Outra empresa de Relações Públicas também publicou, em 2011, um artigo sobre o painel de mães dos Parques Disney. Vale a pena a leitura:
WALT DISNEY RESORTS CREATES A MOMS PANEL TO ANSWER CUSTOMER QUESTIONS - AND INCREASES SALES
Got questions about your upcoming trip to Disney World? Maybe
something offbeat that a travel agent can’t answer like, “How soundproof
are the walls at any of the hotels?”
The social-media-savvy traveler knows to visit Moms Panel,
an online forum hosted on Disney World’s Web site where you can ask
questions of 11 real moms and one real dad. It’s an ambitious and risky
strategy, but one that is so far paying off for Disney.
Take, for example, the soundproof walls question, which appeared on
the site Aug. 27, from a mother concerned about her child’s night
terrors and screaming. Beth C., a Moms Panel member from New York,
replied: “I am sorry that your daughter has this experience,” and
dispensed her best advice based on experience. She concluded with, “I
hope this helps and that the Fairy Godmother uses her magic to make your
trip extra special!”
Do you think a hotel’s front desk could handle that question as well
as Beth C. did? Duncan Wardle, vice president of Global PR for Walt
Disney Co., thinks most customers prefer the mom’s answer.
“If you’re planning a vacation to a resort destination, chances are
you’re going to phone someone who you know has been there and ask for a
[recommendation],” keynote speaker at Ragan's Web 2.0 Summit at eBay
headquarters in August. “The Moms Panel is doing that.”
The Web site is populated with countless questions and answers;
how-to videos that are made by moms for moms; and a following that’s
clamoring about application deadlines for next year’s panel. If that’s not enough, Moms Panel is affecting the company’s bottom line.
“[Because of Moms Panel] people spend a lot longer our site,” he
said. “They’ve actually converted a lot more of what we call ‘family
first-timers’ to actually book a reservation, and those people who are
booking reservations are spending more money.”
Let go already
Two years ago, however, Moms Panel was an uphill struggle for
Disney’s communications team. “There were a lot of legal challenges
internally and a lot of questions we had to ask ourselves,” Wardle said.
“The biggest one is are we ready to let go of control?”
By hosting this panel, the company was relinquishing control of its
message and letting third party consumers tell the story instead.
“People have to realize that you never had control of your brand,”
Wardle explained. “The brand has always resided in the hearts and minds
of your consumers. You’ve had control of the message.”
Giving its consumers a chance to spread the Disney message proved
more lucrative than communicators expected. There was “an untapped
passion for the brand,” Wardle said. When Disney went forward with the
plan last year and asked for applications, the outpouring of interest
was immense.
Communicators had planned to cap applications for Moms Panel at
5,000, but the number reached 10,000 before they stopped accepting them.
Why did they cap it? Three people at Disney had to wade through the
10,000 applications. Find out what happened to the 9,988 moms that didn’t make it.
Who are these intrepid parents?
The 12 people who make up the panel come from all walks of life,
Wardle said. What they have in common is a strong knowledge of Disney
World resorts. They hail from all parts of the United States as well as
British Columbia, Canada; some have careers outside the house; others
are stay-at-home moms. There’s even one dad on the Moms Panel: Brett,
from Illinois.
“As the only dad on the panel, I hope to provide help to other dad
planners as well as moms who want a dad’s perspective,” he writes in his
bio.
Panel members are paid a nominal fee of $75 and receive a free vacation for their family to Disney World, Wardle said.
The forum is not moderated
Here’s how it works. People log onto the Moms Panel and ask a
question - any question - and a panelist replies. There is now so much
content on the site that a search box encourages readers to seek out the
answer to their question before posting it.
Wardle joked that Disney’s revenue managers cringed when one panelist
posted tips for saving money at the resort, including advice on how to
pinch pennies on soda (buy the refillable containers).
Whether or not Disney would moderate or edit the conversation became a big question in the early going, Wardle said. Communicators decided they would not edit or moderate.
Whether or not Disney would moderate or edit the conversation became a big question in the early going, Wardle said. Communicators decided they would not edit or moderate.
“The biggest questions companies have to ask themselves are: Are you
ready to accept advice? Are you ready to accept input? And are you ready
to act on it?” Wardle said. “If you’re not ready, don’t go.”
Wardle believes Disney’s PR team is ready to go after experiencing a
shakeup six months ago. Disney’s PR organization went from people
handling print, broadcast and Web to 50 percent of the team producing
content and 30 percent devoted to social media.
“Content is king; however, it’s not necessarily just your content
anymore,” Wardle said. “You’re sharing that content with your advocates
and your consumers.”
A new group of 16 will refresh the panel next year. Disney is
accepting applications Sept. 8 to 19 from not only moms, but dads and
grandparents as well. When Wardle talked with Ragan.com in August, he
expected 100,000 applications this year.
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