl for the new movie. Throughout all the promotion I noticed a theme that the company definitely played up the fact that Johnny Depp was one of the actors in the movie.
To tie in the theme parks, I went to the twitter specifically about Disney parks. For the movie a promotion that the park did was they have Alice in Wonderland ears, which are similar to the Mickey Mouse ears that people where while at the park. There is a picture of what they looked like at the top.
I think on a whole the Disney Company is doing a great job with this movie release. Just personal knowledge I know a lot of people have been talking about this movie and I know I saw the trailer for it over the summer if not before. The company is really using their social media to promote this movie. Through my following on twitter they almost all mention the movie and its release date. Facebook and MySpace also are focusing on this movie and the release. Here is a link to the trailer for the movie. http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi975438873/ .

New and Social Media for the Disney Company

For my blog about Disney I actually created a twitter account to more closely follow the company. The Disney Company has several twitter accounts and I have chosen to follow four of them to find out what is going on with the company. I feel that they do a good job with the social media, Twitter. Here is a tweet that I found on “What do you think of the brand new TOY STORY 3 trailer? You can watch it here: http://ow.ly/16llZ”. When I saw this I actually clicked on the link and watched the trailer. I think this is a good way for them to get feedback on their new movies. This is part of the twitter called Disney pictures so it is strictly about the new movies coming out. I am also following one that is called Disney parks and both of these seem to have daily updates. This shows that the company keeps up with the tweets. A tweet that was on the Disney parks one was “Here are some romantic escapes for couples on Disney Cruise Line http://bit.ly/9nenbU” which shows that they are trying to target adult couples and not just families or children.
The twitter for the many components of is definitely the better use of social media then Facebook. I did become a fan of a Facebook page for Walt Disney movies. On the wall there are clips from new Disney movies coming up. This page is updated frequently as well and keeps the fans up to date.
Walt Disney’s Movies Exciting news from Disney Animation – "Tangled" will release in theaters November, 2010. Click on the image for a message from the film’s producer, Roy Conli.

Above is a picture (at the top) and a quote from the Facebook page and it was the first time I have heard about this new Disney movie that is coming out in November. There are over 200 thousands fans of this page. This is the url for the new toy story Trailer, http://media.digisynd.com/AQAAAHnpJND3siMnECsMiPcX2gsn1xNn_____yMfjZew-Y334yTMvF5DfVnsgcZj/play;frame=AQAAAJlj32kjjS3Tak0-FGCNM6Un1xNn_____zzkh5C99zHuX6pWh2Jt4m3a7KD2/.
I am also following the Disney parks on RSS feeds, that give up to date articles and press releases for the company. One RSS feed is for Walt Disney world news and he is an example of the most recent story, which was updated on Feb 12.
“READY TO CELEBRATE: Former supermodel Kathy Ireland poses Feb. 12, 2010 with an Irish-themed Mickey Mouse at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Ireland, who is now CEO of a design and marketing firm, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, was at Walt Disney World to give a keynote address for Disney Parks' first-ever "Social Media Moms Celebration," a professional and personal development gathering for mom bloggers. Ireland's speech focused on "real solutions for busy moms." (Preston Mack, photographer)”
This talks about about social media and how Disney sports it to the point that they had a speaker for moms and their use of social media. It’s an interesting event that I saw through their RSS feed, which I think they are using the right way.
What I have discovered is that they are up to date on new media and social media. They are not perfect in using them, but it will be interesting to find them. This is a huge company and if they want people to keep up with what is happening in the parks as well as the movies these social media should be refined, but as for now they are pretty decent. At the top right is the logo for disney movies that compnay uses.

Introduction to Disney Blog

For my Corporate PR blog I choose to use Disney as my company. I selected this company because it’s a company that I have known since I was a little kid and it is a company that has so many aspects, for example they have the theme parks, stores, and of course the movies. The Disney Company is huge, so I decided to focus on the theme park and look into events and news about just Disney world. This will focus my research and hopefully get a good look at the PR that surrounds the park. This is a family dream vacation destination and has fun for kids as well as adults. There is always something new and innovative at the Disney theme parks, which is why I choose this aspect to work with. From rides to shows and entertainment, people have enjoyed this theme park from the moment it was created.
The company has a good reputation and is always doing new and innovative things. I found a website that has to do with the news and public relations of the company. It is called the Walt Disney World news (http://www.wdwnews.com/). One of the most recent stories and press releases has to do with the fact that Disney world had a parade to celebrate the MVP of the super bowl. I now have an RSS feed that links to that website and can get up to date information.
The public relations seem to revolve around new promotions and events coming up for the company. Another opportunity to boost their reputation, which is something we discussed in class, is their give a day for a Disney day. This is a program where people volunteer for a day and then they get a free day at a Disney theme park. This shows that Disney wants to give back by offering free admission to their parks. It will be interesting to see what new and excited things this company has in store for its theme park. I look forward to following this company more closely.