Dive Brief:
- Disney is following other major media brands in a restructure that puts ad sales for the Disney and ABC TV Group entertainment networks and digital channels under one umbrella as reported by The Wall Street Journal. ESPN is majority owned by Disney, but won’t be included in the newly formed ad group.
- The streamlined structure will untangle dealings with advertisers and let Disney better leverage its assets according to Disney/ABC TV Group President Ben Sherwood, telling the Journal the change will create “innovative and targeted opportunities” for showcasing the quality and reach of Disney content.
- Rita Ferro has been named president of advertising sales for Disney/ABC. She has served as executive vice president of media sales and marketing for Disney Channels Worldwide since 2010.
Dive Insight:
Disney’s move echoes recent restructures by 21st Century Fox and NBCUniversal. In NBCU’s case, it launched Audience Studio last spring, combining multiple ad products across linear TV, set top boxes and social media to allow advertisers to use data to target ads to specific genders and age demographics across TV, digital and social media.
The series of advertising realignments from media giants is a recognition of the audience- and data-centric nature of marketing today. It also reflects how brands are increasingly interested in integrated campaigns that flow seamlessly from one channel to another.
By consolidating advertising sales, major media companies are acknowledging that marketers don’t want to create campaigns in siloed buckets of TV spots, ads on media web properties and then have to track down a related audience on social media. Instead, marketers are looking for targeting data that is coordinated and allows them to reach a specific audience rather than place the brand on specific media properties.
