Canadians Waddle Into Cold Cash With Penguins
Posted August 2, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
From March Of The Penguins to Happy Feet, the animal with the famous waddle has been getting a lot of attention this year, but on Thursday, penguins made their biggest splash yet.
A Kelowna, B.C. based company and owner of the online pre-teen phenomenon Club Penguin sold its popular children’s website to Walt Disney Co. for US$350 million late Wednesday night.
The online hangout features games and puzzles for kids from all corners of the globe to play together. Visitors to the site adopt a penguin character, give it a name and wander into an animated community filled with games, accessories and conversation. Most of the site is free, but a club membership — $5.95USD a month or $57.95USD a year — allows users to buy their penguins clothes and furnish their igloos.
Club Penguin nearly tripled its usage in the United States during the past year.
It’s this sharp spike that sparked the sale to Disney, and the new partnership will allow the company to branch into non-English-speaking countries.
“There’s a real demand there. When kids are taking the time to translate it themselves, they obviously want the service in their own language,” said Lane Merrifield, one of the site’s three founders and chief executive officer.
“We didn’t have the infrastructure to build multiple languages on our own.”
The sale will also mean that the Penguin Club site will become more of a branded enterprise.
“We plan to add the Disney brand to it,” said Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group. “It has phenomenal credibility. It’s a great, safe environment. We think there’s a significant opportunity to increase the awareness for Club Penguin.”
Disney has wasted no time on promoting the site. Club Penguin is already on the Disney.com website. Expect to see it advertised at its parks and resorts, said Wadsworth.
“Disney . . . has the capability to bring it everywhere. We see a compelling opportunity in Latin America, Asia and Europe.”
