Table of Contents

Full Details: Disney Creates Connected Marketing Organisation

What Changed

Disney has established a new enterprise-wide marketing and brand organisation to unify and align its previously segmented marketing teams — covering brands and businesses spanning entertainment, sports and experiences — under one connected structure. (The Walt Disney Company)

The goal: deliver more consistent, seamless, and strategically coordinated global marketing, strengthen how Disney connects with consumers worldwide, and advance the business objectives of each segment as well as the company as a whole. (The Walt Disney Company)

Leadership: Asad Ayaz Appointed

Asad Ayaz has been named Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, the first time Disney has formalised this role at the corporate level. (The Walt Disney Company)
Ayaz previously served as Disney’s Chief Brand Officer and spent eight years as President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios and oversaw campaigns for Disney+ programming and global franchises. (The Walt Disney Company)
In his expanded role, he will report directly to CEO Bob Iger and work with the heads of Disney’s key business units to lead the unified marketing agenda. (The Walt Disney Company)

Why This Matters: Strategic Objectives

1. Driving Brand Consistency Across a Massive Portfolio

Disney’s operations now span:

Films, TV and streaming platforms
Theme parks and Disney Experiences
ESPN and live sports
Consumer products and global franchises

A connected marketing organization aims to ensure consistent messaging, positioning and consumer experiences across all these touchpoints — from a blockbuster movie launch to park experiences and merchandise. (The Walt Disney Company)

2. Improved Consumer Engagement & Seamless Experiences

The new structure is designed to:

Deliver cohesive campaigns that move fluidly across segments
Eliminate duplicative or siloed marketing efforts
Make it easier for consumers to discover, engage and interact with Disney’s wide range of products and experiences in a unified way
This is especially relevant in an era where audiences expect connected brand experiences across digital and physical platforms. (The Walt Disney Company)

3. Greater Agility & Operational Continuity

By sharing capabilities such as data analytics, creative resources, and planning tools across business units, the new organisation aims to:

Reduce friction in campaign execution
Accelerate time to market for cross-company initiatives
Enable smarter, data-informed decisions company-wide
This shift reflects a broader marketplace trend toward integrated marketing operations rather than segmented silos. (MARKETECH APAC)

Key Corporate Comments

From Disney CEO Bob Iger

“As our businesses have evolved, it’s clear that we need a company-wide role that ensures brand consistency and allows consumers today to seamlessly interact with our wonderful products and experiences… The Chief Marketing and Brand Officer role is critical for this moment.” (The Walt Disney Company)

This underscores Disney’s intention that the organisation not only coordinate campaigns but also champion cohesive brand storytelling across all divisions. (The Walt Disney Company)

From Segment Leaders

A joint statement by leadership from Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Experiences described Ayaz as an “exceptional creative leader” whose experience will enable the company to strengthen its connection with audiences around the world. (The Walt Disney Company)

Case Studies & Context: What This Signals Internally

Although this is a recent structural change, several observable patterns and earlier initiatives provide context on how the new setup might affect Disney’s business:

Case Study 1 — Marketing Integration Ahead of Major Content Launches

Disney’s previous segmented marketing model often meant that film, streaming and theme parks operated loosely even for shared franchises. For example:

Recent global campaigns for major releases (e.g., “Avatar: The Way of Water” or Disney+ originals) occasionally revealed disjointed messaging across platforms.
A unified marketing structure under Ayaz could help ensure one coherent global narrative that spans theatrical, streaming and brand experiences without mixed signals — particularly useful for franchise films tied to parks or merchandise. (Reuters)

Commentary:
Industry analysts see this as a method to reduce complexity and increase impact when releasing major franchises that cut across multiple parts of the Disney ecosystem.

Case Study 2 — Consolidating Disney+ and Hulu Marketing

Long before this company-wide unite was announced, Disney was already merging streaming marketing teams (e.g., Disney+ and Hulu), indicating a shift toward integrated promotional strategy across content platforms. (What’s On Disney Plus)

Commentary:
This pattern points to an ongoing trend toward centralised marketing leadership — not isolated to streaming — that the new enterprise organisation now formalises at corporate level.

Strategic Implications for Disney

1. Stronger Consumer Connections

Disney is betting that a connected marketing unit will generate:

Better brand recall
Higher audience engagement
More efficient use of global marketing budgets
This is key as Disney competes with global streaming and entertainment rivals while also operating theme parks and consumer products at scale. (The Walt Disney Company)

2. Alignment with Business Strategy

Marketing is now explicitly tied to business outcomes and strategic leadership, rather than functioning as separate teams. This means marketing will:

Directly support business units’ revenue goals
Inform product launches and consumer touchpoint design
By aligning marketing with enterprise goals, Disney aims for brand unity and business impact. (The Walt Disney Company)

3. Tighter Cross-Segment Collaboration

Marketing leaders will now coordinate:

Theme park promotions with film and streaming content
Franchise merchandise with global media campaigns
This holistic approach has the potential to unlock synergies across divisions previously operating in parallel. (The Walt Disney Company)

Final Take

Disney’s creation of a connected marketing organisation helmed by a dedicated Chief Marketing and Brand Officer reflects both:

Growing complexity in how audiences consume media and experiences
A need for unified, seamless brand messaging across products, platforms and regions

By consolidating marketing teams and elevating leadership, Disney aims to future-proof its brand strategy amid evolving consumer expectations and competitive pressures. (The Walt Disney Company)

Here’s a case-study-style breakdown with real examples and expert commentary on Walt Disney’s decision to create a connected, enterprise-wide marketing organisation to better align its marketing efforts with the wider business — including illustrative context about what this change means for Disney’s operations and brand strategy:

Overview: Disney’s New Enterprise Marketing Organisation

In January 2026, The Walt Disney Company announced the creation of a new enterprise marketing and brand organisation designed to unify and align marketing teams across its major business segments — from film studios and streaming to theme parks, sports, and consumer products. As part of this move, Disney appointed Asad Ayaz as its first Chief Marketing and Brand Officer to lead this connected marketing function. (The Walt Disney Company)

Strategic Aims: Why Disney Made the Change

1. Deliver Brand Consistency Across a Vast Portfolio

Disney’s sprawling business includes:

Film studios (Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation)
Streaming platforms (Disney+, Hulu)
Theme parks & experiences (Parks, Cruises, Resorts)
Sports & consumer products

Under the old model, marketing teams were largely siloed by segment, meaning campaign strategies and brand voice could vary widely and miss opportunities for synergy. The new organisation aims to ensure consistent global messaging and a seamless experience across all consumer touchpoints. (The Walt Disney Company)

CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

Case Study 1 — Disney’s Film & Streaming Integration

Previously, marketing for theatrical releases (e.g., Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash) was often planned by separate studio teams, while streaming campaigns operated independently. This sometimes led to fragmented messaging and missed cross-promotion opportunities between box office hits and Disney+ content.
With Ayaz’s new marketing leadership — who has previously overseen both film marketing and Disney+ campaigns — Disney can now plan holistic launch campaigns that sync theatrical, streaming, and merchandise efforts. This helps maximize audience reach and revenue across multiple platforms. (Variety Australia)

Insight: Bringing these teams together means Disney can coordinate one message that serves theatrical releases, streaming debuts, and related consumer products or theme park experiences — increasing consumer engagement and brand resonance.

Case Study 2 — Theme Parks Meets Global Media Campaigns

In the past, Disney’s parks marketing function operated separately from its entertainment marketing arms. For example, a big movie release might drive new characters into park attractions, but the marketing efforts were not always tightly integrated to fully leverage that connection.

Under the unified marketing structure, campaigns can now be designed to connect movie narratives directly with park experiences — for instance, driving theme park attendance using characters and themes from films that are currently trending on streaming services or in theaters. (The Walt Disney Company)

Insight: This creates a 360° engagement loop — where entertainment content promotes park visits, and park experiences, in turn, reinforce interest in Disney media and merchandise.

Executive Commentary & Industry Reactions

From Disney Leadership

Bob Iger (CEO):
Iger described the role as critical for the current moment, emphasizing the need for brand consistency and seamless consumer experience across Disney’s offerings. He highlighted that as Disney’s businesses evolve, a centralized marketing leadership structure can help ensure the company’s stories and products connect meaningfully with audiences. (The Walt Disney Company)
Segment Leadership (Entertainment, ESPN, Experiences):
In a joint statement, senior leaders praised Ayaz as an “exceptional creative leader” capable of strengthening Disney’s connection with global audiences across movies, parks, sports, and consumer products. (The Walt Disney Company)

Industry Commentary

Industry analysts note that while Disney has historically had powerful individual marketing teams, the unified structure is designed to eliminate overlaps and boost agility — especially for global campaign planning and data sharing across segments. (martechedge.com)

What This Structural Shift Means in Practice

Centralised Planning + Shared Resources

Shared data insights and analytics — allowing Disney to understand consumer behavior across entertainment, streaming, and parks in one ecosystem rather than in isolated silos. (martechedge.com)
Cross-segment campaign development — enabling launches that simultaneously promote films, shows, products, and experiences. (martechedge.com)
Greater agility — teams can respond faster to trends because decisions don’t require multiple independent approvals across business lines. (mediapost.com)

Challenges & Considerations

Balancing Central Control with Segment Nuance

While centralisation can improve efficiency and brand cohesion, it also means leaders must carefully balance global strategy with local or business-specific needs. Entertainment marketing still requires highly targeted campaigns tailored to specific audiences (e.g., filmgoers vs. theme park visitors). (martechedge.com)

Measuring Cross-Platform Impact

One ongoing challenge will be establishing metrics that accurately reflect performance across segments — especially when success in one business (like streaming) may depend on drivers in another (like theme park attendance or merchandising). (martechedge.com)

Commentary Summary

Area	What Disney Is Trying to Improve	Expected Impact
Brand Consistency	Centralising messaging across films, parks, streaming, products	Stronger global identity & audience recall
Consumer Engagement	Unified campaigns across touchpoints	Higher audience engagement & revenue
Operational Agility	Shared tools, data and leadership	Faster decision-making
Cross-Segment Strategy	Connecting releases with experiences & products	Better ROI on campaigns

Final Take

Disney’s move to create a connected marketing organisation led by Asad Ayaz represents one of the largest shifts in how the company manages its brand and audience engagement. By aligning previously segmented teams under one enterprise-wide strategy:

Disney aims to deliver more cohesive storytelling across all platforms and businesses. (The Walt Disney Company)
It enhances the company’s ability to launch global campaigns that resonate across multiple consumer touchpoints. (mediapost.com)
And it reflects a broader industry trend toward centralised marketing leadership for multifaceted companies. (martechedge.com)