CES is the best (and therefore busiest) start to the year. And, as in years past, Disney generously unveiled a slew of advertising innovations at the Global Tech & Data Showcase in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
While last year's showcase touted features like gamified advertising and live sports ad bidding, this time House of Mouse introduced new AI tools, including vertical video as well as AI-powered video generation tools. We also highlighted several existing products, including Disney Compass, a measurement and analytics tool that was announced during last year's showcase and has been enhanced with additional features. And Disney provided a preview of additional consumer behavior research it's investing in, following the debut of its Generation Stream streaming report last year, which focused on viewer segments around the world.
“From rapid consolidation across industries to breakthrough advances in AI that are reshaping the way we work, this past year has brought about extraordinary change,” Rita Ferro, president of global advertising at Disney, said in a presentation. “Amid constant transformation, one thing is clear: focus creates impact, and that principle guides our investments in technology, insights, and partnerships.”
Disney's announcements include:
Right place, right time? Disney is rolling out an AI-powered video generation tool that helps brands build creative by considering inputs like audience, context, and placement, and using existing brand assets. The goal is to help brands “get the right creative in front of the right audience at the right time,” Tony Donohoe, the company's vice president of advertising platforms, said in a presentation.
Not so secret agent: Donohoe said Disney's internal teams are currently using an AI-powered media planning tool that uses customer profiles, forecasting, pricing and audience agents to help build campaign plans.
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Everyone wants this: After introducing a vertical video product called Verts on the ESPN app in August, Disney is expanding its vertical video push in the U.S. to Disney+ this year. The company is still figuring out how to roll out vertical video across its platforms, which could include news programming.
Feeling insightful: Disney has obtained several reports in preparation to complement all new advertising innovations and support advertiser decision-making across Disney properties. One is a report on multi-game viewing that will be released in February, said Dana McGraw, senior vice president of data and measurement science. The company is also creating a second edition of Generation Stream, which will focus on fandom and eventized streaming.
golden compass: Executives also touted a new feature within the Disney Compass product introduced at last year's showcase that gives advertisers access to Disney's first-party data for campaign analysis. This year, Compass is powered by brand impact metrics that take into account attention, reach, brand health, search (how TV ads contribute to search behavior), and attribution. Compass will also feature a brand portal that stores campaign results and displays market context featuring data from measurement companies such as EDO, VideoAmp, and Innovid.
“Let's be honest, our industry tends to favor last-touch attribution, but when you create conversation, raise awareness, and drive action, the story of its overall impact should become clearer,” McGraw said.
