OverviewBased at the regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Simon George is responsible for directing the marketing strategies for Disney channelsacross the region, and overseeing the development of television franchises by working closely with other divisions of The Walt DisneyCompany. He joined the Company from Cartoon Network in October 2006 with extensive experience in marketing, brand management and commercial exploitation. His first major project in Asia -franchise management for the phenomenon that is High School Musical, and its highlyanticipated sequel High School Musical 2.ChannelsThe Company distributes four Disney Channels, two Playhouse Disney channels, and one Jetix/ Toon Disney Channel across the Asia Pacific. Disney branded programming is seen in 19 markets in 9 languages, reaching 380 million households in the region. Creative AgenciesWDTVI does not use one creative agency for the region, each market uses an appropriate agency as part of the Company's overall 'think global, act local strategy'. The decision to move the focus away from Singapore as the creative hub was not so much evolutionary, more a strategic shift to talk to our audiences directly.Media Buying AgenciesMedia-buying tends to involve buying ad hoc, predominantly print and outdoor.Public Relations AgenciesWDTVI has an in-house PR team with very strong local operations that are very much integrated into the marketing team as a whole. The Company also uses PR agencies in some markets.Current Marketing ActivitiesThis very much depends on the life-cycle stage of a particular channel, and the level of maturity of pay-TV distribution in a particular market. For example in Hong Kong and more mature markets, our marketing activity is increasingly focused on the consumer; in China, the emphasis is on distribution; in Taiwan, there is a need to service the affiliates and ensure the advertisers are kept happy ratings-wise.Current Focus MarketsWithout ignoring the obvious potential in China, and India, due to sheer market size alone, established markets are no less important. In Southeast Asia alone, there are half a billion people not being serviced.Case StudyHigh School Musical – some key factsAt a meeting with analysts in December 2006, The Walt Disney Company said High School Musical is projected to generate $500 million in total retail sales. And over 2006 and 2007, it is expected to provide approximately $100 million in contribution to operating income for The Walt Disney Company as a whole.High School Musical has been seen by over 170 million unique viewers worldwide, including 19 million in Asia-Pacific, in over 100 countries and territories. The property has delivered the network's best-ever results for a Disney Channel Original Movie, beating both pay TV channels and free-to-air networks across the Asia Pacific. Its numerous awards include two Emmy Awards, The Television Critics Association Award, a DGA Award and an Imagen Award. Thinking global, acting localIn Australia, kids voted High School Musical 'Best Movie' at 2006 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards; and in New Zealand, it was voted 'Fave Movie and Music Video' at 2006 TV2 Kid's Own Awards. The soundtrack received a Billboard Music Award for Soundtrack of the Year, and it made it into the Guinness World Record Book as the first TV movie to deliver nine concurrent singles on the Billboard Hot100 chart. Global soundtrack sales total 7 million, including triple platinum in New Zealand and Philippines, platinum in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and gold in Taiwan resulting in over 363,000 soundtrack albums sold to date.It is the industry's fastest-selling TV movie on DVD of all-time in the U.S. To date, sales of DVD have reached 7.8 million globally, including more than 400,000 across Asia-Pacific.Over 100 licensed products will be in store by the end of 2007.High School Musical 2Work was in progress toward the sequel ever since the first High School Musical, meaning everything could be better planned and better prepared. Due to franchise management, more localization has been factored in from the outset. This includes more dubbed content, localization of the soundtrack, on-the-ground events and driving tune-in – across all divisions. It was part of the global strategy to try and ensure the premiere dates worldwide were close as possible to the show's debut in the US. Apart from content and additional material from the US, local interstitials were developed including local music videos, partnerships with local music artistes, and local/regional applications of the website. Shortening the window between the US and Asian premieres is also partly an anti-piracy measure – within three days of the US debut, the pirated DVD was available on the streets of Asia. High School Musical 2 (HSM2), having debuted in the US on August 14, aired in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong on September 9 2007. Australia and New Zealand followed on September 22, Taiwan on September 24 and India will see it on December 9. The HSM2 soundtrack was released globally on August 14 globally, including Asia-Pacific, excepting Taiwan (Aug 31), Australia (September 8) and India (October). HSM 2 will be available in eight local languages across the region.Four tracks are localized and sung by six Asian artistes from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines. These High School Musical online game localized songs will be included in the original soundtrack in their respective markets. Music videos featuring the local artistes have also been produced for each of these tracks and will air on Disney Channel as well as other music channels and freeto- air broadcasters. For India, the entire HSM2 soundtrack will be dubbed into Hindi and will be used for the television premiere in place of the English versions, making it 100% Hindi. And in China, where the first High School Musical aired on CCTV 6 August 18, two HSM1 trackshave been localized: 'Breaking Free' sung by Anson Hu and Stephy Tang, 'We're All in This Together', sung by GoGo Club.High School Musical- themed dancecompetitionsIn October last year, India was the first country to launch anInterschool group-dance competition drawing the inspiration fromHigh School Musical. Entitled 'My School Rocks', it was the biggest-ever inter-school dance competition in India, attracting over 250 schools. The winning team was featured in professional music videochoreographed by renowned Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan and aired on Disney Channel. In October 2007, 'My School Rocks' is back again in India for HSM 2 with the goal of increasing the number ofparticipating schools. For HSM 2, the concept of this dance competition was extended to other markets - Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. In Taiwan, the 'Dance to Summer' Competition saw kids and teens invited to form their own teams and join the competition with their own choreographed version of any HSM songs. The competition attracted nearly 120 teams. Semi-finals were held in three major cities in Taiwan from July 20 –22, 2007; final was held on September 1 in Taipei. Taiwanese kids and families were invited to vote online for their favourite team, the results of which contributed to the final championship. In Malaysia, the 'My School Rocks, inter-school dance competition saw school teams across the country invited to choreograph their own dance version of the High School Musical song 'We're All in ThisTogether.' Auditions took place in four cities between August18 and 26, attracting nearly 220 entries. The winner will be chosen online by all kids and families in Malaysia, and the grand prize is to make a professionally choreographed music video of the HSM2 song'What Time Is It?', which will be broadcast across Southeast Asia on Disney Channel. In addition, funding will be granted to their school to support its music/ dance curriculum, for their use in a musical production or a dance workshop.In Singapore, the 'My School Rocks' inter-school dance competition attracted 120 competing teams. Each had to choreograph an original dance performance to either 'We're all in this together' or 'Get'cha head in the game'. Auditions were held September 1-5, 2007; withthe Final held on September 8, 2007 at Plaza Singapura Atrium. The winning team, selected by the judges at the final, will be featured on Disney Channel and also receive funding to support their school's music/dance curriculum.Mid-September, 2007, saw all markets (Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and India) launch an enhanced version of an online viral game called 'Dance Off' for HSM2, on their respective Disney Channel local websites. The game was originally developed in 2006 to creatively celebrate the 'dancing' component of the first 'High School Musical'. Users were encouraged to design and create their own dance steps, and then forward the entire movement to their friends to challenge one another. It not only helped strengthen awareness for High School Musical, it also generated Kary Ng and Justin Lo Anson Hu and Stephy Tang GoGo Club Show Lo Vince Chong and Jaclyn Victortremendous online traffic for the entire channel.High School Musical 2 – the ratingsIn Singapore, against all subscription TV and free-to-air programs, High School Musical 2 was the #1 telecast among all people with cable on its premiere day. Among kids 4-14 in subscription TV homes, the movie achieved a rating of 22.11 and a share of 48.5% signifying that almost half of kids in this demographic watching TV tuned into the movie.In Malaysia, High School Musical 2 was the #1 telecast among Astro kids 6-14 on the day it premiered against all channels (pay-TV or free-to-air). It posted an 11.03 rating and a 26.6% share of kids 6-14 years old in subscription TV households.The debut of High School Musical 2 in Hong Kong ranked #1 in its timeslot, beating all other pay TV channels in the territory amongst all people as well as kids aged 4-14 with pay TV.High School Musical 2 premiered in the US with record- breaking ratings attracting over 17 million viewers to become the most-watched cable telecast of all time in total viewers. The High School Musical 2 soundtrack which debuted at no. 1 in the US Billboard 200 album chart, is now Gold in Malaysia and Singapore.(Sources: AGB Nielsen Media Research Malaysia, TNS Singapore and CSM Media Research Hong Kong)What's next?Walt Disney Studios is in evelopment of a feature film to e released in 2008. It is also in evelopment of an interpretation f High School Musical for a eature film in India and another n Latin America. Aspects of he story (i.e. cricket and soccer nstead of basketball) will be hanged.

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