Disney

Brands Run Multi-Generational Toy Story 5 Collaborations

Brands across CPG, apparel and consumer electronics are launching licensed Toy Story 5 products and coordinated marketing moments to capture both parents who grew up with the franchise and their children. Toy Story 5 opened to more than $160 million in the U.S. and Canada (a franchise record) and $312 million globally over the three-day debut, prompting limited-edition drops, retail tie-ins and cross-channel campaigns. Examples include Dr. Squatch’s three-soap/two-deodorant collection (including a Woody-inspired “Howdy Hero” scent), SmartyPants’ first licensed packaging and a 360° “Fuel Their Imagination” campaign, and product lines from Simple Modern, Away, Shoe Palace, Belkin and Tonies. Brands say these partnerships require substantial cross-functional and studio coordination, aim to drive new-customer acquisition and cultural relevance, and are measured by early sales, audience breadth, and earned social attention.

Advertisers Demand More IP-Level Data From Netflix

Advertisers and buy‑side ad‑tech executives tell AdExchanger they receive insufficient IP‑level data from Netflix to justify programmatic spend, particularly for geotargeting and cross‑platform measurement. Sources say Netflix supplies abridged or no IP addresses to its sell‑side partner Magnite and does not pass IP data to DSPs, which weakens city‑level targeting accuracy. Netflix argues it provides deterministic identity signals and has invested in attribution partnerships, a conversion API (launched in March) and hires for ad sales and measurement. The streamer also uses data clean rooms (InfoSum, Snowflake, LiveRamp, AWS). Buyers report some advertisers are reallocating programmatic local spend to platforms that share richer IP/data signals, while larger advertisers may still buy Netflix for mass reach.

Social Media to Dominate Media Spend; TikTok Kids 'AI Slop'

VideoWeek’s Week in Charts highlights industry research and market movements: WPP Media forecasts global ad spend on media content will reach $947 billion by 2030, with social media and other digital channels accounting for more than 80% of that total while TV share falls. Kapwing research reports that over half of kids’ content on TikTok is so-called “AI slop,” with 97% of #cartoonkids videos flagged. Digital i data shows South Korea leads 15 tracked markets with average daily YouTube viewing of 161.5 minutes. The piece also notes recent corporate product launches and stock moves: Stagwell and Magnite posted stock gains tied to new “agentic” products, Disney rose ahead of Toy Story 5, Thomson Reuters shares fell, and Microsoft shares weakened amid AI spending concerns.