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Welcome to The Brief by Kuro House, where we help you stay sharp with the marketing stories that matter most. Today, we’re diving into a bold Disney marketing shakeup, the high-fashion arms race for this year’s Winter Olympics, Yahoo’s radical DSP pivot, and more. Let’s get right into it.

First up, Disney is kicking off the year with a major marketing overhaul, as reported by Adweek. The Walt Disney Company has just announced a brand new enterprise marketing and brand organization, with Asad Ayaz at the helm. Ayaz, a Disney veteran with over two decades at the company, becomes Disney’s first chief marketing and brand officer, reporting directly to CEO Bob Iger and the heads of Disney’s four business segments. This move is all about bringing tighter alignment and consistency across Disney’s sprawling marketing teams—spanning Disney Entertainment, Disney Experiences, and ESPN. Last August, Disney already restructured its marketing leadership, putting Ayaz in charge of Disney Entertainment Marketing. Now, his scope expands even further. Bob Iger called Ayaz’s new role “critical” for the company, emphasizing the need for brand consistency and seamless consumer experiences as Disney’s business evolves. While the final details of the reorganization aren’t out yet, this is a clear signal that Disney wants to unify its brand presence across every touchpoint, from streaming to theme parks to sports. With Ayaz’s track record—he was also Disney’s first chief brand officer last year—expect to see a more cohesive Disney voice in everything they do.

Now, let’s talk about the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, and how apparel brands are turning the games into a global runway. Modern Retail reports that brands like EA7 Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Lululemon are designing uniforms for Team Italy, Team USA, and Team Canada, respectively. Salomon is outfitting 18,000 volunteers, while Dagsmejan is giving the Swiss National Ice Hockey Team custom sleepwear and eye masks for recovery. Even lifestyle brands are getting in on the action: J.Crew has a three-year partnership with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, and Skims is rolling out its fourth Team USA capsule collection. The Olympics are a marketing goldmine, with NBC already selling out ad slots and over 100 new advertisers jumping in. Milan’s status as a fashion capital has brands doubling down on aesthetics and innovation—Ralph Lauren’s Opening Ceremony coat is a winter-white wool statement piece, while Nike is debuting the Therma-FIT Air Milano jacket, which lets athletes adjust their warmth by inflating or deflating air compartments. On the medical side, Figs is outfitting the U.S. medical team with gear made from a new FIBREx fabric designed for alpine conditions. And for fans, brands like Chubbies and J.Crew are launching lifestyle collections that channel Olympic spirit into everyday wear. The message is clear: in Milan, performance and style are inseparable, and brands are leveraging both to connect with global audiences on and off the slopes.

Switching gears to the world of ad tech, Yahoo is taking a contrarian approach with its demand-side platform, as detailed by Digiday. Instead of locking advertisers into its dashboard, Yahoo is intentionally making its DSP less “sticky.” The idea: if it’s easy to leave, it’s also easy to join. Yahoo wants its DSP to be the backbone that marketers’ own software agents plug into, rather than the place marketers go to manage campaigns. “We don’t care if you don’t use our UX anymore,” says Adam Roodman, GM of Yahoo DSP. The real value, he argues, lies in Yahoo’s identity graph and data, not the interface. With 230 million authenticated users in the U.S. across Yahoo’s properties—Mail, Sports, Finance, News—Yahoo has a direct line to consumer behavior, which is a major advantage as IP-based targeting becomes less reliable, especially in CTV. Live sports are proving ground for this model: Yahoo can target unique households more accurately because it relies on authenticated data, not just IP addresses muddied by VPNs or shared networks. Yahoo is also bolstering its commerce media capabilities, partnering with Dollar General Media Network and DoorDash to bring shopper intent into its DSP. The strategy is risky—making it easy to leave could mean advertisers jump ship to giants like Amazon—but Yahoo is betting that its data backbone will become indispensable as DSPs become more interchangeable and agentic AI automates more of the buying process. Marketers like Georgia-Pacific are already making Yahoo their primary DSP for its lower costs, modern platform, and responsive service. The takeaway: Yahoo wants to be the infrastructure, not just another dashboard.

That’s it for today’s Brief. From Disney’s unified marketing vision to the Olympic fashion frenzy and Yahoo’s bold DSP experiment, it’s clear that the world’s biggest brands and platforms are rethinking how they connect with audiences in 2024. Thanks for tuning in—stay sharp, stay curious, and we’ll see you tomorrow.