Crisis in the Kingdom

A warning inside Splash Mountain
applies outside the Disney world as well

As a whole, the Disney company has done a pretty good job at managing scandals and crises throughout its existence. It's not to say that negative stories don't exist - because they certainly do - but the Walt Disney Company has handled situations calmly, professionally, and, often, privately, settling matters before they become unstoppably viral and taint the entire reputation of the brand.

Jim Lewis

Disney Vacation Club hasn't faced a lot scandal in its limited years of existence, and what might be considered its most serious crisis happened just a few months ago. Problems surrounding the sale of Aulani, their new resort in Hawaii, prompted the removal of three top Disney officials, including Jim Lewis, then president of the Disney Vacation Club.

Less than two weeks before the resort was scheduled to welcome its first visitors, sales of DVC contracts for Aulani were halted in August due to financial issues for resort management, as reported by many media outlets including the Orlando Sentinel. Dues, paid by members annually for maintenance of their home resorts, were reportedly set too low during the initial sales period, and would not be sufficient to operate the beautiful resort.

The issue has since been resolved, with original contract holders compensated for the higher dues and new contracts including appropriate costs, but this crisis was an interesting one to witness as an established DVC member. As previously discussed, DVC generally concentrates on their marketing efforts rather than communicating with their stakeholders and potential members about more serious news and topics. Without a lot of crisis management history to draw from, this continued throughout the trouble this summer as well.

Claire Bilby, casting a shadow
that looks like Mickey Mouse

With social networking and instant communication, however, fans and members began discussing the topic on various message boards well before it became "public" knowledge in the media. Most of the discussion included questions about why the sale of Aulani was put on hold, with speculation running rampant about possibilities. It was not until Claire Bilby was announced as Jim Lewis' replacement that any official news about the change in leadership was announced.

To be fair, there were legal circumstances preventing DVC from releasing all the details of what caused the problems at Aulani and the shake up in leadership, though I'm sure Disney was also protecting their brand, particularly in light of the plans for DVC expansion starting with Aulani.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Ms. Bilby!

Let's get back to the strategies in crisis management, however. Without a dedicated blog or clear communication channel specifically for investors, government or the community, DVC was mute on the topic until a resolution was reached and plans were in place to compensate those impacted by the trouble. An announcement celebrating Claire Bilby's appointment was delivered to the email of all DVC members a few days after the media was introduced to her in her new role, though no mention was made of the delay in sales at Aulani. Anyone who was not actively seeking out DVC information or looking to purchase points at Aulani was likely to be completely oblivious to the reasons behind Bilby's promotion.

I think the most important strategy in a crisis, particularly like the one DVC has just weathered, is honesty. Honesty, in my opinion, demonstrates confidence by the company - they're not afraid to tell you what's going on because they're sure they can fix it. With that being said, I don't think it's necessary to wave red flags at a group of people who aren't immediately concerned with or impacted by the issues at hand. For those asking questions, appropriate answers should be provided - for example, many DVC members, like these, reported frustration caused by confusion and a lack of answers by their guides.

Going back to my earlier blogs about how the public impacts the DVC brand, I think it is again important to note that Disney and DVC are not an interchangeable entity when it comes to their stakeholders. While fans of the Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney World in particular, are engaged in the name and the faith they have in the brand, DVC members literally take on ownership of it. It's not always enough to feed them (well, us) pixie dust and Mickey ice cream bars (I speak for others - for me, food shaped like Mickey generally IS enough) because they're just as interested in the inner workings of the division.

Now, on the other hand, the greatest DVC crisis I've ever been personally impacted by? I call it "THE DROUGHT". Nearly eight LOOOOONG months since my last visit home.

And I'll be taking care of that crisis myself next week. Stay tuned.

Let the Memories Begin!!