Disney+ & Hulu Marketing Teams Shake Up Ahead Of Streaming Merger
Following the recent announcement that Hulu is going to merge into Disney+, with the standalone Hulu app set to be closed down in 2026, Disney has started making some managerial changes ahead of Disney+ becoming the main streaming app for the company.
Over the past few years, Disney has been integrating its Hulu and Disney+ management teams, often without replacing executives or merging roles. However, today’s announcement reveals that the marketing divisions for Disney+ and Hulu are now being consolidated.
The major changes will see Asad Ayaz, who is already the chief brand officer for the Walt Disney Company, will now also be taking over the role of president of Disney Entertainment Marketing, which includes oversight of marketing teams across all of the divisions that cover movie studios, TV and streaming.
While Shannon Ryan, will now be the president of DTC and Disney Entertainment Television marketing, with the addition of the Direct-To-Consumer division, she will oversee a newly integrated team across Disney+ and Hulu while continuing to lead marketing for television content.
The heads of Disney Entertainment, Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, sent out an internal note to staff informing them of the changes:
Team,Disney Entertainment is home to an iconic and acclaimed collection of storytelling brands, and our marketing teams play a vital role in bringing the magic of Disney storytelling to audiences around the world. As we continue to scale our business globally, we’d like to share an update about the future of our marketing structure, particularly focused on supporting the full integration of Hulu into Disney+ that Bob announced during earnings last week.
To create a more unified strategy across streaming, film, and television, we’re realigning our marketing organization to create one best-in-class Disney Entertainment Marketing team under the leadership of Asad Ayaz, who will now report to the both of us. Asad is a strategic leader with sharp creative instincts who has been instrumental in driving high-impact campaigns at both the company and the Studio. As Chief Brand Officer, TWDC, and President, Disney Entertainment Marketing, he will now oversee marketing for our studios, television, and streaming, while continuing to drive brand strategy for the company under Bob Iger, including leading our in-house creative agencies for Disney Experiences and Disney Entertainment. This dual role will further connect all the company’s consumer touchpoints and align our marketing approach.
Shannon Ryan will add DTC to her portfolio and oversee a newly integrated team across Disney+ and Hulu, while continuing to lead marketing for television content. Shannon is a dynamic marketing leader with a proven track record of crafting innovative campaigns that resonate with audiences and create breakout hits. As President, DTC and Disney Entertainment Television Marketing, she will now report to Asad, while remaining on Dana’s leadership team. Barrie Gruner and Samantha Rosenberg will both report to Shannon moving forward.
Operating as one cohesive DTC marketing team will enable us to speak to consumers with greater efficiency and impact, and this new structure will also create a deeper connection and collaboration across all of our marketing efforts. These changes reflect our confidence in the exceptional talent across our marketing organization, and we’re excited for what’s ahead. We are grateful for your continued creativity, passion, and partnership as we shape the future of Disney Entertainment together.
Alan & Dana
Roger’s Take: It makes sense that Disney is now starting to make significant changes to the teams behind its streaming service. This change will likely not be the last, as we should expect to see more management shakeups as the two streaming platforms merge together, as one of the main benefits for the company in doing so, is that they can reduce the number of people they need. Disney has already been cutting jobs as part of its cost-saving exercise to make the streaming division more profitable, and sadly, there will likely be more in the run-up to the final merger.
From a marketing point of view, having a single streaming platform does have its advantages. For a while, I fully suspect Hulu will still be the core focus in terms of major new releases, but in the next year, we’ll see more push to promoting Disney+ over Hulu. There will also likely be advantages of Disney rebranding the Star hub to Hulu internationally, as they will be able to reduce the need for additional assets like posters and trailers for new releases.
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