Disney+ Vertical Videos?! What This Means For Your Watch Time!

Disney+ is about to look a whole lot different, folks. The streaming giant is planning to add Vertical Videos later this year, a move clearly aimed at boosting those all-important daily user engagement numbers. The announcement, which honestly surprised me a bit, came Wednesday at Disney's Tech + Data Showcase at CES in Las Vegas. Apparently, Mickey Mouse wants to play in the TikTok sandbox.

Disney+ Vertical Videos?! What This Means For Your...

This isn’t just a random feature addition, it's a strategic play to catch up with competitors who've already embraced the short-form video format. Think about it: everyone's got their phone glued to their hand, scrolling through endless reels and stories. Disney clearly wants a piece of that action, hoping to lure those eyeballs from other platforms directly to Disney+.

But wait, there's more! Alongside the vertical video bombshell, Disney unveiled other advertising-focused initiatives. They're rolling out a new "brand impact" metric – essentially a fancy way of measuring how well ads are working when you combine branding efforts with, you know, actually trying to sell something. They're also launching a video generation tool designed to help advertisers create killer commercials specifically tailored for connected TVs. It leverages existing brand assets and guidelines, which sounds like a pretty clever way to streamline the ad creation process.

The "Brand Impact Metric," as Disney calls it, is designed to showcase the synergy between brand building and performance marketing. According to Dana McGraw, SVP of Data and Measurement Science, it will use third-party measurement insights alongside Disney’s own first-party data. The goal? To give marketers a clearer picture of what's actually driving results.

“More than ever, marketers need a better bridge between brand building and performance, and data can serve as the insight layer across campaigns and tactics,” McGraw stated. “When brands can connect ad exposure to direct results, marketers gain clarity on not just what drove results – but how.” This all points to a more data-driven, targeted approach to advertising on Disney+, something that's becoming increasingly crucial in today’s competitive streaming landscape.

So, Vertical Videos, smarter advertising metrics, and easier ad creation tools. It's a multi-pronged attack by Disney to not only attract more users but also to keep them glued to the app for longer. Will it work? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure: Disney isn't content to just sit back and rely on its legacy content. They're actively evolving to meet the demands of the modern digital world, even if that means embracing the vertical video craze.