Disney Advertising Sets DEI-Centric Branded Content Partners Ahead of Upfront

Disney is bringing more inclusivity to upfront week.

Ahead of the company’s upfront presentation next Tuesday, Disney Advertising has signed branded content development agreements with diverse-owned media companies Cocina (a unit of Mecenas Media), equalpride, Group Black and UnitedMasters.

As part of these agreements, each company will develop custom short- or long-form branded content series and campaigns for advertisers, with the projects focusing on amplifying various aspects of diversity and culture. 

Although the agreements are rooted in streaming, according to Disney, the breadth of the company’s portfolio will help bolster and support content distribution across all screens.

During a recent roundtable discussion with Adweek about the partnerships, John Campbell, svp, client partnerships, Disney Advertising, noted that the new deals are keeping with Disney’s commitment to DEI.

“What we’re trying to do is create systematic and meaningful change in the end. We can’t do that if we’re not consistent and intentional,” Campbell said. “None of us are here for the heritage months only. We all activate 365 days a year. So if clients want to work with us for five days or 52 weeks, we have solutions. And these teams here are all part of those solutions.”

There are several nuances to the specific deals and types of branded content. For instance, Emiliano Saccone, CEO of Mecenas Media, told Adweek that Cocina would be creating long-form content. At the same time, Michael Kelley, president of global growth & development, equalpride, explained the company would be launching short-form miniseries that brands can get involved with.

Meanwhile, UnitedMasters—the parent company of creative agency Translation, Adweek’s reigning Multicultural Agency of the Year—has already been a Disney partner for years. Still, the new deal provides even more avenues to connect with clients.

“We already worked together to create net new solutions, and we felt like if we could get a little bit closer, we could conspire more frequently,” Chaucer Barnes, CMO, UnitedMasters, Inc., told Adweek. “Then we could bring those types of solutions to clients that maybe were not already Translation clients.”

Across the deals, Cocina, equalpride, Group Black and UnitedMasters will operate as the primary production partners for independently produced content, retaining all intellectual property rights and allowing creators to maintain ownership of their materials and agencies to have direct attribution. 

“Increasingly what delivers the most impact, content-wise, is content that reflects every aspect of our society. It seems to me that honesty rules, and so I believe brands are increasingly more appreciative of that,” Saccone said during the roundtable discussion. “So for the content that we’ll be producing together with Disney, I think the underlying theme for me in my mind has to do with purpose. Not just being real, but essentially we have an intentional joint purpose together.”

The topic of purpose was an important aspect of the partnership for Kerel Cooper, president of advertising, Group Black.

“We know that Black creators of content have a lot of influence, but we also know that many times they get overlooked and don’t necessarily get the funding for certain projects. And so for us, the partnership with Disney really solves for that because we are certainly aligned on a mission and vision,” Cooper said. “But the purpose of growing the Black media ecosystem, the purpose of creating a place for black creators to amplify their content, is at the heart of this partnership.”

In addition to the importance of authenticity, Kelley pointed out that the partnerships extend beyond interaction with just Disney.

“We’re not a monolith. We’re intersectional,” Kelley said. “I’m almost more excited about working with the folks that are on this call than I am with Disney, maybe equally, because we are going to be much much stronger together.”

‘Not just good practice’

The announcement comes at a pivotal time in the advertising industry, with upfront week presentations kicking off on May 15.

Disney has required multicultural ad buys as part of its upfront negotiations since 2021, and Rita Ferro, the company’s ad sales chief, previously told Adweek that after clients tripled Disney’s overall upfront DEI ask in 2022, the company is challenging them to triple its original ask again this year.

The deals are “not just good practice; it’s good business,” according to Campbell.

“We’re all in the business of reaching audiences, and if you’re not reaching all audiences, you’re missing out on effectively running your business and selling whatever product you’re looking to sell,” Campbell said. “We’ve been in the engagement business for 100 years at Disney. And we just want to make sure that we’re engaging with everybody authentically. And that’s really where these partnerships come to life.”

Building on that point, in the face of an uncertain economy, the roundtable participants noted that a commitment to DEI can also provide additional revenue streams.

“When you talk about the soft ad market, I think that also really emphasizes the need for revenue diversification and diversification in your product set,” Cooper said. “At Group Black, we have a media offering. We have content distribution. We also have events. So I think, for publishers and media companies out there, it’s a lesson in the diversification of your product mix and revenue as well.”

And with U.S. demographics rapidly changing, Campbell’s comment about “good business” practice rings true. After all, according to the latest census projections, the majority of the population will belong to current minority groups by 2045, with around 25% consisting of non-white Hispanic.

“If you don’t invest into us, the multicultural subset, if you will, essentially forget about growing your business two digits,” Saccone said. “At the end of the day, that also plays a big factor too.”

Meanwhile, Kelley pointed out a new CDC report stating that around one in four high school students identifies as LGBTQ, adding that the growing audience is a major opportunity for brands.

“Our qualitative research said that the queer community can identify the brands that don’t like us in unison, but they can’t name the brands in unison that support us. If I’m a CMO, if I’m a brand manager, I am going to absolutely drive a truck through that opportunity,” Kelley said. “Right now, I would probably reckon on behalf of all of us, there is no brand category lighting it up, 365, all year long.”

When it comes to the macroeconomic conditions, Barnes put it simply.

“All of these quickly growing, scaling identities, if not courted are simply there to be picked off,” Barnes said. “And so whatever urgency people feel to increase spend… they should feel equal or more urgency to pour into these communities and these identities in a way—and I do want to make this clear about Disney—that does not feel like they are whispering sweet nothings into communities here, but rather shouting right to the heavens about their embrace of that community.”