Disney creates connected marketing organisation to better align with wider business
Grace GollaschDisney has promoted Asad Ayaz to the expanded chief marketing and brand officer role to lead the new enterprise-wide organisation.
Disney has promoted Asad Ayaz to the expanded chief marketing and brand officer role to lead the new enterprise-wide organisation.
Disney’s 2025 Christmas short features a young girl and her drawing, which comes to life, voiced by actor John Goodman.
Disney confirmed it will fully integrate Hulu into Disney+ by 2026, replacing the Star brand in international markets with the Hulu brand.
The company admits it “lost a little focus” as it sought to “flood” streaming platform Disney+ with new content.
Despite losing over half a million subscribers in the past three months, Disney’s streaming arm remains profitable.
Disney says it wanted to “create something new” this Christmas, so is moving away from the story of Lola, which it has told since 2021, instead opting for a short film about a boy befriending an octopus.
Disney CFO Hugh Johnson told investors that the growth in consumption and popularity of its offerings gave it the “pricing leverage” needed to make its streaming business profitable.
To get UK audiences into cinemas for blockbuster releases like Deadpool & Wolverine, Disney UK is investing in brand collaborations to ensure it is relevant and front of mind.
Disney has not yet figured out how to balance marketing spend across its streaming services in the way rival Netflix has, CEO Bob Iger admitted.
The founder of investment firm Trian Partners has said Disney is in “crisis”, calling for major changes at the media giant and a seat on its board.
Disney hopes to drive further improvements in consumer sentiment, brand impact and media efficiency with its festive advertising campaign, after achieving strong results last year.
Black Widow’s release on Disney+ alongside cinemas hit the film’s box office revenues, but what Disney wants is proximity to the consumer and the insight that comes with it.
Poised to bring its Star general entertainment brand to the UK, Disney is readying a suite of original content to satisfy its growing 95 million-strong subscriber base.
The combination of the nostalgia-tinged ‘Holidays Are Coming’ and its “heart-warming” ‘The Letter’ ad combined to make Coca-Cola the most effective advertiser in a year when brands found a number of ways to create effective marketing despite the pandemic.
Mickey Mouse takes centre stage in Disney’s first festive campaign, which aims to get the brand and commercial aspects “working in tandem to drive engagement”.