The Walt Disney Company just hit a major milestone, kicking off a new era of the company with a shareholders’ meeting.
©Disney
The meeting began with a goodbye from Bob Iger, followed by new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro sharing his message to the fans and shareholders, giving a rundown of what has been accomplished in the past year and what is to come under his leadership. As part of that speech, we got an update about Disney’s focus for the future.
About 15 minutes into the meeting, D’Amaro addressed the future of the company and what will unify Disney going forward. He said, “We will capitalize on our strengths by focusing on coming together as one Disney.” At this point, a model appeared on the screen with the company’s 7 biggest business ventures, all surrounding a Mickey icon.
©Disney
The Mickey icon in the middle features “IP and “Fans” as the two ears, with “One Disney” as the head.
Looking to the future, the goal of the company is to draw consumers in by focusing on the IP that fans know and love. D’Amaro noted that he hopes to keep the relationship strong with the fans, “The heart of that relationship is, and it will always be, our storytelling.”
©Disney
In recent years, Disney has done a decent amount of branching out into new ventures, but it seems that the heart of the company now will be its storytelling and fan-favorite intellectual properties. D’Amaro used Toy Story as an example of this, noting that the popular film series is already featured in theme parks around the world, on Disney Cruise Line, and in a variety of merchandise, but is also releasing its fifth movie soon. With one successful film series, Disney has been provided with a host of business ventures.
©Disney
Going forward, it looks like Disney will attempt to centralize, connect, and stop being so siloed in its ventures. Storytelling, IP, and fans will be at the center of what the company does, and that will spread outward to the 7 main ventures. What are those ventures? Well, based on the chart, they seem to be film, streaming, sports, consumer products, gaming, Disney Cruise Line, and Disney Parks and Experiences.
Disney Adventure
Film has typically been the basis for storytelling, with many great IP characters and stories beginning with film. That reach will expand through streaming services like Disney+…but it doesn’t stop there. “Disney+ will continue to evolve beyond a traditional streaming service to become the digital centerpiece of our company,” D’Amaro said.
©Disney
In the past few years, ESPN has been a massive venture for Disney as well. “Our sports portfolio is unmatched,” D’Amaro noted, while sharing that on an average month, ESPN reaches around 80% of adults in the U.S.
©ESPN
Of course, one of the most profitable businesses for Disney is the Experiences division. “The power of Disney comes full circle at Disney Experiences,” noted D’Amaro. “Disney has continually raised the bar for what experiences can be, and it’s always evolving.”
Magic Kingdom
And looking to the future, Disney won’t shy away from the use of new technologies. However, D’Amaro added that, “Disney at its core, is a company that celebrates human creativity.” He went on to praise Cast Members and thank them. “We have the most creative, the most passionate, dedicated people, and it’s because of our people that we’ll continue to create stories and experiences that our fans carry with them for a lifetime.”
Cast Members are the MAGIC!
Of course, we’ll be keeping an eye on The Walt Disney Company to see how these new strategies are implemented. We’ll be interested to see what D’Amaro does with his tenure as CEO.
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This is what they’ve needed for years. A real “Disney” castmember running the company. Some one who understands and respects the legacy and will stay true to it. Someone who understands that happy castmember mean productive and loyal castmembers, someone who will take into great consideration the preferences of it’s fans. I applaud the board for placing Josh D’Maro in the position which best serves the company. I can’t wait to see how he brings the real Disney back!!
It’s to make more money, duh. Disney will never bring the old Disney back. Prices will always go up, new IP will always suck, the end.
He wants to impress me, meet with those long time disney fans who are disenchanted with the money grubbing direction of the company. Listen to them. Don’t respond to them by telling then how giving exactly what they dont want is good for them.
Seems like his generic corporate strategy was written by chatgpt. One Disney. Come on.
I was hoping the goal would be to lower admission prices so that more of the population could enjoy Disney again-not just the wealthy. The goal is for people to enjoy Disney -not just make the shareholders money. ( I speak as a shareholder)
Sounds very good – let’s see what it looks like in practice.