Posted on :
8:24 AM
| By :
Paul Richardson
As I was heading off to Disneyland Paris a couple of weeks ago for family holiday, a business colleague sent me a short email: "enjoy the hols and stay away from Mickey Mouse - he's a money grabber!" I am not sure that he is right. There certainly is a huge opportunity to empty your wallet. It has become an annual ritual for our gang, with a burn rate of a grand a day, all in. Good value nevertheless. As long as you know how to measure value.
Is he a money grabber? No, he is a brand building genius. Creates desire better than Steve Jobs. And the share price has gained 30% over the last six months, outperforming the Dow and FTSE 100.
And Mickey has it all. The castle, the dancers, and the adoring fans.
Interesting post - how do you measure the value? £1000 a day to entertain the kids at Disneyland or £0 for a walk in the woods to look for mushrooms? Mickey is a phenomenon and returns to shareholders is certainly a decent measure of value, particularly as the little character was created so long ago. But as a family day out? Unconvinced of Berkshire.
Dear Unconvinced
You make an interesting point. I could fill a new blog in attempt to respond... maybe next week! I am glad you picked up on my many observations of value. For me in this case, it is of course perceived value - as perceived by me, or by me on behalf of my family. A walk in the woods is great value indeed, but the cost I refered to is for a family of six, in a 5 star hotel, meals, flights,etc etc. The real value comes from the rarity and uniqeness of the experience, combined with the lasting memories, and much much more. For a family holiday is was good value. But, alas, I may live in a deluded self-indulgent contorted post-boom world... But I like it. Signed, Getting Value Always.