Last week I mentioned that Forbes Magazine named the Walt Disney Corporation as the world’s third most trusted company. I promised I’d elucidate the idea further. The parameters of the study, which was actually carried out by the Reputation Institute (a company which “helps corporate clients manage their images”), declared these companies the ones that “consumers like, trust, and respect the most.” Disney, following Google and Sony, earned a global reputation score of 77.97. Unfortunately the study doesn’t specify what that’s out of; I’m assuming out of 100 but list topper Google only ranked a 78.62 so it might be … Continue reading →

I know I haven’t been very supportive of Disney’s business deals in China, but recent news from The Washington Post finds me giving at least a partial thumbs up to one of Disney’s latest branding efforts there. In fact, this particular story starts in the city about which I blasted Disney’s efforts to build a new theme park: Shanghai. While there’s not much more news on Disney building its second Chinese theme park there, and whether it’s improved its dealings with the locals it would be displacing, in 2008 Disney did do something good for the city of Shanghai: open … Continue reading →

Walt Disney Corporate’s certainly busy buying up companies lately. First they officially took charge of Pixar, then Marvel, and now, according to the Washington Times, they’re preparing to buy Playdom for $563.2 million. So what’s Playdom? If you’ve ever played a game on Facebook like Sorority Life or Social City, then you’ve used a Playdom product; Playdom makes many of the little games available for play on Facebook, MySpace, or fancier cell phones. Playdom isn’t the only electronic/online property Disney’s snatched recently. Just a month ago it also purchased Tapulous, the maker of a popular iPhone music game, and in … Continue reading →

Just how big is Disney World anyway? I’ve never been there, but I’ve looked at satellite views of it from Google Earth, and though it’s certainly the largest amusement park I’ve seen, I didn’t think it was big enough to host individual luxury homes. That’s right: Disney World’s building luxury homes on its property. According to Central Florida News 13, Disney World’s building a gated community called Golden Oaks which will host up to 400 homes. Prices for the houses range between $1.5 million and $8 million, with a deposit alone costing $25,000. I don’t know much about luxury housing, … Continue reading →