Rita Ferro on Disney’s advertising strategy and competing with Big Tech

Rita Ferro has spent nearly three decades at Disney. As president of global advertising for The Walt Disney Company, she sits at the centre of one of the most contested media markets. At Cannes Lions this year, she tells The Media Leader and Future of TV advertising’s Justin Lebbon she has never felt the pressure more keenly.

“I would say yes,” she says, when asked whether this is the most competitive landscape she has encountered. “The velocity of the business is getting… accelerating.”

For Ferro, Disney’s answer is not to compete on price. With more than 70 multi-year deals in place, mostly anchored in sports, she argues trust and quality content command their own premium.

Super Bowl advertising next year? “Prices are going up.” And demand, she insists, comfortably outstrips supply: “There is so much more demand than we have supply for.”

The bigger strategic shift is away from holdco reliance and towards mid-market advertisers, a segment Ferro cheerfully adopts as FELT (Fat end of the long tail) during the conversation.

The growth opportunity and how Disney is structuring its commercial operation to go after it, alongside her views on AI in ad operations and the health of the broader marketplace, are all in the interview above or listen on Spotify below.