Dive Brief:

• Unilever, in collaboration with Mindshare, is the first brand to test the integration of Disney's Audience Graph and The Trade Desk's Unified ID 2.0. The deal is one of several developments announced as part of the Disney Tech & Data Showcase that took place on Jan. 25.
• The company also announced that the ad-targeting and segmentation capabilities of its ad server currently used for Hulu will be extended to every Disney platform, including Disney+. In addition, EDO will now be one of Disney’s preferred partners for outcome measurement of addressable ads across its streaming portfolio.
• The announcements made at the Disney Tech & Data Showcase demonstrate how the media conglomerate is working to meet new mandates on identity and measurement, especially in streaming environments, in advance of its upfront on May 16.

Dive Insight:

At its annual Tech & Data Showcase, Disney made several announcements about deals and developments that have enhanced its ad offerings, which span linear TV, connected TV (CTV) and digital platforms. The announcements revolve around identity, measurement, clean rooms and other areas of increased marketer attention.

CPG giant Unilever will become the first brand to strategically test the integration of Disney's Audience Graph with The Trade Desk's Unified ID 2.0 identity framework, which was announced last July. Advertisers leveraging first-party audience segments see three-times the performance of standard segments, per Disney. Such privacy-safe applications of first-party data continue to increase in importance amid changes to the data privacy landscape.

Elsewhere, Disney's proprietary ad server, which currently powers Hulu, will be extended to every Disney platform, including Disney+, which rolled out an ad-supported tier in December. The extension of segmentation and ad-targeting capabilities should make the nascent ad-supported tier more attractive to marketers. The company is also expanding the technology it uses to create content like “The Mandalorian” to its ad environments.

“Our studio environments are now adopting that technology, which allows us to take any environment in the world and virtually render it with robotics and advanced machine-learning and AI to create a seamless world that is not only great for content but allows us to create so many innovative ad opportunities that are almost part of the content, it’s almost seamless,” said CTO Aaron LaBerge.

The media conglomerate also announced a deal with outcomes-based company EDO, which will apply its engagement metrics to Disney's streaming portfolio, beginning with Hulu. Beyond measuring who is seeing ads on its platforms, the partnership seeks to give advertisers better information about how Disney content drives consumer engagement and performance.

In the measurement space, Disney has continued to push back against the idea of an alternative currency, opting for a "currency expansion" approach that sees it work with hundreds of vendors in the space. Along with being a test partner for Nielsen One, Disney is building on its multi-year relationship with Samba TV to determine true reach and frequency across platforms and boosting its clean room offering in partnership with VideoAmp.