NEW Executive Position Will Focus on “Elevating the Disney Brand”

Tons of executive changes are happening at the Walt Disney Company.

One divisive executive has had their position cut, others have newly joined the Company, and some will be leaving soon. But now we’ve got more news from the Disney Company and this time the update relates to an entirely NEW position.

Asad Ayaz (the current Walt Disney Studios President of Marketing) has officially become the FIRST-EVER “Chief Brand Officer” of the Walt Disney Company. His placement in this new position is effective immediately and the new role was announced by Bob Iger.

According to Disney, as Chief Brand Officer Ayaz will report to Iger and will be responsible for “stewarding and elevating the Disney brand globally across the entire ecosystem of company touchpoints and consumer experiences.”

As the Brand Officer, Ayaz will work on “holistic brand marketing campaigns, activate the brand internally and externally through partnerships, and provide guidance and alignment for the company’s digital and social media strategy and presence.” He’ll also “lead a global consumer research and analytics function focused on Disney’s brands and franchises that will inform actionable cross-platform initiatives.”

But wait, there’s more. One of Ayaz’s responsibilities will be to oversee the Disney100 campaign, and his work on that has already begun. It was actually Ayaz who led the creation of the Disney100 Special Look spot that was in the Super Bowl. Yes, that one that might have already made you cry.

Ayaz will continue in his existing role too — President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios. He’s been in that role since 2018. In that position, he’ll continue to “oversee all aspects of marketing for films and series from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios.”

And it seems like Ayaz will be busy because he was recently named to lead marketing for Disney+ globally as well.

According to Disney, Ayaz is an “18-year Disney veteran” and has “developed and led marketing campaigns for some of the most successful film releases in history” including Black Panther, Avatar: The Way of Water, Frozen 2, and more.

Iger said the following about Ayaz: “Asad is an exceptional creative leader with a deep understanding of what Disney means to millions of people around the world.”

It is interesting to see this new position created aimed at “elevating the Disney brand.” In the past, Disney has been ranked #1 in brand intimacy in MBLM’s Brand Intimacy Study. That study looks at how brands affect our emotions. Being ranked #1 means that more people have a stronger emotional connection to Disney than they do to any other brand in the world.

But in 2022, we also shared some updates from the Axios Harris Poll 100, which looks at visible brands in America and ranks them based on survey results with questions on trust, ethics, growth, products/service citizenship, vision, and culture. That survey revealed that Disney’s reputation was falling fast. It had been at number 37 in 2021 but dropped to 65 by 2022.

At the time, Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema said, “Disney’s about-face shows the reputational hit that comes when the public perceives you as being calculating rather than clear in what you believe in and stand for.”

With accusations of reportedly promoting a “woke agenda,” battles with the Governor of Florida, lawsuits from Passholders on the Park Pass system, and some less-than-stellar movie performances at the box office, Iger may be focused more now than ever on “elevating” the Disney brand on a global level.

Plus, executing holistic brand marketing campaigns may help Disney connect parts of its business in a way it usually doesn’t (it reminds us a bit of some of the ideas behind the Disney Amazon Prime-style membership that has been scrapped and the focus on “synergy” that Chapek seemed to have).

It will be interesting to see what impact this role has on the Company in the future. We’ll be on the lookout for more updates and share those with you.

What do you think about this new position? Tell us in the comments.