Siemens (a major Disney sponsor - Spaceship Earth) aiming to cut $1.9bn in costs

[wdwmagic]

A major sponsor of Disney is looking at some serious cost cuts, in the order of $1.9bn.

Hopefully none of these involve pulling funding from the parks.

Full details at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7495339.stm

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Interesting.

I would think there's got to be some language protecting Disney from a sponsor pulling out... Penalties or something... Potential lawsuits, etc...

Didn't GM go so far as to declare bankruptcy? They never pulled sponsorship.

It'll be interesting to see if it has any effect.

 

[hokielutz]

The article really only indicates a cut in jobs that contribute to their Overhead expenses. I would seriously doubt their sponsorship would be pulled after 1+ years. But I don't know how this would affect near-future development of the post-show area. Is it 100% finished.... or is there another phase to be completed?

 

[aladdin2007]

There goes the completion or further enhancement of the descent.

 

[hokielutz]

There goes the completion or further enhancement of the descent.

You know... I am sure that if another major oil company was courted, they could handle the sponsorship duties....

...with tremendous ease.

 

[dpunky]

You know... I am sure that if another major oil company was courted, they could handle the sponsorship duties....

...with tremendous ease.

Yeah, thanks to us shelling money for the gasoline they keep on raising the price on because in their words "the demand is so high"

 

[dandaman]

^I'm by no means an executive speculator, but I'd guess the demand is actually higher than in the recent past. Due to the housing market and lack thereof, more people seem to be moving from urban to rural residences, which seems like a paradigm shift from the last century. More distance from the city/likely job location = longer commute = higher demand.

That having been said, I don't support the oil companies in the slightest. :lol:

 

[PhotoDave219]

There goes the completion or further enhancement of the descent.

... There also goes 17,000 jobs. Nobody cares about SSE, the decent, or psychotic fanboys if you cant pay your rent or put food on the table.

Not intentionally picking on you, but there are larger stakes with the global economic and energy crisises. If I'm Disney, i start looking to figure out how to survive the larger problems and ride it out. I just hope we don't revert back to the 2002 WDW with reduced hours, attendance and entertainment.

 

[jmvd20]

Siemens will be just fine. The cuts that they are announcing should have come some time ago.

I know many people that work in different divisions of Siemens and they have always said that the management chain is poorly constructed and inter-department communication is horrible. I also recently witnessed this firsthand while trying to get numerous 150 KW generators from them.

Anyway, I doubt any of the cuts will effect the sponsorships for Disney. I think the main goal they are trying to accomplish is to be more competitive and friendly to their large commercial customers... and of course cutting costs which will increase profits for the stockholders!

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

No real suprise. Siemens has been embroiled in a rather large bribery and corruption scandal over in Europe for the past couple years. A number of top excecs have lost their jobs and have been under investigation. In fact, the US has been looking into Siemens' business practices recently; they were even threatening to ban the company from doing business in the US at one point (imagine how that would reflect on Disney's choice of sponsorship). In addition to adjusting to market demands, this announcement is also probably somewhat related with their restructuring because of the scandal.

 

[HMF]

There goes the completion or further enhancement of the descent.

Or even better Disney could get rid of the descent and put something original in there. not just looking at a video screen. I think Siemens had a lot more to do with the descent than disney.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Or even better Disney could get rid of the descent and put something original in there. not just looking at a video screen. I think Siemens had a lot more to do with the descent than disney.

Didn't we just look at video screens in the previous two versions of the ride?

 

[aladdin2007]

no not at all really, there were sets and effects and surroundings.

 

[Epcotian]

Interesting.

I would think there's got to be some language protecting Disney from a sponsor pulling out... Penalties or something... Potential lawsuits, etc...

Didn't GM go so far as to declare bankruptcy? They never pulled sponsorship.

It'll be interesting to see if it has any effect.

GM never declared bankruptcy. Thinking of Chrysler maybe? GM's currently riding the worst crisis of its existence though (stock price recently dipping under $10 for the first time since the 1950's).

 

[devoy1701]

Yeah, thanks to us shelling money for the gasoline they keep on raising the price on because in their words "the demand is so high"

ugh...

it's not because of demand and they're not saying it is either...the MEDIA is, and they're the ones comment about oil reserves and production and whatnot...but not the oil companies. Speculation from investors is high they keep saying oil is going to go up, so the media covers stories and sure enough it raises prices...the oil companies are not raising prices on gas just because they can...

Yes their profits are in the billions of dollars range, but their PROFIT margin on gasoline is only 8%...whereas state and federal profits on taxes on fuel is usually between 15 and 20%. And in other markets, companies like Clear Channel have profit margins of about 45% on their products. Stop looking at dollar amounts and start looking at proportions. sheesh...

 

[yankspy]

I am sorry if this is slightly off topic but exactly how does sponsorship work? Are there benefits beyond free advertising? In this case, is Siemens wholly financially responsible for the upkeep of SSE? Does disney have to get changes approved by Siemens? The logistics of the Disney-sponsor relationship has always been fuzzy to me.

 

[WishIwasThere]

I am sorry if this is slightly off topic but exactly how does sponsorship work? Are there benefits beyond free advertising? In this case, is Siemens wholly financially responsible for the upkeep of SSE? Does disney have to get changes approved by Siemens? The logistics of the Disney-sponsor relationship has always been fuzzy to me.

The sponsorship is almost like a contract...I know, as a UTC employee, we had a sponsorhip of the living seas for 10 years at a cost of $10M a year. In return we employees had a backstage area, (lounge) where we could get free snacks and drinks. The company also gets an area of free advertisement such as the hydrolators (Otis elevators to nowhere) and some products shown in the preshow, (if my memory serves me correctly). Too bad the company doesn't want to sponsor anything now...darn shareholders don't want to give up $10M pofit a year.

Now as an Otis employee...I've gotten to go behind the scenes of the Tower of Terror, since the WDW, DL, and DLP versions are all Otis elevator products, (though you will never see the word Otis anywhere on the ride, no one wants to remember Otis that way), and Otis services the ride along with all other elevators and escalators on WDW property. We still have the occasional visit from the Imagineers when they are looking for upgrades to the ride in CT where Otis Engineering is located.

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

Now as an Otis employee...I've gotten to go behind the scenes of the Tower of Terror, since the WDW, DL, and DLP versions are all Otis elevator products, (though you will never see the word Otis anywhere on the ride, no one wants to remember Otis that way), and Otis services the ride along with all other elevators and escalators on WDW property. We still have the occasional visit from the Imagineers when they are looking for upgrades to the ride in CT where Otis Engineering is located.

That's interesting, I remember reading in some Imagineering book that Disney met with several elevator companies and couldn't find what they were looking for...

Did Otis engineer the drop system?

 

[yankspy]

The sponsorship is almost like a contract...I know, as a UTC employee, we had a sponsorhip of the living seas for 10 years at a cost of $10M a year. In return we employees had a backstage area, (lounge) where we could get free snacks and drinks. The company also gets an area of free advertisement such as the hydrolators (Otis elevators to nowhere) and some products shown in the preshow, (if my memory serves me correctly). Too bad the company doesn't want to sponsor anything now...darn shareholders don't want to give up $10M pofit a year.

Now as an Otis employee...I've gotten to go behind the scenes of the Tower of Terror, since the WDW, DL, and DLP versions are all Otis elevator products, (though you will never see the word Otis anywhere on the ride, no one wants to remember Otis that way), and Otis services the ride along with all other elevators and escalators on WDW property. We still have the occasional visit from the Imagineers when they are looking for upgrades to the ride in CT where Otis Engineering is located.

Thanks. I forgot about the lounge areas. I remember going to the Space Mountain one when FedEx sponsored due to my cousin being a FedEx pilot. It was interesting to be in a backstage area that I never knew existed.

 

[WDW Monorail]

Are the lounges well advertised to employees? My father works for AT&T and he never knew that there was a lounge in SSE.