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Ronn Torossian |
Last week was a hard one for Disney: even though they successfully opened their 43-percent-owned Shanghai Disney in China, that bit of good news was overshadowed by the recent problems in Orlando.
Between the shooting at the Pulse nightclub — not owned by Disney — and the tragic alligator incident that left two-year-old Lane Graves dead, Disney was put on a hard road toward reputation recovery. Then the rumors that the Pulse nightclub terrorist, Omar Mateen, previously considered and scouted Disney World as a possible target cause Disney to almost turn into Grimm’s fairy tales overnight.
Barring another major tragedy, Disney will get through this with very little loss to its bottom line. The reason for that is centered on Disney's always-proactive efforts to create a positive experience for its visitors. It could be expected that visiting a theme park the size of any Disney facility is likely to be good medicine for a resounding majority of visitors, but Disney makes the extra effort at every turn.
First, Disney is aware of the communities where their parks are located and actively look for ways to contribute. When problems strike, they double up on those efforts. So almost immediately after the Pulse shooting, Disney established a $1 million fund to help those who had been affected. They also tightened security and added metal detectors to their parks all around the world.
As headlines arrived regarding a little boy snatched by an alligator at the Seven Seas Lagoon, Disney closed all their beaches immediately, and within two days had a plan for new warning signs for the area. Disney CEO Bob Iger issued a statement from China, stating that “as a parent and a grandparent, my heart goes out to the Graves family during this time of devastating loss.”
No one is going to make it better for the Graves family, but Disney has always created their parks with safety and a fun family experience in mind. Behind the scenes, they have security and protocols in place to assure that being the case for almost every imaginable situation. There are monitors, cameras and tunnels.
As terrorism expert David Firester recently noted, “This is a company which deals with millions of people annually, and knows how to handle the unpredictable behaviors of millions. They monitor individuals from the moment they enter the parks.”
Disney may be big — and it may tout itself as being the “happiest place on earth” — but it doesn’t take its reputation lightly and because of this, Disney should weather this storm and move beyond it better than most.
This provides a lesson for all companies. Some of the best protection for your brand is building a great reputation long before any crisis happens. That way, people know your strengths even when your brand may seem to be at its weakest.
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Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, and has been named Public Relations executive of the year by the American Business Awards.
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