OK ... let's start out with something that might give you a headache. ... I have hesitated to post anything related to this because, aside from giving me a headache, it runs counter to the capitalist structure that has worked to elevate both America and global innovation in delivering on the promise of ideas that were once only things to dream of.
That said, this news speaks to a major departure from the Disney we all know and brings with it problems aplenty. First and foremost, much of the problem here rests with a significant subset of corporate elites who subscribe to BOS -- Blue Ocean Strategy. All the while, these same executives have a profound misunderstanding of the foundation on which it rests and, even worse, are applying it to brands/products/life experiences incompatible with such flawed strategizing.
As I said, it gave me a headache. It gives me headaches. And, yes, Bob Iger is a big believer in Blue Ocean.
Within the top ranks of TWDC, it has not gone without notice that 'outsiders' who receive access to and the ear of The Weatherman are followers of the BOS way of thinking. Very much about utilitarian marketing paired to micro and hyper-targeted cost/price modeling. "Value Innovation" is something pounded away by Disney now, and this is directly drawn from BOS.
.. .um, for those who object to the use of the terminology 'value engineering', maybe this makes it better for you ...
Blue Ocean Strategy is stunningly basic in its footprint. Essentially, you just stop -- STOP -- competing in your industry and seek only to exploit your existing base. Competition is deemed irrelevant and can be ignored because you are not drawing from that 'ocean' but poaching in your own pond instead. (Many critics have made unflattering parallels to cult building and the need to drop a company or product into a defined death cycle for 'blue ocean' to derive the short term results so-called 'red oceans' have consistently delivered and continue to in the longer term.)
I believe Blue Sky mentioned in a few posts that it appeared as though Disney was conceding the O-Town fight. Not so far off, really.
The cost savings, 'lower costs in bringing greater value' is how it is phrased, are on the corporate end and all BOS readings should keep in mind they were drawn for and from the business community.
Walt Disney created a 'blue ocean'. Disneyland was a blue ocean. Walt was an innovator, that is what innovators do. That said, applying BOS to the iconic brand that built the ocean -- the industry -- is contrary to the continued life of the same. (Think: controlled contraction.)
Nevertheless, Bob Iger appears to be a zealous 'believer' in BOS and, as we know too well, technology. The Weatherman has been sold on the idea that predictive modeling is the only way for TWDC to continue to draw profit from P&R. All of NEXT GEN relies on numbers -- here, mathematical formula or coding. When you are turned away from a half empty TS restaurant you really want to eat at, BOS followers have the equation that makes this work to the top executive in Burbank.
As we move forward within this twisted BOS experiment, you may well encounter a time in the near future when you are told there are no rooms at WDW available (to you and your family). You will stay off-site only to learn once you arrive that a significant number of rooms are not filled. According to the math born of BOS, this is factored in as all that matters is delivering what Iger now is referring to as "a more compelling growth mode" while ... his parks 'tag and release' you to the World. No access to a favorite attraction, that is factored in as well.
You want to know why morale is so low and why folks like Tony Baxter are being banished from WDI, look no further than what serves as the foundation for so much of Disney's NEXT GEN experience ... Of course, as Mitch Joel of the Harvard Business Review and something of a proponent of this kind of thinking warns, "The trick is in not making these initiatives a parlor trick, but part of a well-thought out and strategic campaign. Now, take a step back and ask yourself this: How much of my marketing is a true utility for my consumer?."
Or as put by a LinkedIn member named 'MAG', another proponent of the 'blue ocean' scheme:
"We have one client who originally hired us for a Blue Ocean Strategy project — that was very successful, by the way — who is now convinced that Blue Ocean Strategy is a mirage...The trick is to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Maybe the real challenge is to identify the unique DNA of a business and position it so that it is perceived as distinctly different from, and better than, both in-kind and not-in-kind competition."
I think TWDC, I think Bob fumbled that one. Big time. (See Tony Baxter's letter of 'resignation' and start asking questions.)
That said, this news speaks to a major departure from the Disney we all know and brings with it problems aplenty. First and foremost, much of the problem here rests with a significant subset of corporate elites who subscribe to BOS -- Blue Ocean Strategy. All the while, these same executives have a profound misunderstanding of the foundation on which it rests and, even worse, are applying it to brands/products/life experiences incompatible with such flawed strategizing.
As I said, it gave me a headache. It gives me headaches. And, yes, Bob Iger is a big believer in Blue Ocean.
Within the top ranks of TWDC, it has not gone without notice that 'outsiders' who receive access to and the ear of The Weatherman are followers of the BOS way of thinking. Very much about utilitarian marketing paired to micro and hyper-targeted cost/price modeling. "Value Innovation" is something pounded away by Disney now, and this is directly drawn from BOS.
.. .um, for those who object to the use of the terminology 'value engineering', maybe this makes it better for you ...
Blue Ocean Strategy is stunningly basic in its footprint. Essentially, you just stop -- STOP -- competing in your industry and seek only to exploit your existing base. Competition is deemed irrelevant and can be ignored because you are not drawing from that 'ocean' but poaching in your own pond instead. (Many critics have made unflattering parallels to cult building and the need to drop a company or product into a defined death cycle for 'blue ocean' to derive the short term results so-called 'red oceans' have consistently delivered and continue to in the longer term.)
I believe Blue Sky mentioned in a few posts that it appeared as though Disney was conceding the O-Town fight. Not so far off, really.
The cost savings, 'lower costs in bringing greater value' is how it is phrased, are on the corporate end and all BOS readings should keep in mind they were drawn for and from the business community.
Walt Disney created a 'blue ocean'. Disneyland was a blue ocean. Walt was an innovator, that is what innovators do. That said, applying BOS to the iconic brand that built the ocean -- the industry -- is contrary to the continued life of the same. (Think: controlled contraction.)
Nevertheless, Bob Iger appears to be a zealous 'believer' in BOS and, as we know too well, technology. The Weatherman has been sold on the idea that predictive modeling is the only way for TWDC to continue to draw profit from P&R. All of NEXT GEN relies on numbers -- here, mathematical formula or coding. When you are turned away from a half empty TS restaurant you really want to eat at, BOS followers have the equation that makes this work to the top executive in Burbank.
As we move forward within this twisted BOS experiment, you may well encounter a time in the near future when you are told there are no rooms at WDW available (to you and your family). You will stay off-site only to learn once you arrive that a significant number of rooms are not filled. According to the math born of BOS, this is factored in as all that matters is delivering what Iger now is referring to as "a more compelling growth mode" while ... his parks 'tag and release' you to the World. No access to a favorite attraction, that is factored in as well.
You want to know why morale is so low and why folks like Tony Baxter are being banished from WDI, look no further than what serves as the foundation for so much of Disney's NEXT GEN experience ... Of course, as Mitch Joel of the Harvard Business Review and something of a proponent of this kind of thinking warns, "The trick is in not making these initiatives a parlor trick, but part of a well-thought out and strategic campaign. Now, take a step back and ask yourself this: How much of my marketing is a true utility for my consumer?."
Or as put by a LinkedIn member named 'MAG', another proponent of the 'blue ocean' scheme:
"We have one client who originally hired us for a Blue Ocean Strategy project — that was very successful, by the way — who is now convinced that Blue Ocean Strategy is a mirage...The trick is to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Maybe the real challenge is to identify the unique DNA of a business and position it so that it is perceived as distinctly different from, and better than, both in-kind and not-in-kind competition."
I think TWDC, I think Bob fumbled that one. Big time. (See Tony Baxter's letter of 'resignation' and start asking questions.)
