Disney’s Rita Ferro on Requiring Multicultural Ad Buys and Why the Oscars Will Bounce Back

The upfronts week presentations have ended, and now it’s time for the real work: the negotiations. Adweek is sitting down with each of the ad sales chiefs who presented this week to talk about their respective events and their strategies for navigating this year’s marketplace. Following NBCUniversal’s Mark Marshall, Fox’s Marianne Gambelli and Discovery’s Jon Steinlauf, next up is Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of advertising sales and partnerships. Following its first-ever tech showcase for marketers in March to spotlight the company’s new programmatic and addressable offerings, Disney’s upfront presentation on Tuesday leaned into inclusive entertainment and live events. Ferro talked with Adweek about why she’s demanding that marketers include multicultural buys as part of their upfront deals, why the Oscars will bounce back after this year’s big ratings drop and her top priorities in this year’s negotiations. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Adweek: What was the thinking behind structuring your presentation the way you did?Ferro: It was far less about the platforms, and it was really about the volume and quality of content. What you felt was the extraordinary power and volume of content and storytelling coming from the Walt Disney Company. One of your big pushes in this upfront is the multicultural commitments you are asking brands to make in all of their deals. Why are you going beyond just pushing for it and actually making it a requirement for your upfront deals and beyond?Listen, the world changed a year ago. We committed to it a year ago, and we've been pushing the industry forward. This is a commitment that the company has to serve all of our audiences. You saw it in the extraordinary brands and content that is coming out across our platform: big, bold moves that we think are going to be huge. Disney Looks to Increase Diversity Onscreen, Behind-the-Scenes—and in Ad Buys And by the way, clients are asking for it. There's no question that advertisers are committed to also serving their customers across all demographics, races and genders. And we wanted to make sure that we are reflecting that in the content partnerships that we bring to the table, because we think that is going to only amplify and drive more areas of opportunity to really expand on how we think of creative storytelling. That's why we were so bold about making sure that we had not only the brands to put all of this content under but also encouraging clients: we're going to come to the table with a way for you to be able to measure the impact that you're having when you partner with us in this space, because we want to encourage them to really commit. And I said [in the presentation], some part of your deal has to be multicultural, because you can no longer deny that that is a business imperative and part of everyone's go-forward strategy. So let us help you measure that [with our new] Disney Culture Index score, that helps you tell the story, helps you quantify the impact of when you've specifically come to the table, and partner with us to drive those opportunities. This is one of the things I'm most passionate about. I thought our upfront [Tuesday] was the strongest upfront we've ever had, and it's because we were authentic, committed and had purpose. I thought our upfront was the strongest we've ever had, and it's because we were authentic, committed and had purpose.—Rita Ferro, president of advertising sales and partnerships, Disney You held a tech showcase for marketers earlier in the year, so you didn’t touch on those new programmatic and addressable offerings in this week’s presentation. But as you look ahead to negotiations, which of those new innovations do you feel will have the biggest impact?Every upfront conversation that we are having includes, how do we take advantage of the sizeable footprint that Disney has in first party data, given all of the deprecation of IDs and third-party identifiers, to make sure that we're driving impact for our advertising partners? [Programmatic offering] Disney Hulu XP started last year, but it's definitely gaining momentum and acceptance with partners, because it just makes sense: target the audiences when they're available to target. And then the last thing we talk a lot about is [premium video header bidder solution Disney Real-Time Ad Exchange, or] DRAX, where you take the waterfall down and everybody can bid against all impressions, all the time. Think about in the fall when sports comes back, and you have a spike in traffic on a Saturday afternoon, the ability for everyone to be able to bid against inventory spikes, and have a much more deliberate opportunity to be able to buy inventory equally, across all programmatic opportunities, that's going to be really big. Since we announced it, I think that's had the most interest and the most opportunity behind it. Disney Shows Off Enhanced Programmatic, Addressable Platform Offerings Ahead of Upfront What big topics are coming up in your early upfront discussions?Everyone is looking for incremental reach. With the changing landscape, how do I make sure that I have the continued reach that I need in order to be able to move product? And then, making sure that dollars are following the eyeballs to the platforms that matter. The other interesting piece is, there is still a tremendous desire and want for linear television. It still drives impact. Brands can quantify it every single time. How we show up there in partnerships and integrations may be different, but linear television is still really important in every conversation we're having. How will this year’s Oscars ratings dip impact your upfront plans for next year’s telecast?There was definitely a void in terms of movies available for consumers, and people being able to see them in a theatrical experience. So we are very excited about all of the movies that are starting to be dated [to open] in theaters. And when we think about what the [Oscars] will be, back to normal: with a red carpet, with a host, with movies that are big and theatrical in scope, that has an impact on the show, there's no question. And so I definitely feel like we will have a bigger event. That said, I will tell you that in this year's event, we had multiple advertisers who came to us and said they saw tremendous brand lift, and in search results, as part of being in the Oscars. So the other piece is that we're looking at is, how do we start to quantify the opportunities to drive big impact for brands, that aren’t just in the 30-second unit, but having more success in in-show integrations, as part of extensions on social activations. Because we have seen that even what we did this year, which was a much more reduced execution for the Oscars with our partners, many came back and said, “I know the ratings weren't great, but here's what we saw and why we're committed.” It will still be a premium live event. It is the largest, most important live event on the entertainment side that's in the market. And so it still will command a premium, even with the audience declines, because I think all the awards shows will see an uptick next year when people can be there again, and when fans can truly experience the opportunity in its fullest extent. There is still a tremendous desire and want for linear television. It still drives impact.—Rita Ferro, president of advertising sales and partnerships, Disney Your company was very busy making new sports deals in the past several months, including with the NHL, NFL and MLB. How are you gearing up to take advantage of those in the upfront?There are very few things that drive live audiences, and the size of audiences, like sports does. I use the NFL Draft this year as a great example of when you see fans, it just creates a different viewing experience. You could tell the first night you saw the NFL Draft on both ABC and ESPN, it was going to be a bigger [ratings] number, because the energy is different when the fans are there and they're engaged. And that is the expectation that we have when college sports goes back and kids are on campus. When you have those audiences for games, and they can actually be among the fans, we're very excited about what that means. And the NHL being back on ESPN [and Disney] after 17 years, I can't tell you how excited we all are. Advertisers are very interested in being part of it. What’s your top upfront priority this year?There’s three. It's multicultural, and making sure that every partner understands the importance of that as part of their mix, and our partnership strategy. We've really leaned into that, and will continue to do so. The second thing is around the significant scope of our addressable footprint, of our digital and streaming footprint. Every partner should be taking advantage of that, and understanding that Hulu is television, all of our owned and operated apps are television, so we sell television across all screens. And then the third one is really leaning into the unrivaled breadth and depth of our sports portfolio. We really want clients to be on board with us in that partnership as well.