Disney outlines mega marketing group structure under CMO Asad Ayaz
Disney has assembled the Star Destroyer among its marketing executives after Asad Ayaz was named Chief Marketing and Brand Officer earlier this month.
In a memo to Disney staffers, Ayaz outlined the structure of the marketing group he now oversees across all business divisions. It also confirms the creation of an Enterprise Marketing team designed to help facilitate increased collaboration across the divisional groups, with a focus on maintaining a global perspective for all Disney marketing activities.
All told, Ayaz’s group has the largest collection of marketing talent Hollywood has ever seen, ranging from theme parks and experiences to film and TV to the research and technology units that will power the audience development, subscriber acquisition and data analytics tools that marketers will rely on to drive future growth.
“We will appear as one unified storytelling brand across our entire flywheel – film, television, streaming, parks, experiences and sports – tailored to how consumers experience the company today. We will connect with them in more relevant ways, when they want, where they want, making it seamless and intuitive for them to connect with our characters, stories, products and experiences,” Ayaz wrote.
The memo reaffirms key details announced on January 14 with the appointment of Ayaz to the company’s first ever position of Chief Marketing and Brand Officer. Ayaz describes his vision for the teams that will be responsible for driving their own segments, but with a much greater emphasis on collaboration, data sharing and long-term planning around franchises that now span many media. It is not immediately clear whether the newly created structure will result in layoffs or a major shift in personnel among the leaders mentioned in the memo.
“We will continue to lead the way in collaborating with brands, influencers and creative partners to amplify their Disney presence and maximize the value of each relationship, leveraging our scale and brand strength to outperform our competitors,” Ayaz wrote. “We will amplify what works and respond dynamically to market shifts, using data as a differentiator to make informed decisions and deploying technology to eliminate friction, reduce complexity and improve our team’s experience.”
The memo highlights the company’s five key marketing chiefs, who have a dual reporting structure to Ayaz and their respective division heads.
- Ron Faris (Disney consumer products)
- Scott Hudgins (Disney experiences)
- Martha Morrison (Disney Entertainment Studios)
- Shannon Ryan (Disney Entertainment Television, Disney+ and Hulu)
- Tina Thornton (ESPN)
The newly formed business team will work alongside this group. “These leaders and their teams will work closely with the segment and global marketing functions to deliver scale, modern processes, resource flexibility and innovation that accelerates impact,” Ayaz wrote. “These positions will consist of subject matter experts and specific segment resources as needed.”
According to Ayaz’s memo:
- Brand & Franchise – Joanna Balikian will lead the strategy and execution of corporate brand campaigns and synergy initiatives, oversee the company’s brand priorities and governance, and drive fan engagement strategies that strengthen audience affinity.
- Business Alliances – Becca Vodnoj will continue her role in shaping Disney’s global partnership and promotional strategy – developing and expanding high-quality relationships with partners and creators to extend the reach and impact of Disney’s brands.
- Creative execution – Carrie Brzezinski-Hsu will lead Disney’s new creative production ecosystem and unite our cross-segment creative agencies. She will work with our segments’ creative teams to ensure every asset reflects the company’s creative excellence and brand standards, while orchestrating high-quality, rapid delivery of campaigns that drive impact at scale. In addition, she will continue to oversee ESPN’s Creative Studio, with dual responsibility to Tina Thornton.
- Media – Kimberly Flaster will take on a new role shaping and driving a unified media investment strategy, leveraging cross-channel buying, advanced optimization and data-driven decision making to maximize impact and ROI. This role includes media strategy and planning, which will dually report to the respective Segment Marketing leaders, and trading desk operations.
- Research & insights – Andrew Ferguson will lead company-wide consumer and brand intelligence, along with marketing, brand and franchise performance research. His team will guide campaign research – from audience resonance testing to end-to-end campaign measurement – delivering insights that shape strategy, amplify storytelling and drive informed decision-making across the enterprise. Operational and business strategy specific research will continue to report on the respective segments.
There is also one open role for a leader overseeing marketing operations and technology. The job includes building and overseeing “the systems, processes and tools that power modern, data-driven marketing – leading KPI and reporting standardization, advanced analytics capabilities and end-to-end campaign operations,” according to the memo.
(Image: Disney marketing executives Ron Faris, Scott Hudgins, Martha Morrison, Shannon Ryan and Tina Thornton)
There’s more to come
