New team responsible for driving technology and product innovation across all linear, streaming, and digital advertising for The Walt Disney Company
Jeremy Helfand will lead the new combined team
The Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) Technology group has created a new Advertising Platforms team to combine the company’s advertising technology and product expertise and resources into a single, focused team. This team aligns with the Disney Advertising Sales unified structure and approach, and together they will accelerate how The Walt Disney Company is transforming advertising and how viewers experience and engage with advertising across Disney’s media platforms.
The Advertising Platforms team brings together the existing Hulu and DTCI Advertising Product and Technology’s teams to develop the strategies, technologies, tools and products for linear, streaming and digital advertising across the Walt Disney Company. Advertising Platforms will work in partnership with Disney Advertising Sales to advance advertising innovation for the industry.
Advertising Platforms will be a core pillar of the DTCI Technology organization, and will be led by Jeremy Helfand, who previously led all advertising technology and product innovation efforts at Hulu.
“Advertising is a critically important aspect of Disney’s business, and the future of advertising requires a new level of viewer-first innovation powered by the industry’s most advanced TV ad platform,” said Aaron LaBerge, Executive Vice President and CTO, DTCI Technology. “Jeremy is an accomplished, business-focused technology leader, whose teams have turned great ideas into groundbreaking technologies and products. Under his leadership, Advertising Platforms will work hand-in-hand with Disney Advertising Sales to transform the advertising landscape and create a unified ad platform centered on end-to-end automation, data and measurement, and differentiated ad experiences.”
This combination of expertise and resources will allow the company to focus on key areas that will deliver value to brands in a converging linear and digital landscape, including (but not limited to):
• The long-term development of a unified ad platform, along with to ongoing support for cross-platform offerings like Disney Hulu XP;
• Expansion of viewer-first advertising experiences – including development of new formats that improve advertising for both viewers and brands across Disney media properties;
• Advancing the automation of advertising with expansion of programmatic buying and selling platforms;
• Leveraging data in smart, high-integrity ways to deliver consumer insights, expand addressability and ensure end-to-end attribution across media buys;
• Increased accountability and return on investment for advertising clients.
A global team of nearly 3,500 technologists, DTCI Technology plays a central role in the future growth of The Walt Disney Company. The team of developers, data scientists, and engineers is responsible for the design, development and consumer experience of over 200 of The Walt Disney Company’s branded digital products (including ABC, ABC News, Disney, DisneyNow, ESPN, FX, Marvel, National Geographic, Star Wars and more), as well as large-scale technology platforms including advertising technology and products; data platforms; and worldwide digital and linear media distribution that connects The Walt Disney Company’s unmatched content to tens of millions of consumers around the world.
The creation of the new team comes on the heels of Disney Advertising Sales’ reinvented and highly-regarded annual Upfront Road Show, and ahead of Hulu’s highly-anticipated live streamed annual NewFronts presentation.
