Penguin Power!!!

When Bob Igeer announced the three strategic pillars that would lead The Walt Disney Company in the 21st century, the terms "creativity,""technological innovation" and international expansion" were revitalized in the fabric of our business. And these strategies are centainly reflected in the remarkable success of Club Penguin, the snow-covered virtual world that launched four years ago and joined The Walt Disney Company in August 2007.
Since its creation, Club Penguin has become known as one of the largest, safest and fastest-growing online communities for families. Millions of players have logged on to the award-winning experience to create their own penguins,which they can use in single and multi-player activities- ranging from a friendly snowball fight to writing a book that others can read.
Just this month, Club Penguin added a successful Spanish version of the community to the existing English, Portuguese and French ones- a testament to the Web site's strong global reputation. "We had close to a million Spanish-speaking players before we even launched in Spanish," says Lane Merrifield, executive vice president, Disney Online Studios, and co-founder of Club Penguin. "It's important to be able to give the global audience the same experience, to feel supported and listened to."
And growth is still on the horizon. "We often characterize our global expansion as not as much trying to go out there to build an audience, but frankly following the audience," Lane continues, hinting that we can expect Club Penguin to adopt even more languages.
Since joining the Disney family, the franchise has also benefited from a successful line of merchandising, including expansions onto Nintendo DS, and a new presence in the Disney Parks.
Still, Lane's team remains committed to developing new content each week to support an ever-evolving story. "Things that are dreamed up in a meeting room are being implemented... two or three weeks later," Lane explains. " And so it really is... almost real-time storytelling."
Lane, whose first job was as a Disneyland Resort entertainment Cast Member, likens Club Penguin to Walt's own vision; "The best ideas come from the kids themselves. So not only are we able to tap into our own imaginations, but we're able to take Walt's dream one step futher and tap into the imagination of our global audience."
And perhaps, just like Walt's Disneyland, Club Penguin will never be complete, as long as there's imagination let in the world!



DR LEE