The Marketplace Has Never Been This Dynamic, Says Disney CEO

“If you measure it against the present, the present doesn’t stay the present for very long,” says Disney CEO Bob Iger when discussing their Disney+ launch. “In fact, in today’s world that’s changing so much, the marketplace has never been this dynamic, meaning speed of change is much faster. That’s technology, that’s consumer behavior driven by technology, it’s economics, it’s how things are marketed, anywhere you look.”

Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, discusses their new Disney+ service and the necessity for companies to innovate beyond their current business models in an interview on CNBC:

The Marketplace Has Never Been This Dynamic

I’m an optimist and a realist. I’ve been at the company for 45 years and I’ve been president or COO since 2000. I have a deep understanding and appreciation of Disney and its brand and its relationship to consumers. I’m pretty optimistic about the ability for this thing to work particularly when we make it accessible. Because of the content we’re putting on, because of the user interface, and because of the price, I believe this is going to be successful. If in 5 years time we prove to be wrong, we’re still making great content that’s going to be in great demand globally.

If you measure it against the present, the present doesn’t stay the present for very long. In fact, in today’s world that’s changing so much, the marketplace has never been this dynamic, meaning speed of change is much faster. That’s technology, that’s consumer behavior driven by technology, it’s economics, it’s how things are marketed, anywhere you look. You can’t measure it against what it is today, you have to measure against what you believe it’s going to be tomorrow. One of the reasons why companies fail to innovate is they continue to measure it against today.

Companies Should Think About Tomorrow’s Business Model

If you’re in the business of selling physical film you want to keep selling as much of that film as you possibly can. You believe you may hit a speed bump here and there, whether it’s the economy or a new competitor enters the marketplace, but you’re not really thinking it’s going away. Your business is not about film, it’s about taking pictures, and (you should) let people take pictures no matter how they want to take them.

It’s a lot of pressure to not do that in a way because you’re getting measured by quarterly earnings, annual earnings, how much you grew, and in many cases compensation is tied to near term versus long term. It becomes very difficult to innovate because you just you’re so tied to the business model that got you where you are. This could be great, but it often causes companies to not think about what is that business model going to look like tomorrow.

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