News Asad Ayaz Named Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company

[DCBaker]

From the release:

The Walt Disney Company today announced the creation of a new enterprise marketing and brand organization designed to align the company’s industry-leading marketing teams more closely across its businesses and strengthen how Disney connects with consumers around the world. Asad Ayaz has been named Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company and will lead the organization.

The new enterprise marketing organization will harness the collective strength of marketing teams across the company to support a more connected approach to how Disney reaches audiences, elevates its campaigns, and advances the business goals of each segment and the company as a whole.

“Over more than two decades at the company – and as Disney’s first-ever Chief Brand Officer – Asad has helped bring the magic of Disney to life for millions through his exceptional leadership,” said The Walt Disney Company’s 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, and Asad is the perfect fit.”

“Asad is an exceptional creative leader with strong strategic and operational prowess and deep experience across Disney and its brands, and we are excited for what we will accomplish together as we strengthen the connection between Disney and audiences around the world,” said Disney Entertainment Co-Chairs Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro in a joint statement.

Ayaz assumes this new role after eight years as President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios, and leading marketing for Disney+. As Chief Brand Officer since 2023, he also oversees company-wide brand efforts, alliances, and events, and stewarding Disney’s iconic brands and franchises globally.

The new unified marketing organization will build on Ayaz’s marketing and brand leadership, connecting shared capabilities and modern marketing tools across the company to create greater continuity and agility, and to further enhance and innovate in the ways Disney engages consumers enterprise-wide. Ayaz will report to CEO Bob Iger as Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, and to the segment chairs in leading marketing efforts across the company’s business units.

https://investors.thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/news-details/2026/The-Walt-Disney-Company-Establishes-New-Enterprise-Marketing-Organization-Names-Asad-Ayaz-Chief-Marketing-and-Brand-Officer/

 

[HauntedPirate]

Stumbling upwards. Studios marketing has been, arguably, below average for years. So the answer, obviously, is to promote the marketing chief to a newly-created position overseeing all marketing efforts. Maybe parks marketing will suck even more now? *shudder*

 

[monothingie]

Stumbling upwards. Studios marketing has been, arguably, below average for years. So the answer, obviously, is to promote the marketing chief to a newly-created position overseeing all marketing efforts. Maybe parks marketing will suck even more now? *shudder*

He's doing Great!

But in all fairness to him, you can't put lipstick on a pig. With the turds Disney has been turning out over the past 5 years, there's only so much marketing can do...except spend lots of money.

 

[MisterPenguin]

He's doing Great!
View attachment 902823

But in all fairness to him, you can't put lipstick on a pig. With the turds Disney has been turning out over the past 5 years, there's only so much marketing can do...except spend lots of money.

Funny how they can have subs and revenue go up while having a lesser percentage of viewing.

It's almost as if Netflix became super popular because being the first to offer streaming; and almost as if every other service (Apple+, Amazon+, Paramount+, Peacock+) which were a few years behind Disney and Netflix in getting into world wide streaming have finally caught up.

But if this can be construed as "Disney Bad!" Sure. Go with that.

 

[monothingie]

Funny how they can have subs and revenue go up while having a lesser percentage of viewing.

Price Increases...Many of them.
Hulu/ESPN/D+ all count as unique subscribers.
Massive number of wholesale accounts.

It's almost as if Netflix became super popular because being the first to offer streaming; and almost as if every other service (Apple+, Amazon+, Paramount+, Peacock+) which were a few years behind Disney and Netflix in getting into world wide streaming have finally caught up.

But if this can be construed as "Disney Bad!" Sure. Go with that.

So that's the goal post move now. Netflix was there first therefore everyone else is behind. Never mind that the product sucks and that most people on the platform watch Bluey instead of the ridiculously expensive slop that's put out.

Now explain Tubi being just as big in terms of views and subs and is newer than all of the above.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So that's the goal post move now.

Reciting the actual history of the rise of streaming services isn't goal post moving.

Goal post moving would to include in the group being talked about some other thing that doesn't belong to that group, for example, if you would mention a free ad-supported service to muddy the waters. Oh, wait...

Now explain Tubi being just as big in terms of views and subs and is newer than all of the above.

 

[monothingie]

Reciting the actual history of the rise of streaming services isn't goal post moving.

Sure it is.

It's just the latest cope to justify something that cost billions to bring to market that has failed to deliver.

Goal post moving would to include in the group being talked about some other thing that doesn't belong to that group, for example, if you would mention a free ad-supported service to muddy the waters. Oh, wait...

New product, cost a fraction to develop, has just as many subscribers and is more profitable than D+. Sounds like someone picked the wrong business model for DTC.

 

[BrianLo]

Goal post moving would to include

The goalposts were set a 2-3 years ago in conversations with you both and they’ve all been exceeded.

The 2023 position was that it couldn’t be profitable, the 2024 position was that it would be meagrely wandering between 100-200M to a loss between various quarters.

It’s subtlety placed, but based on their forward guidance of an operating margin of 10% of DTC for this fiscal year… By July that puts it on track for 2.4B of income (600Mx4) over four quarters. We’re really not far out from that turning into a billion a quarter. Recall the ultimate remaining goalposts are that it could not recuperate the upstart costs (it will) or that it also could never overtake linear (it will).