Walt Disney Company Names Marketing President Asad Ayaz First-Ever Chief Brand Officer
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Effective immediately, Walt Disney Studios President of Marketing and 18-year studio vet, Asad Ayaz, has been named the first-ever Chief Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company.
CEO Robert Iger just announced the news.
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In this newly created position reporting to Iger, Ayaz will be responsible for stewarding and elevating the Disney brand globally across the entire ecosystem of company touchpoints and consumer experiences.
The marketing maestro behind the studio’s top grossing hits, including the MCU, Pixar and Lucasfilm franchises, will continue as the studio’s President of Marketing, a position he’s held since 2018, overseeing all aspects of promotion for the Burbank lot’s feature and Disney+ global slate. In that regard, he’ll report to Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman.
As Chief Brand Officer, Ayaz will develop and execute brand marketing campaigns for the Walt Disney Company across its entire suite of content and consumer experiences, highlighting the brand internally and externally through partnerships, while guiding and aligning the corp’s digital and social media presence. In consultation with Iger, Ayaz will set corporate synergy and franchise priorities, while leading a global consumer research and analytics function zeroing in on Disney’s brands and franchises that will inform cross-platform initiatives.
One key cross-company brand initiative for Ayaz is spearheading the Disney100 campaign as the company celebrates its 100th year. He developed and created the Disney100 Special Look spot that aired during the Super Bowl, as well as the Studios’ new 100-year logo refresh now appearing on all Disney-branded movies.
“Asad is an exceptional creative leader with a deep understanding of what Disney means to millions of people around the world,” Iger said. “His taking on this role is particularly noteworthy and consequential as we commemorate our historic 100th anniversary, and I am confident that his strategic, operational, and creative prowess, along with his profound passion for Disney, will make him an outstanding steward of our stories, characters, brands, and franchises.”
“Throughout both my early life and my time at the company, I’ve marveled at the power of Disney’s storytelling, experiences, and simply the name itself to inspire people and resonate through generations,” said Ayaz. “I am immensely grateful to Bob for entrusting me with this opportunity, and I’m excited to work with the amazing teams around our company to highlight all the things that make Disney exceptional and ensure that we continue to create those meaningful connections with audiences for many more generations to come.”
As President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios, Ayaz will continue to oversee all aspects of marketing for films and series from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios, including strategy, creative advertising, media, digital, research, special events, promotions, international marketing, publicity, and synergy. He was also recently named to lead marketing for Disney+ worldwide.
Among his many successful tentpole marketing campaigns, many of which were the highest grossing movies ever in history, there’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther and Avatar: The Way of Water, Disney’s live-action hits Aladdin and The Lion King, Walt Disney Animation’s Frozen 2, and Pixar’s Toy Story 4”. Among in-home hits, there’s Hocus Pocus 2, 20th/Hulu’s Prey, Disney+ hit series The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Loki, among many others. In all, Ayaz has led the campaigns for the most watched films on Disney+ and Hulu, and 13 of the top 15 box office debuts of all time, including six opening weekends over $200 million, as well as the biggest worldwide debut of all time for Avengers: Endgame, which earned over $1.2 billion worldwide in five days.
An award-winning marketing leader, Ayaz has been the recipient of multiple industry honors, including Variety’s Marketing Visionaries Award and The Clio Marketing Mastermind Award. He was recently named one of Forbes Most Influential CMOs, and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business.
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