At the MoffettNathanson Media, Internet & Communications Conference, The Walt Disney Company CFO Hugh Johnston mentioned the potential of a Disney “super app” that combines multiple existing offerings. This is the first official reference to the possibility from a Disney official after sources said it was being discussed internally.
Disney Super App
Talking about streaming, Johnston said Disney has “a unique set of capabilities and assets that will enable us to be successful. Number one, we have, basically, the largest collection, most emotionally resonant IP of anyone by far.” The second asset he mentioned was sports, which he said is “something that the rest of the industry is trying to go towards, we’re already there.”
The third asset he referenced was physical experiences, including Disney Parks and Disney Cruise Line.
Disney+ and Hulu are “going to be leveraging those particular capabilities” and “leverage the creativity that we bring.”
“Are there opportunities for, you know, having one app for Disney?” Johnston continued. “Yeah, over time, we do think that that’s out there. And with that, the parts will be integrated into all of that as well. To me, that’s a significant competitive advantage that’s awfully hard to replicate.”
He echoed D’Amaro’s comments about Disney+ being a “digital centerpiece” for the company.
“If you sort of think about what we’re doing by virtue of bringing fans together and making it the digital centerpiece, it gives us the ability to touch our fans and to grow our fan base more and more,” he said.
He added that Disney+ carries more than just Disney assets, saying, “My expectation is it is a portal into all things entertainment over time. I think it’ll be bigger than just Disney in terms of bundling and the way that things come together. Building that relationship, to me, is something that will generate revenue, and in addition to that, it’s more efficient to market to the fans once you have them in your app, and that’ll allow us to reduce marketing cost over time.”
The concept is still in early discussions, according to Bloomberg’s original report, but the “super app” has allegedly appeared in internal presentations and reflects a broader effort by Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro to streamline the company’s consumer-facing digital ecosystem.
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