Partners –

Can you believe we are already three weeks into January and have already experienced some of the best NFL wildcard games, enjoyed an incredible National Football weekend, and had a whirlwind week at CES? No one can say that this industry isn’t full of activity and excitement, and that’s just January! We have so much to look forward to as a business and industry in 2023.

Our year started off strong in Las Vegas where my team and I joined partners, vendors, and industry experts back in-person at CES to discuss the future of advertising innovation – encompassing everything from data and insights to automation and measurement, in addition to clean rooms and interoperability. While we were on the ground, we had 100s of meetings and those discussions reinforced that we are on the right track – and emphasized the importance of our continued commitment to driving transformation and delivering performance for you, our partners.

This year marks the third iteration of our Tech & Data Showcase, where we come together to highlight the advancements Disney has made across data, platform technology, programmatic and measurement solutions.

At Disney, we are focused on proving the power of our data and technology solutions driving real results for brands today. We plan to share insights and advancements on our built, not bought, advertising technology solutions; our proprietary Audience Graph and clean room technology, and our approach to measurement. All of which will better serve you in achieving your key business KPIs. I’m excited to have you all join us, tomorrow, January 25 at 2pm, for the presentation and live Q&A with our best-in-class subject matter experts.

Yesterday, I joined EY CMO Practice Leader Janet Balis for a fireside chat focused on our industry, innovation and everything in between. It was the perfect way to kickstart our Tech and Data Showcase week. If you’d like to tune into what Janet and I discussed, a replay can be found on Disney’s Advertising’s LinkedIn.

Disney sits in a unique place in our industry. We are positioned squarely at the intersection of creativity and innovation. When you consider how we connect with a global audience across our media in streaming, linear, digital, social, and couple that with our iconic franchises, sports and entertainment offering, Disney is truly unrivaled.

We’re paving the way for the future of the marketplace, and we do so with you and your businesses in mind. Every single day, not during one season – we are committed to innovating for and with you.

As we march toward our annual milestone moment this May and celebrate more moments of success along the way, we kick off our 52-week Road to Upfront strategy. On May 16, we look forward to hosting all of our partners at the state-of-the-art North Javits Center in New York City to spotlight Disney’s amazing array of entertainment and sports and unveil a few surprises. We’re also excited to share that beloved late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will be returning to the Big Apple to close out our star-studded event.

I’m looking forward to coming together tomorrow for our Tech and Data Showcase, and I hope you all can tune-in to hear more about what we have planned for Disney Advertising in 2023.

We’ve got an exciting year ahead of us, and we look forward to our continued expansion on the great work we are already doing together.

Partners,

2022 is off to a roaring start and we’re feeling incredibly optimistic.

Disney Advertising is just three weeks away from our Tech and Data Week, culminating with our previously announced second annual Tech & Data Showcase on Thursday, March 3.

Our approach has always been show and prove – our ability to drive results for clients by embracing technology, data, and creativity demonstrates the power of our portfolio at every turn. Within the coming months and years, the investments in our proprietary audience graph, audience targeting solutions, viewer-first experiences, cross-platform planning, optimization, and measurement will continue to transform our business, as well as yours. The team and I can’t wait to detail the progress on the technology and data strategy we formally rolled out last year, and of course unveil some exciting new announcements as well. See you March 3 at 2 pm ET.

We sit in a very unique place in our industry and one thing is clear; Disney is unrivaled. We’re unrivaled in the way we do business with our partners. We know that results matter to your business – our performance and effectiveness metrics speak for themselves. To better serve you, our clients, we are committed to powering an always-on approach through consultative, audience-first solutions differentiated by deep data insights and best-in-class technology. That, combined with our unrivaled studio and entertainment content, storytelling, the power of live and top-tier sports rights across our leading content and video destinations, are unmatched. This is our commitment 365 days a year, not only during Upfront season. That’s what our consumers expect.

As industry leaders, we use our unique position in the global media ecosystem to make the industry more inclusive and representative, and we recognize that this work is never complete. We prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion because it’s a business imperative and key to innovation, creativity and more representative storytelling. Many of you have been alongside us in this journey over the last two years, and we’re excited to share more about our work together in the coming months.

Disney has a century’s worth of experience bringing bold storytelling to audiences around the world. We’re taking the same spirit of creativity and innovation that has defined The Walt Disney Company for nearly 100 years, and applying it to technology to build the most advanced, data-informed ad portfolio ever created. We’ve amassed the largest and most impactful consumer base across all platforms. On April 6, you’ll see our continued commitments to the best sports rights when we host our Annual Sports Summit; and investments in original programming that fuel our partnerships with the advertising community at an intimate Storytellers Showcase on April 25.

On Tuesday, May 17 we’ll transform Basketball City, Pier 36, to deliver an Upfront event unlike anything you’ve ever seen from Disney. Be prepared for more unrivaled content and an incomparable experience in an entirely new venue!

We are poised for a terrific year with your partnership. Thank you for meeting this moment with excitement, imagination, and dedication. There’s much more to come.

It has been 241 days since the death of George Floyd.

241 days since the injustice of one man’s senseless death has ignited the greatest global social movement we have seen in our lifetimes. His death, and countless others, revealed to the world the utter depth and breadth of systemic racism – galvanizing people of all creeds to collectively start the work of dismantling it. Even more, news of more senseless violence against Black people, and stark examples of unequal treatment, demonstrate the cyclical and perpetual severity of these problems. These inequalities and deeply-rooted biases permeate and affect our communities and various industries of work – and unfortunately, the advertising industry is not exempt.

And for the past 241 days, those of us in Disney Advertising have undergone our own personal reckoning and reawakening, as we’ve become more aware of how systemic racism impacts us all. While some progress has been made in the past, we need to dig deeper and build upon our past efforts to create new habits, a new culture, and a new system of inclusion.

In order to begin the necessary work to achieve this vision, as an organization, our first step was to listen – hearing stories and experiences from our Black colleagues, holding spaces to have honest conversations, and embracing the discomfort of hearing hard truths. This was instrumental in shaping our vision and identifying our avenues of action.