Disney creates new executive role to oversee everything about its brand

Disney has created a new “chief brand officer” role to oversee Disney’s brand across “the entire ecosystem of company touchpoints and consumer experiences,” the company announced on Thursday. Asad Ayaz, the company’s president of marketing for The Walt Disney Studios, will be taking the post and report directly to recently returned CEO Bob Iger.

As part of his chief brand officer duties, Ayaz will make marketing campaigns “leveraging and synthesizing the company’s full suite of content and consumer experiences,” set “corporate synergy” and “franchise priorities” with Iger, and “lead a global consumer research and analytics function focused on Disney’s brands,” according to the press release.

The new role could help Disney wrangle how its sprawling empire of franchises shows up across movies, Disney Plus content, the company’s theme parks, and more. Ayaz does have some experience with a large remit — he has led and will continue to lead marketing for Disney’s studios — so this role seems like it might be a logical step up.

Ayaz’s elevation may also be a test to see whether he could be the company’s next CEO. When Disney announced Iger’s return in November, it said Iger would serve as CEO for two years and that he would work with the board of directors to find a successor.