Disney+ names Southeast Asia creative agency

Disney+ has appointed Moving Bits to handle Southeast Asia creative duties for a year with the option to extend for another following a pitch in May, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands. It is also understood that work for Disney+ started last month and the agency is responsible for marketing Disney+'s programmes in Southeast Asia. Disney+ and Moving Bits declined to comment.

Disney+ and Moving Bits previously worked together for the Horror Star Campaign which rolled out in August this year. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands that planning for the campaign began last December and the team reimagined popular horror TV series from a variety of perspectives that are distinctive to Singaporean culture. Three Singaporean artists were shortlisted to create digital artworks inspired by the thrilling horror titles available on the streaming platform, including The Walking Dead, What We Do In The Shadows, and American Horror Stories. The agency created bespoke videos for the campaign featuring the zombie, pontianak and vampire.

After a slew of launches in Southeast Asia this year, Disney+ is doubling down on local content with 20 new local APAC content titles, including 18 originals done in collaboration with content creators from Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Greater China, Australia and New Zealand. The platform aims to greenlight over 50 APAC originals by 2023.

Meanwhile, on the leadership front, Disney+ saw its marketing head Daniel Tan leave to take on the VP, marketing for Southeast Asia role at HBO Max. Tan was previously with The Walt Disney Company for eight years and also worked as head of studio entertainment (Malaysia and Singapore). He reunites with Amit Malhotra, MD for HBO Max in Southeast Asia, India and Korea, who was previously regional lead for Disney+ in Southeast Asia. 

Although Disney+ saw subscribers grow by 2.1 million to 118.1 million during the fourth quarter of its 2021 financial year, it was still a dip from the previous quarters as subscribers grew by 12 million and 9.1 million in the preceding quarters. Nonetheless, CEO Bob Chapek reiterated during the recent earnings call that the company remains focused on managing its DTC business for the long term and not quarter to quarter.

"We are confident we are on the right trajectory to achieve the guidance that we provided at last year's Investors Day, reaching between 230 million and 260 million paid Disney+ subscribers globally by the end of fiscal year 2024, and with Disney+ achieving profitability that same year," he added.

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