Disney, TikTok partner on content sharing as creators fuel fandom

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The two will run a Disney Creator Ambassador program that provides creators with access to film and TV series tied to franchises including Marvel and Star Wars.

Disney and TikTok’s new pact speaks to both the high value IP holders are placing on fandom and the larger role creators are playing in fostering those types of avid followings, particularly among young consumers. The agreement will enter a pilot phase in the U.S. in the coming months, but the plan is to scale it globally over time. As more marketers embrace creators, the deal also points to how perks like exclusive access to events could have a bigger role in creator programs.

For TikTok, the deal provides creators on its app an easier way to access licensed content from major franchises and entertainment brands, including Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and FX. Disney meanwhile is looking for an opportunity to shore up its connection to fan communities and more regularly engage Disney+ subscribers through its mobile app by drawing on popular TikTok videos.

Creator content will run on Verts, a vertical video feature that launched on Disney+’s mobile app in March . Verts is part of a larger trend of streaming platforms introducing mobile-first offerings to appeal to consumers whose watch time habits are diversifying away from living room screens.

A tie-up with TikTok follows the collapse of a short-lived, $1 billion licensing deal between Disney and OpenAI. That partnership was similarly centered around building a user-generated content pipeline for Disney+, with videos created by OpenAI’s Sora. OpenAI shut down the video-generation tool in a surprise move in March.

“Disney’s TikTok partnership feels like a do-over of its failed Sora initiative. Disney has, ironically, come to terms with the value of fan-created content built around its popular IP and, using TikTok, just found another way to get there,” Forrester Vice President and Research Director Mike Proulx wrote in emailed comments. “With TikTok, Disney is basically plugging into the world's largest fandom platform. TikTok already has the creators, the audience, and the recommendation engine.”

In a summer where box office records are being shattered thanks to blockbuster franchise installments , it’s not hard to see how collaborating more deeply with TikTok could further fuel Disney’s marketing engine behind new releases as well. Last year, TikTok users shared an average of 6.5 million film and TV-related posts daily, internal data from the social media app found. Half of surveyed viewers went on to watch a TV series or film after discovering content on TikTok.

The news is another sign that social media content is colliding in a more significant way with the world of streaming TV. Tubi, the ad-supported service owned by Fox, also teamed with TikTok in March on a creator incubator program that brings rising social media stars to its platform.

Disney on Wednesday reported earnings that beat Wall Street’s estimates , though revenue came in under expectations. Streaming revenue, which is largely comprised of Disney+ and Hulu, jumped 11% to $5.3 billion for the period. The company also announced it closed out its upfront negotiations, where it brokers ad-spending commitments, seeing double-digit volume gains and sold-out inventory for Super Bowl LXI next year.

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Ten-figure acquisitions, new agency experiments and organizational changes are underway, but the real key may be relinquishing a sense of control.

The sense of a stable middle ground is eroding across an industry at a point of contraction, with many displaying mixed feelings about marketing s future.

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