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Date Posted: 12:39:36 11/16/04 Tue
Author: MIKE SCHNEIDER, AP Business Writer
Subject: DISNEY: Currying favor with the press
In reply to: DAVID BRUSER/ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER 's message, "Press Junkets: Real reason for the hype" on 12:34:09 11/16/04 Tue

DISNEY: Currying favor with the press
MIKE SCHNEIDER, AP Business Writer

Monday, October 27, 2003
(10-27) 11:12 PST LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) --

If all goes as planned, newspaper readers, magazine subscribers, radio listeners and television viewers will face waves of flattering feature stories about Walt Disney World during the next few months.

The reports will talk about the intensity of the new Mission: Space ride, the nostalgic charm of the resort's new Pop Century hotel, the "ooohs" and "aaahhs" generated by a new firework show at the Magic Kingdom. There will also be publicity about a new effort to cater to large groups of families and friends.

The attention won't be by accident but rather by a carefully orchestrated media campaign in which several hundred writers, travel editors and television producers from around the world were invited to Disney World for three days in October.

Disney World spent hundreds of thousands of dollars paying for the airfare and hotel rooms and throwing lavish parties for a large number of the reporters.

If past results offer any barometer, their efforts will pay off with articles worth the equivalent of millions of dollars in advertising, said Jonah Bloom, executive editor of Advertising Age, a trade publication.

"The content in the public's mind probably has more credibility coming from a journalist than an ad from Disney," Bloom said.

While some business sectors such as the auto industry and the television industry invite reporters en mass to view their products, very few individual companies have the cache to hold such gatherings on their own, noted Janet Wasko, a communications professor at the University of Oregon who wrote "Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy."

"The articles that appear in a wide range of media outlets about the theme parks after these press junkets is evidence that the strategy works," Wasko wrote in an e-mail. "Disney knows how to do it well and represents a somewhat unique situation, because of their theme parks and their connection to all the other products."

But Disney's hospitality raises ethical questions for reporters who accept the all-expense paid trips.

"How can a reporter who receives an expense-paid trip ... write a negative article?" Wasko said. "And even if the article may include a few critical comments, it's still free promotion for Disney."

Bill Warren, vice president of public affairs at Disney World, makes no apologies for Disney trying to get its message out through as many media outlets as possible.

"Are we trying to show what we have here in the best possible light? Sure. I'm not going to apologize for that," Warren said recently. "The exposure ... generates an untold number of visits."

Disney World paid for Rocio Mendez, a radio reporter for the popular "Monitor" program in Mexico City, to come to the resort, but she said the company hasn't influenced her reporting.

"They respect what we do," Mendez said. "They never tell us what they want."

Walt Disney World isn't relying just on reporters to get out its message. The theme park resort is embarking on a $250,000 marketing push that includes television and print advertising. The resort spent half that amount last year, according to Advertising Age.

Many of the ads will focus on new programs at Disney World aimed at multigenerational families or groups of friends. The programs, called Magical or Grand Gatherings, depending on the size of the group, were inspired in part by the desire to renew family ties after the Sept. 11 attacks. Disney would help groups between eight and 30 people make hotel and restaurant reservations together and plan the vacation.

"I believe it's taking advantage of a new travel trend that is going on in the U.S.," Disney World president Al Weiss said recently.

Disney World also laid on the star power to woo reporters.

Sugar Ray and the B-52s sang at the press parties. Comedian Wayne Brady broadcast his television show from Epcot. Sitcom actor Jim Belushi performed near Disney-MGM Studios' Tower of Terror with his band. Actress Julie Andrews promoted Mickey's Philharmagic, a computer-generated 3-D movie opening at the Magic Kingdom.

Even NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and astronauts Jim Lovell, Wally Schirra and Buzz Aldrin attended the official opening of Mission: Space, Disney's $100 million ride which uses a centrifuge to recreate the experience of lifting off and flying in space.

Disney also closed Epcot to the public early one day to host a private party for the media.

Disney World could use any lift it gets from the expected media attention since Disney's theme park division has been suffering from a tourism decline in the past two years. Revenue for the company's theme park division last quarter decreased $100 million to $1.7 billion from the same period the previous year. Last quarter's income in the theme park division decreased by 25 percent to $352 million.

"We're still a thriving, growing, business," Weiss said. "But we're still recovering."

Later Disney officials will scrutinize how much ink, videotapes, satellite downlinks and radio air time were devoted to their message.

"Obviously, the value of a reporter who turns up and doesn't write anything is questionable," Bloom said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/10/27/travel1349EST0860.DTL

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