Disney links emotions to advertising through contextual ads during ad-tech expansion

Article Brief:

At its fourth annual Disney Tech & Data Showcase on Jan. 10, Disney unveiled several new advertising features, such as the option to purchase ads across both Hulu and Disney+ as part of a single campaign. This bundled service, currently in beta testing, is set to be widely available on March 24.

The company has introduced its inaugural native, shoppable ad format called Gateway Shop for streaming. This new feature enables viewers to seamlessly send on-screen products to their second screen without disrupting their viewing experience. Furthermore, Disney has revealed an expansion of its clean room offering, partnered with Innovid and Cint for enhanced measurement capabilities, and teased Disney's Magic Words, a cutting-edge contextual advertising format utilizing advanced data.

Article Insight:

Entering its fourth year, the Disney Tech & Data Showcase continues to shape the expectations of advertisers for the upcoming upfront presentation by the media giant. This week's unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is part of Disney's efforts to enhance its advertising options and improve the monetization of its live TV, streaming, and other assets.

Rita Ferro, the president for global advertising at Disney, stated that the company connects clients to top-tier entertainment, sports, and programming, offering engagement that is unmatched. She emphasized Disney's industry-leading technology and data capabilities, as well as its global scale and reach, which enable the delivery of intentional and impactful consumer experiences, while also driving brand performance and effectiveness.

The introduction of the new Gateway Shop offering marks a continuation of the company's efforts to link content with commerce. This initiative builds upon GatewayGo, a commerce-enabled ad format introduced in 2020, which relied on email, push notifications, and QR codes. The new format now allows viewers to effortlessly add items seen in TV and movie programming to their second-screen shopping carts at the press of a button.

Amid the ongoing deprecation of the third-party cookie, the rush for deeper data reserves continues. Disney has expanded its roster of cloud services providers, adding industry leaders Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Additionally, the company has partnered with Habu to launch the Disney Portal, allowing clients to set up a clean room on their own in a matter of days, rather than weeks.

Addressing the need for better streaming measurement, Disney has collaborated with Innovid and Lucid Impact Measurement by Cint. The latter's always-on dashboard provides advertisers, including 2K Games, The Hershey Company, and Josh Cellars, with access to data on ad recall, consideration, purchase intent, and brand favorability.

“We leverage decision-making, data analysis, engineering, automation, and performance tracking to gain a significant competitive edge in meeting the business needs of our advertising partners. Our industry-leading technology stack positions us to lead the way in driving even more innovative solutions," explained Ajay Arora, the senior vice president for commerce, growth, and identity at Disney.

Disney is further expanding its advertising business through the introduction of self-service and automation features. The Disney Campaign Manager has already been adopted by over 4,200 brands and will soon be rolled out globally in conjunction with the expansion of the Disney+ ad tier. Furthermore, self-serving options for Disney+ and ESPN ad inventory will be available domestically this year.

Finally, the company hinted at a new contextual advertising product called Disney's Magic Words. This product utilizes advanced data to analyze scenes and visuals in Disney's library in order to connect the mood and emotion to advertising messages. The beta version of this offering will be accessible to select partners during this year's upfront, and will be available to a larger audience by the end of the year.