WDW Social 'Media' and Conspiracy

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> One need only look at the non-story/hoax (reported frantically by most legit media) of 30 dismembered thought-to-be children's bodies being found in Houston to see how dangerous a thing it is. <<

Everyone was fooled by that one. Somebody is going to pay dearly for it.

 

Originally Posted By SpokkerJones

I've always looked at the entertainment industry as this epic battle between accounting and art. Business and imagination. Budgets and blue sky.

They generally keep each other in check, though business does get the upper hand more often. The point is that there is some give and take going on.

It doesn't seem, however, that public relations or marketing is kept in check by anyone or anything. The world of marketing is fraught with ridiculous claims and on the Internet, outright fraud and deception.

Who will put marketing in its place?

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>>A Mommy blogger from Ohio (with 43 visitors a day) gets treated like Katie Couric. <<

You mean they are going to fire a Mommy Blogger for poor ratings?

>> And do you think Disney is paying attention to this thread ... or a thread about changes to LMA? <<

I don't know. It's a pretty heated discussion about Lightning McQueen replacing Herbie.

>> Here's a question for you: do you think they want an open and frank discussion like this taking place? <<

What business in their right mind would?

>> ***Still waiting for Duncan or Thomas or Gary to pop on in over here ... after all, they do care about the fan community, right? ;-) <<

If I worked for Disney I certainly wouldn't be discussing this issue here at LP. That would strictly be an internal matter.

 

Originally Posted By vbdad55

Spirit is dead on with the fact that social media is really not new to companies- just the equiment has gotten better and reaches a much more vast audience.

Back in the early 80's when I first went into management it was called 'controlling the rumor mill'. And you know how that was done sometimes - management would
'plant' positive stuff to make sure it got around also. -- same concept


want an even more agressive way -- has anyone ever heard the term FUD ?
It was/is a huge marketing strategy- started in a certain Big Blue organization in the 70's -- Frea, uncertainty and doubt --

this isn't perfect but read it here-- it is the model for many marketing strategies even today, and it is a form of social media- up front control-- now it can be done much more elegeantly-- recognize anything in here from the way certain companies handle information ??

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...nd_doubt</a>

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> It's the equivalent of going into a chruch and asking the congregation if they are religious. <<

Members of a church have varying degrees of religious commitments. They are in church listening to sermons to reconfirm or strengthen their commitment to that particular religion. Do you think possibly that scenario might be in play with Disney also?

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> I, obviously, agree. These tour guides would be at the top of the list of people that should be put out of business. The problem, as I am sure you probably know very well, is that Disney is allowing these tours to go on in Orlando (why? that's a question I've been trying to get to the bottom of? are people at WDW Social Media and/or Guest Relations getting kickbacks? is it a coincidence that one of these tour guides has another job working at said Guest Relations? is it all just looked away from because of the positive publicity they shill through their sites?) ... it all feels very sleazy ... like a drug deal in some alley that's about to go bad, only it's Main Street USA. <<

Once again I'll ask you. What got this burr under your saddle?

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> And while I don't really wish to go back and forth about being negative, I'll tell you that it is always simpler and easier to just smile and be positive all the time ... I see people bumble through life that way with never a worry or a care. <<

A smile is just a frown turned upside dow! :-(

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> Again, how are they attracting new audiences? No one planning their first MAGICal vacation does so based on watching a fanboi podcast ... or looking at a site with 654 pictures of construction walls ... or visiting another that talks about taking an 18-month old to the MK ... or another that simply talks about dining at WDW restaurants etc. Those are sites for people Disney already OWNS!

They aren't attracting more business. They aren't growing the value of the BRAND. <<

I strongly disagree here. They are maintaining the brand with these folks. In turn these folks will tell others of the wonders of Disney, aka word of mouth.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> Disney got those millions of folks with just a weekly TV program (with easily maintained ratings in a world of just three TV networks) and word-of-mouth. But if Disney did the same today, they'd be KILLED. So... they use what the zeitgeist offers. And sometimes that's mommy-bloggers, pixie-dust-huffers and stay-at-home site owners. <<

Excellent point.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> The Spirit is still obviously a big fat baby! <<

Actually he's rather fit, and trim, but he does have hairy arms.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> Spirit is dead on with the fact that social media is really not new to companies- just the equiment has gotten better and reaches a much more vast audience.

Back in the early 80's when I first went into management it was called 'controlling the rumor mill'. And you know how that was done sometimes - management would
'plant' positive stuff to make sure it got around also. -- same concept


want an even more agressive way -- has anyone ever heard the term FUD ?
It was/is a huge marketing strategy- started in a certain Big Blue organization in the 70's -- Frea, uncertainty and doubt --

this isn't perfect but read it here-- it is the model for many marketing strategies even today, and it is a form of social media- up front control-- now it can be done much more elegeantly-- recognize anything in here from the way certain companies handle information ?? <<

As you well know VBDAD, life in the corporate world is not for the faint of heart. Anything goes, and it most assuredly does.

 

Originally Posted By vbdad55

it's a dogfight every day - you better be prepared with your A game

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> it's a dogfight every day - you better be prepared with your A game <<

You're not going to believe how relaxing life can be when you retire.

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<You're not going to believe how relaxing life can be when you retire.>>

I can. 

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

It's better than you thought it could possibly be isn't it Trippy.

 

Originally Posted By vbdad55

with no pension - thanks to a certain CEO-- and two daughters- retirement is not an event I think I will ever enjoy- sadly

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

You will be surprised how you can make do with less once the job is removed from the equation. Really!

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<It's better than you thought it could possibly be isn't it Trippy.>>

It really is. People at work always asked if I didn't think I'd be bored retiring early. NO WAY!

<<You will be surprised how you can make do with less once the job is removed from the equation. Really!>>

Finding a low-cost place to live also makes a big difference. Living in the Twin Cities area was FAR MORE expensive than SW Missouri is. And of course the Chicago area is even worse! A great advantage for vbdad... most of the inexpensive places to live are in Red states!

 

Originally Posted By vbdad55

I have no choice but to move from where I am -- the state is expensive enough- the county I live in one of the most expensive anywhere...

I can do the math- retirement is a long way off... hard to make up for 24 years you thought you were earning a pension for...

btw- there are plenty of those red states I would never move to-- my choices are Texas or Florida....no state income tax- low property taxes ( especially compared to here)- and reasonable housing...

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

>>I just can't help but go back to the simple 70s and 80s when WDW did almost no advertising at all, there was no Internet and fan sites, and people flocked to the place by the millions. How did they ever know it existed?<<

<<"Simple" is an accurate description. Entertainment, as an industry, has exploded since the 1980s. The hustling for the consumer's entertainment dollar has become very competitive.>>

First, Doug, you kinda ignored my response to you, which I guess is cool. We get to choose what we respond to or not here. But I would have liked to have heard more of your thoughts on the points discussed.

But I'm going to respond to you here. Sure, entertainment has grown. We didn't have as many outlets and platforms for lousy/redundant content as we do now. Come to think of it, that kind of fits into the whole Disney fan site discussion. How many sites do you really need to visit to see the same coverage of the opening of Star Tours 2.0? How many Jedi Mickey pics are enough?

The entertainment industry has always been incredibly competitive and cutthroat. It really is no more so today.

<<How many theme parks were there in 1970? In 1980? In 1990? How many are there today? How about multi-plexes? Home video players? Gaming platforms?>>

I have no idea how many theme parks were around in 1970. Someone might say the only real one was DL. But there have been plenty since. To act like Disney had no competition in the 70s, 80s or 90s just isn't true.
Whether it was Knott's in Buena Park ... or Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven ... or regional parks from Marriott's Great Adventure in CA and IL to King's Dominion in Va.

As to multiplexes? Who knows and who cares? How many drive-ins are there today? And how many people were watching Inception on an iPhone back in 1975? I am struggling to figure out just what your point is. There's always been options in entertainment. For every new one now, there was a different one back then.

<<Disney got those millions of folks with just a weekly TV program (with easily maintained ratings in a world of just three TV networks) and word-of-mouth. But if Disney did the same today, they'd be KILLED. So... they use what the zeitgeist offers. And sometimes that's mommy-bloggers, pixie-dust-huffers and stay-at-home site owners.>>

Doug, I just think you are waaaay off here. The facts don't support your hypothesis at all. Disney's weekly TV series pretty much stopped being an ad vehicle for DL soon after Walt died. They may have run a show here or there on The Wonderful World of Disney in the 70s, but park shows were the exception and not the rule. The 50s and 60s, I'll give ya.

And Disney's weekly show got abysmal ratings starting in the 70s and into the 80s when it swapped all three networks going from NBC to CBS to ABC and was canceled at least once, if not twice, in the midst of it all. Michael Eisner resurrected it largely as a commercial for the BRAND, not the parks.

I find your conclusion flawed as well. In our incredibly connected world, you're making an argument that Disney needs more coverage and attention than it did in days of just the three networks, radio and print. One could argue that Disney could get rid of its whole marketing department AND these blogs. FB and Twitter are the spirit of the times, right? Why need anything else? Do these social networking sites not self-generate all the coverage, and modern times word of mouth, Disney could possibly need?

As to these fans sites, I can make a very good argument (listening again, Trish? ... or is Tom reading himself today? ;-)) as to why Disney Legal should shut down all the ones that are blatantly stealing IPs/copyrighted material and leave the others alone, but not invite them to a single thing unless they are local and simply put them on a press release and photo list (again, think of all those saved dollars ... would you rather be spending millions on propping up a Social Media Department so it can spend millions more on freebies for fan sites ... or would you rather see that money invested in the parks ... in the infrastructure .... for entertainers ... for front-line cast to be able to eat better and live better)?

When you say Disney would be killed ... what exactly do you mean? The product spoke for itself from the 50s thru the 90s. Every satisfied guest, which was the VAST majority of those who walked into the parks, was an advocate. No, Mr. Wardle, there was no need to pay anyone to go home and talk up product because they did that for free (well, not free because they actually PAID YOU a lot of money for MAGICal WDW vacations). Do you not see (yes, Duncan and whoever else is reading this) that guests have always had the power and have always been the best advocates for Disney? But it was pure and it was honest.

Now ... when you take a phone call from some whining fanboi podcaster who's pissed because you didn't fly him to Anaheim last week and give him four free nights at the Grand, food, tickets, swag and a one-and-one with Ariel herself and your trying to kiss up/buy him again by saying you'll get him on next year's Fantasy cruise ... explain how you've come up with a brilliant strategy to justify your existence and your department's existence in 2011.

A brand is something you covet, when that brand is Disney, the idea of needing a 'BRAND ADVOCATE' speaks rather poorly for the custodians of the brand and their knowledge of the basics of branding.

Time to clean house, Tom. We BOTH know it. ... Well, actually that whole Social Media Department knows it.