How Bob Iger Can Rewrite His Damaged Legacy
How well have Bob Iger’s past two weeks gone?
Well, The Hollywood Reporter just ran a story with the headline, “Unpacking Bob Iger’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good PR Week.”
The publication also brought in its ace reporter and editor-at-large, Kim Masters, to write the piece. In it, Masters writes:
“While some may wonder if (Bob Iger has) lost a step, others may think he’s six moves ahead.”
Personally, I’ve spent the last two weeks debating both sides of it.
Here’s why I’m confident Bob Iger screwed up and how I believe he can rewrite his legacy after a series of unfortunate recent events.
Iger’s Recent Missteps
Every professional athlete suffers through slumps. And the same premise applies to the corporate world as well.
Humans are by nature mercurial. We fluctuate, and we’re prone to mistakes and unforced errors. The phrase “my own worst enemy” applies for a reason.
For this reason, I’m at least modestly sensitive to Bob Iger’s recent missteps.
When Iger left Disney, he felt he’d positioned the company for long-term success.
What the CEO couldn’t have imagined – what NONE OF US could have expected – was the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ripple effects of a societal shutdown came across like a specific attack against Disney.
Seemingly overnight, the company lost movie box office, live sports advertising, cruise/theme park revenue, and so much more.
Iger’s replacement, Bob Chapek, ruthlessly plotted a financial path that would keep Disney afloat during a trying time.
However, Chapek’s robotic decision-making didn’t build a bridge toward future profitability. It was more of a “survive now and figure out the rest later” plan.
When Iger returned, he assessed the damage and discovered a worst-case scenario situation.
At a minimum, Disney had excelled thanks to theme parks and linear television. The pandemic legitimately killed the latter institution.
Iger recently acknowledged this reality in describing linear television as a “no-growth business.”
At the time, Iger was attempting to entice buyers to step in and purchase linear television assets. It was an…odd sales tactic.
You wouldn’t try to sell your used car by describing how little value it would hold in a few years, right? Iger did just that.
In the process, he alienated the THOUSANDS of Disney employees working in linear television.
Iger had to perform damage control afterward, but it didn’t help. Everybody knows that Iger has made up his mind to ditch linear television.
Iger’s Unforced Error
In a way, I almost applaud Iger for his brutal honesty here. Everyone in the industry knows what he said is true.
Still, his words are the equivalent of saying the quiet part loud. He just told loyal workers that they’d have a new boss soon.
Still, that proclamation is at least defensible. It wasn’t a PR masterstroke by any stretch, but it was at least honest.
Well, the part where he called linear television a “no-growth business” was honest.
Telling workers not to worry about their job was…slightly less truthful. Any smart employee would stress over Iger’s comments.
Somehow, that mistake wasn’t even close to his worst one. Instead, it was his ill-considered rant about striking writers and actors.
Imagine if someone you loved said something that confirmed your worst fears about them. That’s pretty much what Iger did.
After years of playing the part of the friend of Hollywood talent, the exhausted old man woke up too early one morning and went on CNBC.
At this point, Iger proceeded to call Hollywood’s underpaid talent that their requests for fair wages were “disruptive.”
Bob Iger has been a high-level executive since the 1990s, and I’ve tracked his career closely over the years.
This was the single dumbest, least defensible statement in Iger’s career.
Even The Nanny (!) slapped him around for saying something so callous and wholly lacking in empathy.
Iger has been playing defense ever since then, and he’ll remain in that stance for the entirety of the Hollywood strikes.
On top of that, Disney stock has approached a five-year low, and Atlantic Equities recently downgraded its value.
Iger isn’t just in the soup. If this were Thanksgiving dinner, he’d be the turkey in the oven.
How Iger Can Make People Forget This Debacle
History remembers winners, and that’s true at Disney as well.
Whenever I discuss previous Disney CEOs like Donn Tatum and Ron Miller, I know that they’ll require explanations.
Even the legendary Card Walker holds a low profile outside of Disney fandom. It’s the people who knew him the best that championed him the most.
Meanwhile, everyone knows Roy O. Disney, Michael Eisner, and Bob Iger.
Those three led Disney during its times of extreme growth and sustained excellence.
While people remember Bob Chapek as well now, he’ll eventually become a historical asterisk with a footnote of “led Disney during a pandemic.”
That’s how we write the stories for those who fall in the middle or, in Chapek’s case, fail completely.
So, what Bob Iger needs to do now is win. It’s really that simple.
How can Iger win with Disney? He can reposition the company for long-term success, the kind that will inexorably be linked with him.
Let’s say that the CEO brokers a deal with various sports leagues, thereby strengthening ESPN as the worldwide sports leader, not just now but for many years to come.
That move is on the table right now as Iger has bartered with NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL officials about a forward-thinking digital solution.
Should that happen, Disney would effectively control live sports, as these four brands represent the overwhelming majority of viewers.
ESPN can secure a de facto monopoly if it adds the NCAA into the mix.
More Moves to Make
Then, we have the moves that Iger has already strongly hinted are coming.
For starters, Disney has built out its movie lineup through 2031. We know that the studio will release the climactic Avatar film then.
That’s eight years of Avatar theatrical content, with several other Marvel/Star Wars tentpoles already announced for the next four years, too.
Should those titles avoid the fate of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, they’ll serve as perennial reminders that Iger got his house in order.
At the parks, Walt Disney World alone should spend $1.7 billion per year on significant enhancements.
We’ve recently witnessed with Disney’s Hollywood Studios how much of an impact a major park expansion has on attendance.
When each of these new attractions/themed lands debuts, Iger will earn the credit, making him look more competent each time.
Disney has also announced impending enhancements at Disneyland Resorts, specifically an Avatar experience and a King Thanos attraction.
Iger is currently running a PR campaign to entice Californians to vote in favor of zoning laws.
Should Disney win these votes, a Disneyland Resort expansion becomes viable. A third park isn’t even outside the realm of possibility.
All these moves, in their totality, would create sustained goodwill for Iger’s tenure as CEO.
More importantly, the successes would outweigh the current failures and unforced errors that Disney and Iger have faced.
Frankly, at this point, Iger needs the wins. Otherwise, history may remember his second tenure in much more unflattering terms than his initial run.
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