Asad Ayaz
Chief Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company and President, Marketing, The Walt Disney Studios and Disney+
As Chief Brand Officer, Asad Ayaz is responsible for managing the Disney brand globally across The Walt Disney Company’s entire ecosystem of touchpoints and consumer experiences. This includes holistic brand marketing campaigns leveraging and synthesizing the company’s full suite of content and consumer experiences, activating the brand internally and externally, guiding the company’s digital and social strategy and presence, overseeing corporate alliances and partnerships, and setting corporate synergy and franchise priorities. Additionally, he leads global consumer research and analytics for Disney’s brands and franchises, primarily focusing on delivering more personalized and dynamic consumer experiences.
In his role as President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios and Disney+, Ayaz oversees all aspects of global marketing – encompassing strategy, creative advertising, media, digital, research, special events, promotions, publicity, and synergy – for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios, as well as all aspects of brand and performance marketing for Disney+.
A nearly 20-year Disney veteran, Ayaz has developed and led marketing campaigns for some of the most successful film releases in history, including Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Marvel’s “Black Panther” and the global phenomenon “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Additional campaigns Ayaz has spearheaded include Disney’s live-action hits “Aladdin” and “The Lion King,” Disney Animation’s Academy Award®-winning “Encanto” and “Frozen II,” Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” and “Turning Red,” and 20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” and “Alien: Romulus.” Ayaz has led the campaigns for the most watched films on Disney+ and Hulu and 13 of the top 15 box office debuts of all time, including eight opening weekends over $200 million, as well as the biggest worldwide debut of all time for “Avengers: Endgame,” which earned over $1.2 billion in five days. Under his leadership, "Inside Out 2" became the #1 animated film of all time and is now the eighth highest-grossing film ever. Asad and his team also led the massive global marketing campaign for Marvel Studios’ "Deadpool & Wolverine,” which is now the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history.
Ayaz also oversees worldwide content and brand and performance marketing for Disney+, including the Emmy Award®-winning “The Mandalorian,” “Ahsoka,” Marvel Studios’ hit series “WandaVision” and “Loki,” and the five-time Emmy-winning “The Beatles: Get Back,” and the launch of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour on Disney+. In addition, Ayaz led the worldwide Disney100 brand campaign celebrating The Walt Disney Company’s 100th milestone.
An award-winning marketing leader, Ayaz has been named one of Forbes’ Most Influential CMOs, one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, and was featured in the Adweek 50. He has also received multiple industry honors, including Variety’s Marketing Visionaries Award and The Clio Marketing Mastermind Award.