Disney's Bob Iger beams a message back to 2001
- 03/13/2008
Makin' progress, makin' progress...
Proclaiming the web "just as important as TV" for kids, Disney CEO Robert Iger urged fellow executives on Wednesday to join the digital revolution--or hire people who can.
"Hire new people," Iger declared to nervous laughter during a morning keynote...
Iger also impelled media companies and marketers to shed their protectionist [hostile, enraged, psychotic, litigious, counterproductive, foaming-at-the-mouth] stances on new and emerging technologies. "Most classic brand managers look at technology with a deep-rooted aversion [fear, loathing, dismay, anger, denial, Future Shock]," Iger said.
"Technology is good," he said [shortly before he was hit by a mysterious lightning strike from above], explaining how it allows brands to distribute more broadly, and to be more relevant in the marketplace. "You have to keep the consumer in mind and use technology to do that."
Beyond corporate strategy, Iger took time on Wednesday to regale the audience of new- and old-media types with his personal adventures in online media.
He admitted to having a Facebook page, but only two friends in the hot social network.
"It's important for executives to experience all of this," Iger said...
Iger said his presence was more established within Club Penguin, the virtual world for kids that Disney acquired last August.
"I've got some pretty cool stuff in my igloo"--which, he said, boasts a flat-screen TV, a fireplace, and a basketball hoop. "I've never been to an igloo with a basketball hoop, which is pretty great."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the space/time continuum, the 2015 Bob Iger is giving another speech: "The web is way more important than TV for kids."
[Source: Online Media Daily.]
