Disney on Wednesday (Jan. 8) used its fifth annual Tech & Data Showcase to make its case to advertisers that its streaming-first global ad-tech stack is the perfect within the industry. Along with unveiling a slew of developments, the tech giant announced that it’s estimated to have reached a mean of 157 million ad-supported monthly lively users globally, with 112 million domestically, per thirty days during the last six months.
Bringing transparency to its ad-supported user base is one in every of the ways Disney is asserting its place within the media landscape. The company, which operates streamers including Disney+ and Hulu, TV networks like ABC and ESPN and Marvel and Pixar content studios, is a dominant legacy player warding off challenges from tech giants like Netflix and Amazon, which have each made moves into live sports — one area that is still an advertiser goal despite consumer behavior changes like cord cutting.
“Disney sits on the intersection of world class sports and entertainment content, with probably the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of worldwide promoting, in a press release.
Ferro and several other other Disney executives were available on the showcase, which was held through the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the second time. The annual event allowed the corporate to elucidate how its various developments around data and artificial intelligence (AI) are coming together for advertisers.
The showcase also comes just days after Disney announced plans to mix its Hulu + Live TV business with streaming platform Fubo. Along with clearing the way in which for the previously announced sports streaming platform planned by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, the move will strengthen the CTV player as the long run of live streaming comes into focus.
“This is a large win for advertisers,” said Dan Larkman, CEO and founding father of Keynes Digital, in a press release. “Live sports is a top-performing a part of the CTV ecosystem. The more it becomes dominated by tech players (e.g. Amazon and Netflix), the less opportunities for advertisers — of all sizes — to run ads alongside premium live sports.”
Sports ads, live and direct
Alongside the Fubo move, Disney will proceed working on its next major live sports endeavor: launching ESPN’s flagship direct-to-consumer product in the autumn. The platform, which has the interior name Flagship, will bring ESPN’s linear TV feeds to streaming, alongside ESPN+. Additionally, recent features inside the ESPN app will bring together betting, commerce and fantasy sport — a one-stop shop for sports fans.
At the core of the direct-to-consumer offering might be Disney ad-tech stack capabilities that mix programmatic and real-time bidding to permit advertisers to capture live impressions, reaching specific consumers with custom creative across hundreds of live games.
“Today, in the case of live sports, we’re mostly all seeing the identical industrial at the very same time,” said Josh Mattison, executive vice chairman of digital planning and operations, on the showcase. “For a couple of national advertisers that is smart, but for many brands a more personalized and targeted audience approach might be simpler.”
To help standardize ad buying across live sports and entertainment, Disney this week also rolled out a brand new certification that the corporate says will help advertisers tap into “lightning-in-a-bottle moments.” Demand-side platforms Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk and Yahoo DSP and supply-side platform Magnite are launch partners of the certification.
“The standards of the past not align with today’s marketplace.”
Jamie Power
Senior vice chairman of addressable sales, Disney Advertising
“The standards of the past not align with today’s marketplace,” said Jamie Power, senior vice chairman of addressable sales for Disney Advertising, in a press release. “Expanding biddable capabilities will allow advertisers to attach more effectively in real-time, just one in every of the ways we’re setting a brand new standard for promoting.”
The live certification is meant to assist advertisers benefit from key opportunities that may’t be planned for in live sports — during additional time, for instance. Certified partners may have the capability to scale and reply to bids in a live environment in real time, adapt to spikes in live viewership and have the option to handle pre-approved creative.
“While a standard media plan could also be focused on even delivery throughout the week, brands can miss out on a highly engaged audience and all those edge-of-your seat moments in a live game, in the event that they’re limited by standard rules and frequency caps,” said Matt Barnes, vice chairman of programmatic sales for Disney Advertising, in a press release. “With the introduction of Disney’s live certification, now more advertisers — across a fair wider number of categories — can capture the spikes in critical moments of engagement and fandom.”
New and expanded tools
Disney this week unveiled Disney Compass, a tool that can help brands activate against Disney’s data across a wide range of vendors and capabilities, like previously launched Audience Graph and Clean Room technologies. Privacy-focused, first-party data tools remain a priority for advertisers as rules and regulations within the space proceed to vary.
Disney Compass at launch will allow brands to hook up with measurement and data vendors including Affinity Solutions, LiveRamp, Snowflake and VideoAmp. The tool boasts always-on data, advanced measurement tools, objective-based data views and workflow integration across platforms.
At its showcase, the corporate noted early use cases of Disney Compass, including an integration with Publicis Groupe’s CoreAI that permits for AI-powered audience creation and an integration with agencies like OMG that provides access to data that will be used for deterministic reach curves, deduplication across platforms and optimization across linear and streaming.
“Emotional connections to key moments boosted brand perception and engagement significantly.”
Rita Ferro
President, Disney Advertising
In addition to the launch of Disney Compass, Disney will expand its Audience Graph and Disney Select solutions globally into all markets where Disney+ is accessible. The roll out hit Latin America in the autumn and can proceed to EMEA next. Plus, the corporate introduced the Disney Select AI engine, which uses AI and machine learning to power lookalike modeling, driving scale and helping brands reach higher outcomes.
At last yr’s showcase, Disney teased the launch of Magic Words, a first-to-market contextual promoting format that ties ads to culturally relevant moments. As an example, Disney said that Dentsu last yr used the tool to tie travel to United Airlines ads. Next quarter, Magic Words capabilities and biddable activation might be available to advertisers.
On top of that, Disney announced at its latest showcase Magic Words Live, bringing the contextual tool to live moments in sports and entertainment to assist brands deliver effective messages based on specific emotions and aligned content. Brands including Chipotle and T-Mobile have been testing the tool in partnership with Magna Global and have seen strong results, Ferro said.
“Emotional connections to key moments boosted brand perception and engagement significantly,” the manager said on the showcase. “Aligning ads with the best moments in real time creates deeper consumer connections and stronger brand loyalty.”
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