April 18, 2005
[Staci D. Kramer] One of the side benefits of my recent trip to LA for Digital Hollywood was the chance to sit down with Larry Shapiro, EVP business development and operations and GM, North American Mobile, Walt Disney Internet Group. It took some twists and turns -- the e-mail message with directions never made it to my phone -- but, on the last Tuesday in March, we finally settled at a table in his fourth-floor North Hollywood office carved out of the Walt Disney Internet Group's loft-like space. (The building only has four floors.) Disney PR staffer Kim Kerscher sat in.
Shapiro and I first spoke for a Wired News story about the mobile content revolution en route to the U.S.; nearly a year later, the sounds of the drums are louder but still in the distance. Shapiro approaches mobile pragmatically, as befits a veteran of the internet bubble and Disney's failed attempt to create a major portal. (Although, as I'm reminded, Go.com actually is profitable in its present state.)
That pragmatism doesn't preclude enthusiasm; Shapiro believes in mobile content's present and future, just not to the point of oversell or over promise.Our wide-ranging hour-long conversation covered, among other topics, Disney Mobile's move into third-party licensing; the company's current policy against Bluetooth-enabled handsets; the need for an industry solution to mobile DRM; MVNOs; and mobile's strategic role within Disney.
Third-party licensing:During the past year, Disney Mobile branched out from providing only its own content to representing other content providers. The first batch includes Trivial Pursuit (U.S.), Consumer Reports and urban line Homies; Shapiro says others are in the works as Disney looks to fill in its own content lineup and demographic range. "Why shouldn't we be in the business of obtaining third-party ntellectual property just like a Jamdat or an Airborne or any of those people in the space? We have no capital constraints; we're not subject to a VC wanting us to report some sort of immediate return or liquidity ... As a company we're very experienced in brand building and how to treat a brand effectively and we think that message should resonate or does resonate with third parties looking for someone to develop their wireless content."
Shapiro explained that Disney wants strong brands -- and "certainly edgier brands that are more relevant to a young demographic. That's a pretty strong focus of ours and you'll see a lot of that coming from us throughout the next year."
Shapiro and I first spoke for a Wired News story about the mobile content revolution en route to the U.S.; nearly a year later, the sounds of the drums are louder but still in the distance. Shapiro approaches mobile pragmatically, as befits a veteran of the internet bubble and Disney's failed attempt to create a major portal. (Although, as I'm reminded, Go.com actually is profitable in its present state.)
That pragmatism doesn't preclude enthusiasm; Shapiro believes in mobile content's present and future, just not to the point of oversell or over promise.Our wide-ranging hour-long conversation covered, among other topics, Disney Mobile's move into third-party licensing; the company's current policy against Bluetooth-enabled handsets; the need for an industry solution to mobile DRM; MVNOs; and mobile's strategic role within Disney.
Third-party licensing:During the past year, Disney Mobile branched out from providing only its own content to representing other content providers. The first batch includes Trivial Pursuit (U.S.), Consumer Reports and urban line Homies; Shapiro says others are in the works as Disney looks to fill in its own content lineup and demographic range. "Why shouldn't we be in the business of obtaining third-party ntellectual property just like a Jamdat or an Airborne or any of those people in the space? We have no capital constraints; we're not subject to a VC wanting us to report some sort of immediate return or liquidity ... As a company we're very experienced in brand building and how to treat a brand effectively and we think that message should resonate or does resonate with third parties looking for someone to develop their wireless content."
Shapiro explained that Disney wants strong brands -- and "certainly edgier brands that are more relevant to a young demographic. That's a pretty strong focus of ours and you'll see a lot of that coming from us throughout the next year."
