Marketing Happy Hour - The Disney Blueprint: How a 100-Year-Old Brand Stays Relevant
Episode Date: April 2, 2026In this episode, Cassie and Ally dive into the high-level strategies shared by Disney’s top creative and marketing leaders during a standout session at SXSW. They break down the "Disney Bluepri...nt for Brand Relevance," exploring how a century-old icon manages to capture the hearts of Gen Z and Gen Alpha without losing its core "Purist" fans. From the "Disney Flywheel" and the hierarchy of Story > Product > Experience to the concept of leading with an "Emotional Destination," this conversation uncovers the tactical shift from transactional sales to 24/7 fan conversations. Whether you're a brand builder or a marketer, you'll learn why legacy is not a strategy and how authentic, nuanced collaborations—like Disney’s partnership with F1 Academy™—can drive record-breaking engagement.Key Takeaways:// Legacy is Not a Strategy: While heritage is powerful, brands cannot rely on it alone; relevance must be earned by focusing on the generations currently shaping culture, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha.// The Hierarchy of Connection: Engagement is driven through a specific sequence: Story (remixing IP to drive emotion), Product (high-heat drops that express story beats), and Experience (journeys that meet consumers where they are).// Mindsets of the Fandom Ecosystem: Brands should categorize consumers into three tiers—The Purist (Sub-Culture), The Explorer (Pop Culture), and The Casual (Mass Culture)—with the goal of embracing trend-shaping purists without alienating explorers.// Leading with "Emotional Destination": Creativity should prioritize how a consumer feels over how a product looks; once the emotional goal is defined, design choices become simple and moments turn into lasting memories.// Collaborations as a Cultural Mirror: Partnerships are most effective when they reflect the nuances of your own brand; authenticity is key to success, as seen in the F1 x Disney collaboration which achieved the highest engagement in F1 history.// Sensory and Interactive Resilience: Utilizing senses like scent, which has a direct link to memory, and allowing consumers to be part of the story through collectibility are critical for driving long-term engagement.Learn more: Article____Join the MHH Collective! The MHH Collective is a community for marketers and business owners to connect, ask real questions, and grow their careers together. Join for access to live Q&As with industry experts, a private Slack community, and ongoing resources: https://www.marketinghappyhr.com/mhh-collectiveSay hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know what content you want to hear on the show - We can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. Join the MHH Collective: Join nowGet the latest marketing trends, open jobs and MHH updates, straight to your inbox: Join our email list!Follow MHH on Social: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | Facebook
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Welcome to Marketing Happy Hour, a weekly podcast helping marketing professionals and entrepreneurs
build better strategies and hit career goals. I'm Cassie and I'm Allie. We're marketers and your
host through these unfiltered convos with your peers and experts in the space. Let's dive in.
Grab your favorite drink and let's get to this week's episode. It has been such a while
since we've recorded. It's so crazy. Welcome. Welcome back to both of us. We're back. Welcome
back to us. We're here. We did it. March was a complete whirlwind. I feel like we took a little bit
of a break in terms of recordings. So yeah, I'm just so happy to be back. I know. I know. I feel like,
you know, what's been in my glass lately? I mean, I was in the whole point of this conversation
is kind of recapping South by Southwest. I was in Austin and I had many things in my glass.
And it was awesome, such good food and beverage. So I would just say, in general, local cocktails.
have been in my glass. What about you out? Love that. Love that. Gosh, well, I'll do today. Shout out
tummy trouble girls. We'll know the, you know, the impetus of this, but I'm having a lemon
ginger tea that has probiotics in it, and it is lovely. I love it. I usually have it around this time of
day, like around 3 p.m. And it's just, it's a nice thing to look forward to. And yeah,
keeps my tummy on track for my gluten-sensitive gals.
Yes, I love it. I do, speaking of right now, I do have liquid IV. You and I are going to play tennis
later. And I just feel like I haven't been drinking a lot of water lately anyways. I need to get back
on my routine. So, oh yeah, liquid IV are electrolytes just in general. I feel like are super
helpful for pushing the water agenda. So that's actually really smart. And after we are done with this,
I'm putting some liquid IV in my water for the rest of the day, because it is,
going to be hot.
Yes.
So that's really smart.
Yes.
Yes.
As an aside, excited to get into fun new hobbies and just new sports.
We also signed up for a half marathon in January.
So, you know, we're just doing all the athletic things.
And so trying to switch it up and make things exciting.
So I'm looking forward to it.
Me too.
And the girls will know once you hit 30, like you just have this moment where you're like,
I need to start trying new things again and I'm feeling motivated athletically and otherwise.
It's such a, your 30s are great anyway, but it's such a nice opportunity to stretch yourself
into trying new hobbies and things like that.
And yeah, the countdown to the half marathon is on.
Yes, yes it is.
We have plenty of time.
We're going to be great.
Any running tips and just endurance tips are welcome.
Let us know.
And yeah, stay tuned for that.
please send them our way yes yes but on to you know today's topic so again i attended my first ever
south by southwest which was incredible i think just overall highlights like i love i love the film
and tv industry as a separate thing um and obviously i work in the brand and marketing space and
i just love that this is kind of a a marriage of those different industries and additional that i did not
mention. And so I loved being able to attend a session on marketing and brand and then go to
like a panel about a new TV show. Like that was so cool. And so I think that is honestly like my
biggest takeaway from South Buy is like being able to go get inspired by all these different brands
doing incredible things, but also get inspired by different industries and be able to sit and
hear a showrunner talk about storytelling and think about how I can apply that to my work and
just be inspired by that in general. And so.
So it was awesome.
And then of course, too, if you're, again, a brand builder,
someone kind of in the creative space,
getting to see all these different brand activations is super exciting.
I know you've been a part of some of those brand activations at South Buy in the past.
But I highly recommend it.
If you have the opportunity to go to South Buy, definitely check it out.
It's usually in March in Austin, Texas.
And it was amazing.
I absolutely loved it.
Were there any standout brand activations?
that you like you really loved or were really unique?
You know, there, I went to quite a few.
I'm trying to think one that was, I thought, kind of fun is, of course,
Austin, you're in Texas.
It's very, you know, you walk around, you see cowboy boots and cowboy hats and all this stuff.
So Yahoo was launching, I think, their new AI software called Scout.
I think it's called Scout, I'm pretty sure.
and they did this pop-up at the historic scoot-in.
So it's like this very Texas, like outdoor.
I don't even know what you would call it, but it's very like Western.
Very cool.
So you walk in and they have these like little coin tokens that you can exchange for free drinks.
And so they had like a Grillo's pickle cocktail that I got.
Good one.
Yeah.
had some really good like street taco stuff and then they also had a custom hat uh cowboy hat
activation as well which the line was very long i did not stand in line for this um however you
could get your hat like stamped and emboss so i thought from like a brand perspective did i
learn much about the i i i couldn't tell you about it but from like a brand connection memory
standpoint, I thought it was great.
So anyway, I know stuff like that.
Yeah.
I'd be curious to know if they're, you know, if they thought of that as mainly
a consumer activation or if they were trying to pitch themselves to different
business owners too.
Like I'd be so curious to know kind of under the hood what they were planning for that
because I feel like consumer wise, like you had a great experience.
And like maybe you don't know a lot about the AI software.
But in general, you had a good time and they had a lot of things to keep you engaged in
that space, which I think is also.
the point. So it just, it'd be interesting to know what, what some of their goals were.
Um, because I can also see it being something like, you know, we wanted to pitch to different
business owners to start using scout or whatever it was, you know, um, and signing partnerships.
So, um, super, super interesting. Yeah. Yeah. It was cool. I mean, if, if you've ever been to South by,
if anyone listening has, like, you know that there is stuff going on constantly. There's like a branded
run club at 6 a.m. and then there's, um, you know, parties until 12 or 1 a.m.
different brands are doing pop-ups and there's artists coming through and doing different shows.
Like, it's very cool. And it's almost like overwhelming figuring out what to attend and what to
prioritize. But it was, it was pretty awesome. And I think next year, one tip that I will pass along
sign up for sessions early, that is one thing that I ran into. They do fill up. So definitely do
that. However, the other tip I'll give you is if they do fill up, go and wait in the standby line
because that's how you can also get in. So like, for example, the session that we're going to talk
about today is with Disney, which if you've listened to our podcast before, you know, we love talking
about Disney as it relates to marketing and just in general storytelling. And yeah, the session was full.
And I was like, let me just go and try to get in. And I got in. So, you know, just a little
tip for you for next year if you plan to attend. That's awesome. So share a little bit.
particularly who was on the panel for, I think they in the past, just for context, for those listening,
they've gone pretty big at South By, particularly on the tech side, they introduced, I think
the BDX droids in 2025 was at South By and a few other things that they've done in the past.
This year, you know, I think they made pretty clear, like, out the gate that they were going to have
a smaller presence, just in terms of all that they have coming, right?
They have new leadership coming in, et cetera.
And so they had a bit of a smaller presence this year.
but curious to hear, you know, just introduce us to the panel and who was on it and the topic that we're going to talk about.
Yeah. So essentially this panel was a session with Disney consumer products, and they were talking about the strength of storytelling and cultural relevance.
So as many know, Disney has been around for 100 plus years, and so it's always this question, I think, for them of how do we continue to connect with these newer and younger audiences?
and stay relevant to them.
And so it's really funny.
Going into the session, if I'm not mistaken,
the session was advertised as a single executive sharing
on Disney Consumer Products.
And her perspective, Tasia is the former president
of Disney Consumer Products.
She's now on the park side,
but she was kind of headlining the session originally.
And so I'm sitting there in the session,
and she's like,
we're going to bring in four other executives
to share on these different topics.
and I'm like, oh my gosh, what a treat.
So awesome.
Yeah, and it was fantastic.
I mean, she kind of opened the door just setting the stage for the general audience of like,
this is who we are, this is how long we've been around.
This is our flywheel and what we prioritize in order to connect with audiences.
But throughout the conversation, she brought in Disney Consumer Products Head of Global Marketing,
Ron, Sean, who's the EVP of Games and Digital Entertainment.
So talking more about the Fortnite side of things and how.
they integrate some of their storytelling in gaming.
And the fact that gaming is kind of the new wave right now, especially with these younger
audiences.
So a lot of brands are tapping into gaming as a way to connect with audiences, which I found
really interesting.
Marcus, who is the head of Global Creative, and then Bobby Kim, who is Global Creative Director
of Disney Consumer Products, who I know we are a big fan of, but big fan of this whole entire
lineup and team. But it was really awesome just overall. So I'll kind of break down really quickly
what they shared and then we'll get into more of the nitty-gritty. But again, just kind of their
blueprint for how they're staying relevant going into their past 100 years of history and what
they're continuing to prioritize. And that kind of goes along with like legacy is not a strategy,
how they're connecting with audiences through story and product and experience.
And then leading with emotion, which we'll talk about.
And then the last thing that Bobby really dove into is this idea of collaboration.
So Disney has been doing so many collaborations lately, like F1, with Levi's,
with Oreo, all these different brands.
And so they're using these different collaborations to tap into new audiences, but use that as a way to
showcase their different deep brand nuances that don't typically come out. And so Bobby is like a master
at this with building the hundreds and some of the things that he's done in the past. He actually
did a collaboration with Disney back in the day. It was amazing. So we'll kind of break down some of
these different points, but absolutely love the session. Before we get back to the episode, we wanted to take a moment
to tell you about our latest offering for marketing professionals.
We get asked all the time where marketers can actually connect outside the podcast.
So we built it, the MHH collective.
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Yeah, that sounds incredible.
And I'm excited to dive in, particularly to the first part, because I think,
You and I have talked a lot about this, particularly after the Disneyland Handcrafted premiere earlier this year.
You know, how do they stay relevant to Gen Alpha without losing the purists like you and I, right?
Or even older, the older generation, right?
You know, how do they make Disney a part of our lives for generations to come?
And I think that relevance is where their biggest opportunity is and in how they kind of translate that relevance through different.
different areas of what we consume from a media perspective, but also physical, physical and digital,
right? Yeah. And one of the things that kind of came out through this is making sure that
relevance is well defined for them, but also for your brand, like thinking about what that
means. So one of the things that they kind of clarified is like relevance to them isn't just
fame. It's not being a name that's talked about. It's actually mattering to people and having impact.
So I think figuring out how do you go one step further and I think just as a little tease,
like emotion is a big part of that.
And story, which brings out emotion and taps into emotion is a huge part of that.
But it's really figuring out moving from transactional sales to like a 24-7 conversation,
not only fueled by your brand, but fueled by fans, like creating this community where people
are excited to start talking about you without you even having to start the conversation.
and that's a part of that relevance as well.
Super interesting.
We have talked at length about the difference between like transaction and relationship
management when it comes to consumers.
And I think Disney is doing an incredible job of that.
So I'm glad that that was part of the conversation.
So I think that's what makes them so different, you know, from others.
And they lean so heavily on their legacy, right?
And the legacy is powerful.
It's a very, very powerful piece of the brand.
But relying on that by itself will not win future audiences at this point, given that so many of that, so many people in that older generation are moving out of Disney into different ways and different avenues, whether just be the parks or things like that, right?
They have to stay relevant to the generations that are really focused on shaping the culture.
And so I think younger Gen Z, Gen Alpha, right?
And so help me understand these kind of mindsets of culture that they were talking.
There's three different tiers of their fan ecosystems.
So there's subculture, pop culture, and mass culture.
And so their biggest thing is targeting or filtering their different fans into these
different mindsets.
So they have, for example, the purest, those who sit deep within subculture.
They have the explorer, those moving between subculture and pop culture.
And then the casual fan who is...
primarily in pop or mass culture.
And so it's essentially thinking about, you know,
you have these general Disney fans,
people who are just kind of paying attention to what's going on.
And then you have people who kind of move further and further down
into, I guess, the deepness of the brand.
We've talked about this quite a bit.
We are Disney fans.
But we're also in this subculture of Disney vintage.
And so we sit a little bit deeper in these,
these, I guess, micro-fandoms within a larger fandom.
And so they're always thinking about no matter what collaboration they're doing,
a product that they're launching, campaign that they're doing.
It's who are we targeting within those different groups and who are they,
or what communities are they kind of a part of, if that makes sense.
So like the Levi's Disney collaboration, for example,
is going to be for kind of that fashion slash Disney fan.
fan a little bit deeper, whereas something a little bit more general is going to target a different
group. Yeah. And another kind of niche subgroup that comes to my mind is like the pin trading
community, right? They are so, um, so vibrant and so vocal, uh, on social media, but also in
the parks in terms of like the areas that they have designated for pin traders, right? There are so
many of these different kind of niche subcultures that I, I guess would fall under the purest bucket.
or at least the explorer bucket, but there are also casual people that just go to Disney once
every three to five years and interact with the park media and maybe follow Disney parks on social,
but they're not really in those micro communities, you know.
So it's super interesting.
And I think for them being able to embrace the super fans, the purists that like are watching
everything.
and let's D23 is a great example, right?
Those who are like going to D23 buying the tickets,
want to be in the room when the announcements happen,
versus the people who are kind of just moving through the brand
and interact with the brand every now and then.
It's so interesting how, I think,
particularly through the connection with the audience,
that they're able to do it.
And so their hierarchy in terms of how they're driving engagement
and what they shared was really thinking through the story itself,
what's the product that resonated,
with the story or reflects the story, and then how does that shape the consumer experience?
And so talk to me a little bit about those three pieces.
The hierarchy of connection with fans is they have this three-prong approach, essentially.
So it's story, product, and experience.
And so the story is where they remix stories to drive fresh energy and emotion.
So, for example, you and I also love Spider-Man.
So it's introducing Miles Morales as Spider-Man alongside Peter Parker.
So you have kind of nostalgic Peter Parker, who we know and love.
And now we're introducing this new character to drive engagement to a new set of audience members.
The other thing is product.
So, of course, they're using these like high heat drops to express specific story beats.
And so they're creating fun product launches around different stories that people know and love.
and then the next step is kind of that experience step.
So this is where fans unlock the story, meeting them exactly where they are.
So that can be in person, that can be an online experience,
but something that the fan or the community can take a part in.
So I think this is something that's kind of, you know, all brands can think about.
How can you create that hierarchy yourself to drive engagement with fans?
And then, of course, within that, there's going to be different.
examples. But I love the way that they broke this down because it's so simple. But Disney's such a
complex organization, but this makes a ton of sense. Yeah, I was just going to say this feels like
something that a lot of brands can model after. It feels really simple and easy to digest.
But also they are able to connect such powerful stories throughout these three buckets that really
it's super, super inspiring. So hopefully people will will find that really helpful.
I know I'm going to take that, particularly in my current role.
That's really, really powerful.
And then I think we talk a lot about the emotional residents and, you know,
where you have a connection with the brand and where I have a connection with the brand.
And it's different across all people, right, depending on the level of fan that they are, too.
But I think their sense of creativity isn't just about, like, how it looks and the aesthetics of it.
It's about how something makes people feel.
And so when we talk about defining the feeling first, so before they're writing a script, before they're designing a new product, Disney is defining that sort of emotional destination.
So where they want the consumer to go with their story, their product, their experience, once that feeling is set, the design choices and the aesthetics of it feel like they become really simple.
And that's, I think we can, you know, I'm sure there are products that we can pick out, particularly F1, right?
I think the feeling becomes really simple for the audience to kind of glatch onto.
Yeah.
Well, Disney and really in addition to that, most brands know that emotion leads to your wallet,
ultimately.
So this is a really important exercise, I think, just in general, not only to just
create a connection with the audience, but to ultimately get them to really invest in your
brand and ultimately purchase.
And so, you know, for them, there's kind of this different stuff.
approach to this. So as you mentioned, Allie, they define the feeling first, which I thought was
really interesting. So before a pencil even touches paper of building a product, a collaboration,
or whatever it is, it's figuring out, like, how do we want the consumer to feel with this?
Like, what is that emotion that we're trying to bring out or to engage? What's that destination
that we're taking a consumer to? And then for them, once that feeling is kind of identified
and outlined, all the other choices become a lot simpler because everything is drawing into that
emotion or is pointing to that emotion. The other thing, too, is that for them, you know,
emotion turns a standard interaction with a product or the brand itself into this lasting memory.
And I think that's something, again, that most brand builders and marketers know we get that.
However, it's just this important reminder that no matter how much, again, legacy you have or how much
longstanding relevance you have, that emotion and that memorable connection is still very important.
And then the other thing, too, that I thought was kind of interesting within this emotion is just like talking about tapping into these different sensory connections.
And for them, they talked a lot about how scent is actually highlighted as the only sense with a direct connection to memory.
emotion. And so they're using that as a tool for building resilience of the brand. So like,
for example, they just recently launched this collaboration with Bath and Body Works. They did
the Disney Princess campaign. And so that's a part of it is, you know, you smell something. And
again, you have this memory that sparks or this emotion that sparks. We feel that when we go to the
parks, like we're in parts of the Caribbean and we smell the water. You know, we instantly, you'll
that nostalgia and of writing the ride for many years and things like that. And I think, again,
a lot of brands can tap into this. This is why, you know, perfume is such an interesting industry
because different perfume or different candles bring us back to a certain place. And so I think
there's ways, even if you are not a scent-related brand, to figure out how to infuse that into
your experience. So I thought that was a kind of a cool note. I really like that. I really like
that. And in, in terms of the Bath and Body Works collab, as we mentioned at the top of the episode,
like they have been going collab crazy for the last, I would say, like six to ten months maybe,
there have been collabs rolling out left and right with different iconic brands, Levi's,
bagu, F1. And so I would love to dive into Bobby's portion, which is specifically around these,
around these collaborations, really as a cultural mirror for Disney in terms of how they're so effective.
So yeah, tell me about it.
I'm super excited about this one.
Yeah.
So as an aside, I've been reading Bobby Kim's book, which is awesome.
Again, he built this really well-established brand in the streetwear space and one of his biggest foundational pieces.
He actually has a couple, but one of them really is community is like, how can you serve a community really well with your product and the experience that you're providing and just being a part of these niche communities and just.
general is a big thing that he's always preached. And the other thing, too, as I mentioned at the top of the
episode, is collaborations. And so I think just in general, we've seen in the brand space that
different interesting brand collaborations has been a really big thing that businesses have tapped
into. And Disney is, of course, a part of that conversation as well. So we talked about a couple
different collaborations during the session. One of them was the Marvel Oreo partnership. Oh,
So essentially the whole nuance of that is the fact that, you know, it was kind of a collectible element to it.
So the idea is like people were trying to hunt down their favorite characters and the Oreos.
There's a taste element, of course.
But it's also that collectible niche that we've talked about.
You know, people love to collect things.
They love to like the blind box thing is right now.
And so figuring out ways to create this like experience with.
consumers in that way where they're trying to look for their favorite products or their favorite
characters in these different products. They're recording themselves, unboxing them and things like
that. So they did that with Oreo, which I found really interesting. The other thing that Disney's been
really working on is their collaboration with F1, which has very much evolved over the last,
I guess, like probably over a year now at this point. I think, yeah, yeah, since they launched.
But it's taking like a very niche, but also not niche. F1 has blown up over the years.
But, you know, not everyone's an F1 fan, right?
Not everyone's a Disney fan.
But those, I would say that those audiences are pretty separate for the most part.
There is an overlap.
Yeah, for sure.
But it's figuring out, like, how do we serve both audiences in a new way, but also
bring in people who are a little bit interested with F1 and curious about it.
And maybe this is a way to bring them into the space and vice versa with Disney.
For example, I'm not a huge F1 fan.
Like, I think it's cool and I enjoy hearing about it.
But I will say the Disney collab that they did for some of their clothing, I'm like, yes.
Like, I would wear that.
That's really safe.
The racing jacket?
Yeah.
The racing jacket?
Yeah.
It's so good.
It's so good.
So people like us who love Disney, but we're curious about F1, but we love fashion.
Like, this is a great gateway for us to learn more about the F1 brand, for example.
I say all that to say.
One of the things that Bobby was talking about is how when you partner with another brand, it says more about you than the partner.
It shows that you're multifaceted as a brand by highlighting these different nuances of your identity.
So we're kind of seeing this side of Disney that we've never seen before.
And so it's telling us a lot more about Disney than we weren't aware of previously.
The other thing, too, is authenticity wins.
So the Disney F1 collab succeeded because the storytelling was so authentic that the fans wondered why it had never existed before.
And it resulted in the highest engagement F1 has ever seen in a collaboration.
So again, I think one lesson when building out collaborations is figuring out what like absolutely makes sense.
And there's no question that that collaboration shouldn't exist.
And then just overall, the last piece I'll say on this is with any sort of collaboration having, again,
again, some form of interactive elements and pulling into that experience that a fan can have with
your brand or with the brands and the collaboration is important and allowing the consumer to be
a part of that story, which ultimately drives more engagement.
Yeah, for sure.
And I think we're going to continue to see some more really unique collaborations come out
from Disney.
I'm sure of it.
And I know you and I will be watching for them for sure.
So, well, thank you, Cass, for walking us through this.
Thank you for sharing some of your insights from South by and particularly this session with Disney.
I learned a lot.
I'm really excited to hear more offline, too.
And if we can link those photos that you took in the show notes and or on the actual video,
we'll definitely do that too.
Yeah, yeah, definitely head to the show notes.
We'll have an article on this session that you can learn more again.
We did the best that we could to kind of dissect this session,
but you'll get a lot of really great details from it there.
But yeah, as always, thanks for listening.
We appreciate it.
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