The CEO of the Walt Disney Co., Bob Iger, is readying himself to make another bold move for his company by preparing a bid with his financial advisers, hoping to merge with Twitter Inc. to reach a wider demographic of audiences.
Iger, who has been a longtime mentor to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, hopes to win him over with an offer to buy Twitter, which would propel Disney’s exposure in less-reached markets and give the company an additional opportunity to gain more capital associated with the popular social media website.
Dr. Kristopher Floyd, California Baptist University visiting professor of marketing, sees several possibilities for what Twitter could become with Disney’s help. However, he said with technology changing so much so often, Disney will need to clean up Twitter and reshape it to fit Disney’s image.
“It’s a good bump for Twitter,” Floyd said. “What you see historically is any time a company gets bought like this, you’re going to get an initial bump. The stock will go up and conversations will go up. If they buy Twitter they should focus on the live-streaming aspect of Twitter. That’s one of the things that would be great for them because it’s an opportunity for them to mitigate some of the places where they may be losing audience.”
After working and gaining experience in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years as senior vice president of two divisions of Deluxe Entertainment, Dr. Joel Bigley, assistant professor in the Dr. Robert K. Jabs School of Business, said he sees the potential success in the proposed deal between the two media conglomerates.
“Twitter is an effective distribution platform,” Bigley said. “It will help to future-proof Disney and give it a competitive advantage over its competitors. It will give them more market share with regard to the younger consumer segment that is already quite familiar with what social media platforms offer them. Integrating a well-known platform will give Disney the opportunity to exploit Twitter’s capabilities.”
Dr. Jeffrey Barnes, dean of Student Success, teaches CBU’s HIS 401: History of Disneyland course, has published his own book, “The Wisdom of Walt,” and has observed Disney’s achievements throughout the years as the brand has grown into the world’s largest media conglomerate through buying other successful
companies.
“Walt himself when he built Disneyland said as long as there is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will never be finished,” Barnes said. “If we apply the same principle to Twitter and social media, then it will grow as we grow and change, as well.”
