November 10th, 2023, Christien Pheby
Disney+ has introduced a new ad-supported tier at £4.99 per month (alongside a Standard tier with no ads for £7.99 and a Premium tier at £10.99). But will consumers be interested in paying for Darth Vader with digital advertising, Captain America with commercials, or Black Panther with brand promotions? Let’s find out!
Data from YouGov BrandIndex shows, that, since its launch on March 24, 2020, the platform has only grown in terms of consumer Attention scores. These measures, which track whether the public are hearing positive or negative buzz about a brand, have grown from 8.8 to 22.9 (+14.1) between its pandemic-era launch and November 1, 2023.
By comparison, the average score across all TV & radio brands we track went from 6.3 to 6.2 over the same period (-0.1).
As a brand people are increasingly aware of – and talking about – Disney+ may represent a commercial opportunity for those who are, well, looking for an opportunity to place commercials. But not every audience will have the same attitude towards advertising, and exploring Disney+ viewers reveals some key differences between them and the general public.
Firstly, some facts: 43% of the platform’s current viewers are aged 18-34, compared to 29% of the general public; 43% are aged 35-54, next to 33% of the public; just 14% are over 55, next to 38% of the general public. In terms of gender, there’s an even split (50% male, 50% female). So it’s a young audience, and one that might be responsive to male or female-focused advertising.
So what do they think of it?
Disney+ viewers are slightly more likely to accept the bargain of watching ads in exchange for free content (55% vs. 52%).
But some 76% find advertising annoying (the same proportion as the general public), and 65% feel bombarded by it (again, same as the wider public). This group are slightly more likely to say that personalised adverts creep them out (60% vs. 57%), and that they expect adverts to entertain them (53% vs. 48%).
They are, however, slightly less likely to mute ads they see on TV (44% vs 46%), and they are more receptive to ads in a theatrical setting: 55% say they enjoy watching adverts and trailers at the cinema, compared to 48% of Britons. We can also say that ads with favoured celebrities in them are more likely to receive a good reception with this audience compared to the general public (28% vs. 22%).
As for the decision to introduce new subscription tiers, Disney+ viewers are significantly more likely to say streaming services should offer more group subscriptions (75% vs. 62%), and if the platform hopes to introduce a Netflix-style password sharing crackdown, it might want to consider that 57% think video and music streamers should not care if login details are shared vs. 42% of the public.
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YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for Great Britain is nationally representative of the online population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles