Chapter 703： Eternal interest

In all, this is Ryan’s second visit to China as the chairman of Disney’s board of directors. Although this time he came to the capital, not Shanghai in the south, the two visits were only a year apart. The frequency is relatively high among several major business groups in North America.

With the development of time, China's potential as the world's No. 1 market has been fully demonstrated. In recent years, senior personnel from North American business groups such as Goldman Sachs and General Motors have also frequently appeared in this country.

Ryan and The Walt Disney Group have major interests here.

Even last year, Walt Disney's Far East branch headquarters and Greater China headquarters were all moved from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Ryan is very clear about the potential of this market, and he can't take it seriously.

As long as there are enough benefits, let alone running once a year, even once a month, he and Disney's senior executives will not mind.

This is an official business visit. After Ryan arrived at the Capital International Airport, he was warmly received by the business department here. After a series of official procedures, he saw what he could only see on TV in his previous life the next day. Four. Eighty-six.

To paraphrase the words of the official media here, the two sides held warm talks in an atmosphere of enthusiasm, friendship, equality and mutual benefit, imagined the prospects for future cooperation, and reached numerous consensuses. This was a successful, complete and win-win situation. business meeting.

In other words, just like a political meeting, this kind of media-oriented business talks between the two parties are mostly just clichés and nonsense.

With so many experiences over the years, Ryan is no longer a simple-minded, passionate young man in his previous life. He knows very well that if there is no interest as a bond, the so-called friendly cooperation between the two parties is nothing more than a flower in a mirror and a moon in the water.

As the actual controller of Disney, Ryan is more like a mascot. Under the premise of grasping the degree, he showed the Walt Disney Group's friendship and enthusiasm for China, even if these must not confuse those elite vested interests. But as long as ordinary consumers are willing to buy it.

But in private, he brought the business team. In the undisclosed business negotiations with this side, I was not very polite. Several times, I pointed out that the copyright protection of the other party was not good and even condoned piracy, which caused the numerous cooperation plans between Disney Group and Chinese companies to produce irreparable losses.

It even lists a series of Chinese companies that have pirated Disney's copyrights.

Although Ryan understands that these may not bring fundamental changes, some things are better than nothing. The cooperation between the two parties is based on a win-win situation, and Disney is indeed here for money. But I don’t mind being behind the enthusiasm and friendship, showing the tough side of a number of media groups in the world.

Besides, in the past few years, the two sides of the ocean have done nothing less than others. However, after Ryan became the head of Disney, he strictly restrained the media, including TV stations, and basically never targeted this. The remarks made by Bian, presumably the leaders here are also very clear about the necessity of having a good relationship with a super media group that is fairly friendly to China.

In fact, to put it plainly, the cooperation between the two parties is mutually beneficial. This is the basis of everything.

There are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends in this world, only permanent interests.

Perhaps this sentence is inappropriate to describe the relationship between people. But it is the criterion for cooperation between interest groups and interest groups.

Therefore, apart from the formal meetings, Ryan does not mind facing the Chinese media show in Chinese. The Disney Group has also made sufficient preparations for his trip. For example, he specially produced a "Disney and China". The documentary was successfully broadcast on the national TV station here.

Along with this limited-length documentary, Ryan also accepted an exclusive interview with this TV station. Combined with the documentary footage, he personally explained the relationship between Disney and China. According to him, China is definitely Disney except North America. The most dependent and trustworthy partner, the relationship between the two parties is deep. It can even be traced back to the 1930s.

"Since 1930, Disney has had close ties with China."

Surrounded by many cameras, Ryan used almost standard Mandarin to talk about the "friendly relationship witnessed over time" between Disney and China. "On February 8, 1938, Disney’s first animated feature film was also The first color animated feature film in the history of American cinema, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", premiered in Shang Hai, which is also the first place in Asia to show a Disney cartoon."

"Is this true?" the hostess sitting opposite asked in cooperation.

"These are all recorded by Disney in the history of the company's development." What Ryan said is the truth, and you can find it by checking it later. "The premiere in Shanghai was only a few months later than in North America, even in the 1940s. Now it belongs to Captain America under the Disney banner, and his first movie was screened in China."

"Should it not be called "Captain America" ​​at the time?" The hostess showed a curious expression.

"I can't remember how it was translated at the time." Ryan said with a smile, "In short, it is probably a name like "Invincible Detective"."

The two sides talked a few words, and the topic was back on track.

"When it comes to Disney, Chinese audiences must think of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck first." Ryan pointed to the two classic animated characters on the big screen behind. "In 1986, Disney officially signed an agreement with China Central Television. Mouse and Donald Duck entered Chinese TV screens, and then Disney’s animation products entered Chinese stores."

On such occasions, Ryan naturally did not mention the issue of piracy. "I don’t know if you still remember. In the mid-1990s, there was a program called "Little Dragon Club" which was broadcast on many TV stations in China. It was owned by Disney. A program produced by a TV station."

"It turned out to be unknowingly." The hostess chuckles, "I have also watched many shows belonging to Disney."

"But..." she said again, "When you talk about Disney, you have to say "The Lion King". If I remember correctly, the script and the main characters of this animated feature film are all made by you? You are still a child of Xin Ba dubbed and sang the theme song?"

"Yes." Ryan nodded, ""The Lion King" entered the theaters of China as early as 1995. Two years ago, the "Lion King" had an ice world tour in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Performed."

"I remember this, I went to see it live." The hostess is a smart person.

"Since 1996, Disney has established an official branch in China." Ryan continued to close the relationship between Disney and China. "Later, we established the first Chinese branch in Hong Kong. Disneyland, last year signed an agreement with Shanghai, and the construction of the second Disneyland is about to officially start. In addition, we also hired Mr. Zhang Zhizhong as Disney’s first managing director in Greater China."

The Disney that people here used to know may only appear on the shelves, movie screens, and TV shows in a scattered manner. It may not be a big company with a market value of close to 80 billion U.S. dollars. In fact, this company is like Most Chinese audiences today imagine much bigger.

In addition to the "Disney and China" documentary that Ryan personally narrated, after the show, he also signed a cooperation agreement with China's national television station on behalf of Disney. Several channels, led by the movie channel, received many Disney movies or cartoons. Broadcasting authorization, although Disney only charges a symbolic copyright fee, it is a necessary means of promotion. The other party is still a well-deserved leader in the media industry in this era.

There is no market without publicity, and Ryan knows this very well.

Also, Disney Nature Channel, a subsidiary of Disney, will cooperate with their documentary department to jointly produce two documentaries, namely "Born in China", which introduces some wild animals and natural landscapes living in China, and in the introduction. "China on the Bite of the Tongue" of Chinese cuisine.

The latter is of course Ryan's idea, and these are just part of a series of cooperation plans during this trip to China.

In the next ten years, China will inevitably become the world's largest economy. This huge market is equally important to Disney's industrial layout.

In fact, in the past few years, apart from the film and television industry, Disney has infiltrated various industries in China. Many agreements signed by Ryan during this trip are the result of long-term public relations negotiations.

Most of these are concentrated in the booming consumer goods business. UU Reading Disney has spread all the categories of life that Chinese consumers may need in the form of brand authorization.

Stationery and clothing with patterns such as Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear appeared in many stores in China. From authorizing Lianzhong Stationery to develop Mickey and Princess series of student supplies, to Disney's establishment of Disney Pictures Far East Development Co., Ltd. in Shanghai The company, from Disney and'ct' Treasures of Nature launched children's candy in China to the upcoming construction of a theme park in Shanghai, and this time the cooperation with national television...

Disney is improving its industrial layout in China in a fast and stable manner.

Among them, the Shanghai Disneyland project is very important. Theme parks mean hotels, shopping areas, DVDs, games, derivatives and more. This opens a larger window for Disney to enter China further, even a " shortcut".

In addition, Disney will try the model of direct sales in several first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and cooperate with KFC, McDonald’s and large department stores in China to sell its own products. Disney will also sell its own products for Winnie Winnie and many other toys. Cooperate with Chinese companies to develop new product lines and put these relatively low-cost products into these channels. (To be continued) ()