BIG scenes at Disney this week, as former CEO Robert A. Iger returns to the helm with immediate effect. We’ll also take a look at Bazaar at Home, Nike’s arrival in the metaverse, and the latest from the World Cup of Controversy…
The Walt Disney Company announced over the weekend that Robert A. Iger is returning to the helm as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Iger, who spent more than four decades at the Company, including 15 years as its CEO, will reclaim the position for two years, with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth. He is also tasked with working closely with helping to identify and develop a more longterm successor.
It’s also been a big week for the company outside of the boardroom. New Disney+ movie, Disenchanted, has been hitting the headlines, and the platform will today livestream Sir Elton John’s Farewell from Dodger Stadium performance, which will also feature the likes of Dua Lipa, Kiki Dee and Brandi Carlile.
Bazaar at home welcomes Dina Asher-Smith
The Hearst UK Bazaar at Home Summit is taking place in London TODAY… and features a host of first class female speakers including Dina Asher-Smith. Themed around ‘Lessons in Leadership’ and running on the strapline ‘Connecting Visionary Women’, the convening offers masterclasses in how to thrive at the top of business, by leveraging skills such as creativity, resilience, ambition and public speaking.
Nike enters the metaverse
Another name in the media space that’s longsince been big on empowerment is Nike, and the brand last week announced the launch of .SWOOSH, its first strategic stretch into the metaverse. The company will launch its first digital collection at the beginning of 2023, including interactive digital objects such as virtual shoes or jerseys, that community members will be able to wear in digital games and immersive experiences.
Between now and then, the company says it will focus on growing the platform by inviting as diverse a community as possible. That means prioritizing local communities that Nike supports across its DEI initiatives, beginning in the US and select countries in Europe, and skill-building with participants so they’re ready to participate.
World Cup of Controversy
To participate or not to participate… that’s been the question facing football professionals in the run-up to this year’s World Cup in Qatar, which finally got underway last night. The tournament has been surrounded by criticism and controversy since it was first announced in 2010, and this morning things have gone from bad to worse…
The latest breaking news at the time of writing is that England, Wales & other European nations will now not wear OneLove armbands, after FIFA threatened to book players who do. It’s been a shaky start to the events in Qatar, and this latest fallout between FIFA and the FA is a particularly bad look for an event that has already come in for much criticism.
Twice impeached former President given pass by Elon Musk
Another move that has rightly come in for criticism, is Elon Musk’s decision to reinstate twice impeached former President Trump’s Twitter account over the weekend, after conducting a Twitter poll of his own on the subject. This is the latest in a long line of seemingly unnecessary controversies being created by the social platform’s new owner, who seems hellbent on inciting a return on his overpriced investment in any way he can, even if that comes in the form of publicity, as opposed to tangible financial growth.
For his part, Donald Trump has thusfar said he sees no reason to rejoin the platform, even though that option is now once again open to him, and that’s probably more than enough airtime to give to these two and their WWE-style controversy machine.
Advertising shift
And since we began with Mousketeers, and meandered to Musk et Leers, let’s just get back to our industry homesquare before we au revoir… A new study carried out by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and media analysis firm Ebiquity, and released exclusively here to the Guardian, shows that more than two-thirds of the UK’s biggest advertisers intend to cut back spending on traditional TV next year. Overall, nearly 40% of those surveyed said they intended to cut spend in “offline” media including traditional TV, radio, print and outdoor.
[Main cover image: Mickey Mouse photographed at the world premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in 2003. Shutterstock.com/Paul Smith/Featureflash Photography Agency]