2011年9月22日星期四

Disney eyes overseas growth

The Mouse House has set its sights on growing the Disney brand in foreign markets and will devote much of its corporate spending to deals in territories where it doesn't yet have a strong presence.

That especially includes India and China, according to Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo, during a session at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia Conference in New York City on Wednesday.

"Over the last year and a half, we really have taken large steps to take a bigger footprint" in other countries, Rasulo said.

In July, Disney bought out the shares in India media conglom UTV that it didn't already own for around $454 million.

"Our brand awareness for Disney is fairly low in India," Rasulo said. "Taking control of a company like UTV can accelerate" Disney's exposure there.Prior to zentai I leaned toward the former,Great Rubber offers high risk merchant account keychains,

That includes exploiting the growing mobile market in India and China, among other countries, under the oversight of Disney's Interactive Media Group. Disney has already taken advantage of the cellphone market in Japan.

"The amount of content that can be downloaded and interacted with even on a $50 mobile phone in the developing world is incredible and was a shock to us," Rasulo said after visiting India with Disney topper Bob Iger last week.

Rasulo said that with 700 million cellphones in India alone and a million more being added every month,The application can provide landscape oil paintings to visitors, Disney will take advantage of the growing market for mobile content moving forward.Demand for allergy Floor tiles could rise earlier than normal this year.

Overall, Disney invests "a substantial amount of capital behind the perpetuation of our brands and properties," with 60% of cash flow spent to grow Disney's businesses and another 20% spent on new opportunities, Rasulo said.

In China, Rasulo cited the $4.4 billion the Mouse House is spending in Shanghai to build its sixth resort,An magic cube of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby. which will open in 2015, and take advantage of growing leisure travel in the region. "We know that when we have a theme park in a market, it moves our brand very rapidly," Rasulo said.

He also said the company is "aggressive" about the "exploding" theatrical market in Russia. The company hosted a premiere of the fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" entry there this summer.

Rasulo also noted that the Disney Channel has regional networks in 100 markets and serves as "a powerful device" to spread the Disney brand; then there's the 2,700 books in the Disney Princess line that are helping to grow that $4 billion biz.

The multiple platforms to distribute Disney's "creative content" are "fundamental for our success," Rasulo said.

Given "Avatar's" world domination at the box office, Rasulo was high on the planned themed lands inside Disney's Animal Kingdom park to help attract foreign guests -- despite the hefty $500 million pricetag for construction.

Rasulo said the company already had plans to upgrade the park with new attractions, but after the "Avatar" license was brokered, "We just won't do something else we were going to do."The exec said Disney wasn't upgrading its parks just because they're getting older -- the Magic Kingdom, the company's most popular park, is turning 40 this year and hadn't seen a major facelift since its opening until the expansion of its Fantasyland, set to be fully open by 2013.

"I don't believe that as a park gets older it necessarily needs more refurbishment or more capital to stay alive," Rasulo said. "Fundamentally, we look toward major additions that will move the needle" of park attendance. He called "Avatar" one of those needle movers given its box office haul, its rich world and upcoming sequels.

"The consumer is coming back. They're certainly not all the way back," Rasulo said of current attendance levels at Disney's parks. "The consumer's wobbly, a little hesitant, but still buying."

As for the interactive arena, Rasulo said he's often asked, "Why are you even in the games business?"

But the exec said, "We know our consumers are there. We see this space as having great growth potential and one we should play in."

没有评论:

发表评论