This week, the Walt Disney Internet Group formally announced the long-awaited Disney Mobile MVNO and the management team that would lead the development and launch of its ambitious effort. George Grobar heads the team as SVP & GM, reporting directly to Steve Wadsworth, president of WDIG; he has a strong Disney retail and brand background. paidContent.org Executive Editor Staci D. Kramer spent some time with Grobar by phone Thursday afternoon.
– Disney Mobile is slated for a 2006 launch — nothing more specific than the calendar year. Grobar: “It’s a complicated business. We’re looking at a lot of relationships we’re trying to build.”
– No details about price range, plan offerings or specific content. Disney Mobile is aimed at families and kids ages 10-15.
– Disney Mobile will not be a Disney walled garden. Grobar: “We definitely are open to third-party content; we’re looking at the requirements the customer base has and again it’s parents and kids. We’re going to be looking at a broad range of Disney and non-Disney brand content.” But, he adds, “Content is one element of the service. It’s something that we have equity in as a company and it’s something we can do well but there’s many more elements to it. The way to think about the service is what appeals to the families, what’s going to make parents have an easier time bringing kids into wireless and having unique ways to communicate and that’s what will be our focus.”
— Look for some exclusive Disney content and for the kind of Disney touches likely to appeal to the Disney “affinity base.” Grobar: “The one benefit is we control the entire service so we can do fairly deep integration in the handset with the applications and content so we expect to do that.”
— Don’t expect “Mickey Mouse” phones or character handsets following the themes of Disney’s kids consumer electronics line at launch. Grobar: “We’ll look at all ways to leverage our brand as a company over time. It’s not about the handset being content driven; it’s about the handset being the stylish, trendy handset that parents and kids want.”
– Disney Mobile will tap into the MVNO knowledge gained by sibling ESPN since ESPN Mobile was announced late last year but partnering on areas like back-end services isn’t a given; they are in discussions. Grobar: “We’re looking for synergies in terms of what they’ve learned about partners, what are some of the best options. We’re certainly going to look at trying to create synergies wherever we can, where it makes economic sense.”
– Disney Mobile likely will be developing a custom handset interface. Grobar: “One of the things that’s very important to us is we want to have a simple user interface. We want it to be tailored to families so that’s one area that we’ll be looking to do some unique things.”
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