Disney upped its social-media profile big-time Thursday by launching a website with the sole purpose of showcasing photos, videos and other user-generated content from park visitors and fans.
It’s part of a trend among corporations to connect with consumers, but it’s a big deal coming from a company with such a carefully controlled image.
The site — http://www.DisneyParks.com/Memories — went live Thursday at noon. Disney also plans to use the content submitted by fans in TV ads, brochures, print ads and other marketing.
The website, announced at a press conference in New York, is part of a new Disney campaign the company is calling “Let the Memories Begin.”
A TV ad for the campaign debuting this week was created from videos posted online by fans in social media forums.
Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, called the project “our first user-generated show and our first user-generated marketing campaign.”
“This is part of a larger trend we’re seeing,” said Amy Webb, CEO of Webbmedia, a digital media consulting firm that focuses on emerging technology. “More and more large corporations are moving in this direction. It’s a way of organically growing the brand.”
She pointed to Ford Motor Co.’s Facebook page, where consumers upload photos of their cars, as an example. “It’s a smart strategic move for them,” she said. “It provides a platform for people who are excited and proud of their Ford purchase.”
She noted that the new Disney site allows the company to capitalize on the booming popularity of mobile devices. Indeed, photos released by Disney to accompany their announcement showed park visitors taking pictures of themselves, friends and family in the parks with their mobile phones. The new website will give them a place to send that photo in addition to sharing it with their personal social networks on Facebook and other sites.
“It’s a big deal because No. 1, Disney is doing it, and No. 2, it’s an expansion of the social media phenomenon,” said Duncan Dickson, a professor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management in Orlando, which offers a theme park major.
Dickson, who worked at Disney for nearly 20 years, said “people love to post those kinds of things on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and this gives them another outlet for it. I take my picture and Disney’s going to post it on their website and people are going to be able to see me! It’s the reality TV thing.”
And Disney also benefits by getting authentic material for its ads. “I’m in Sheboygan and I see somebody like me enjoying themselves in the Magic Kingdom,” Dickson said. “These aren’t scrubbed actors perfectly placed in a Disney setting. These are real people, and the Joe Lunchboxes of the world can picture themselves there too.”
All content submitted to the site will be moderated before it is posted. Disney did not immediately say how long the lag time would be or how users would know if their content was being used.
In addition to photos and video, the website will accept text from fans describing their memories of Disney visits.
Besides submitting via the new website, fans can submit material via Facebook.com/WaltDisneyWorld, Facebook.com/Disneyland, Youtube.com/DisneyMemories, or Myspace.com/DisneyParks.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More