Why did Siemens sponsor Spaceship Earth and Illuminations?

[Tialovesdisney]

What did Siemens get out of sponsoring Spaceship Earth and Illuminations from 2005 to 2017? How did it help them from a marketing perspective?

Do you think Siemens will sponsor another Disney attraction in Future?

Why did Siemens not extend the sponsorship to continue after 2017?

 

[Tialovesdisney]

Anyone?

 

[marni1971]

Anyone?

Have some PR twaddle.

Disney and Siemens alliance confirmed

Disney and Siemens alliance confirmed

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[Chicken Guy]

I’ll admit that I had no idea who Siemens was until they sponsored Spaceship Earth, so they got some brand recognition I suppose.

 

[Tialovesdisney]

I’ll admit that I had no idea who Siemens was until they sponsored Spaceship Earth, so they got some brand recognition I suppose.

Fair enough, I work in marketing so could understand the brand awareness benefit for most companies that are consumer facing, but I wouldn't call Siemens consumer facing.

 

[Tialovesdisney]

Have some PR twaddle.

That doesn't explain what Siemens got out of the sponsorship from a marketing point of view.

 

[marni1971]

That doesn't explain what Siemens got out of the sponsorship from a marketing point of view.

Correct. Perhaps it was nothing to do with marketing.

 

[No Name]

You ever see those commercials on TV that are super specific like “if you broke your left leg while working at a zoo 15 years ago, you’re entitled to free compensation! Call now!”? Ads like those apply to a tiny group but have high success within that group. Unless they’re just high on ego, Siemens must’ve been going for a similar thing because the vast majority of WDW guests are in no position and have no need to buy anything from them. It probably didn’t help them very much from a marketing perspective. Twelve years is a long time, and I imagine the new folks in charge at Siemens simply realized this.

 

[Creathir]

Siemens was engrossed in the middle of a bunch of awful PR due to a bribery scandal coming to light, centered around the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Siemens - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If I had to guess, nothing says squeaky clean like a new partnership with Disney, plus a side benefit of brand awareness, which is particularly helpful when you recently acquired a green/wind energy company which was the new hotness in the mid-2000s.

 

[Tialovesdisney]

Correct. Perhaps it was nothing to do with marketing.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrensparks1

Above is the LinkedIn profile of the man who managed the Disney and Siemens sponsorship/partnership. On his LinkedIn profile he describes it as a "marketing alliance" so it must have been to do with marketing.

 

[hismattjesty]

Marketing, and a corporate tax write-off for sponsorship and advertising.

 

[marni1971]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrensparks1

Above is the LinkedIn profile of the man who managed the Disney and Siemens sponsorship/partnership. On his LinkedIn profile he describes it as a "marketing alliance" so it must have been to do with marketing.

Not necessarily. Especially if they weren’t offered the chance to renew.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Not necessarily. Especially if they weren’t offered the chance to renew.

OK, now you have opened up a can of worms. Why would Disney not want to offer them the chance to renew? Was it because of the alleged scandal from the 2004 Greek Olympics? It doesn't seem possible since Disney never has shown a desire to be great moral leaders on anything that most people knew nothing and cared nothing about. For example, how many people know that Siemens is a huge European company. Most of us thought it was an American Company.

 

[Cadbury]

The following quote from this article might shed some light on the subject....

"Apparently the relationship between the two companies soured rapidly after Disney turned down a new monorail fleet for Walt Disney World that Siemens offered in lieu of compensation for a new sponsorship deal."

And another similar quote from a different article...

"The end of the sponsorship comes amidst rumors that Siemens offered Walt Disney World a new monorail fleet for free so long as they were company branded, but Disney reportedly declined."

 

[marni1971]

OK, now you have opened up a can of worms. Why would Disney not want to offer them the chance to renew?

Perhaps they had someone else lined up?

 

[SD449]

Perhaps they had someone else lined up?

Haven’t you hinted at Apple if Steve was still around?

 

[ohioguy]

It's called a tax write-off.

 

[CLBMN]

OK, now you have opened up a can of worms. Why would Disney not want to offer them the chance to renew? Was it because of the alleged scandal from the 2004 Greek Olympics? It doesn't seem possible since Disney never has shown a desire to be great moral leaders on anything that most people knew nothing and cared nothing about. For example, how many people know that Siemens is a huge European company. Most of us thought it was an American Company.

Seimans is a huge global German tech company.
However I would not call them a general public consumer facing company.
I have worked with their products in the medical and research areas. Good products.
I am not sure if they have what is called a consumer division.

 

[marni1971]

Haven’t you hinted at Apple if Steve was still around?

I believe that could have been Imagination.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Perhaps they had someone else lined up?

I hope in your intentional vagueness you realize that you have only succeeded in opening that can of worms even wider! If that is the case, where are they? Why haven't they bubbled to the surface by now? Or was this possibly one of Disney's many sneaky deals that blew up in their faces?