Battle of the Online Brands

Abstract

The Walt Disney Company attempted to establish its Go Network as a viable brand name Internet portal that would serve as an integral vehicle to cross-promote its array of content and services online. The Go Network’s subsequent collapse occurred several months after Disney settled a vexing trademark lawsuit brought by the rival GoTo portal site, and more curiously, just days after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved America Online’s (AOL’s) acquisition of Time Warner. However, this analysis calls into question Disney’s cross-promotional strategies via the Go Network as well as its inability to establish a prominent brand name for the portal and posits that these factors contributed more appreciably to the Go Network’s failure.