Skip to Content

The rise of Disney+

Shaun Austin Head of Media 21 July 2022

BrandVue’s Most Loved Media Brands 2022

Earlier this year we launched BrandVue’s Most Loved Media Brands 2022 report, providing insight into which Media brands UK adults have the closest emotional connection with.

Using data from BrandVue Media, Savanta’s daily brand tracking tool, we take a closer look at the success of rising star Disney +.

The brand has nurtured a truly nostalgic relationship with its customers, providing the competitive edge it needs to flourish in a market awash with streaming sites.

When looking at Brand Love for brands within the Media sector, and which brands have positive momentum, its impossible to look past Disney+.

The ranking of Disney+ has been on the rise over the last 4 quarters worth of BrandVue data, moving from being ranked #8 in Q3 ’21 now up to #5 in Q2 ’22.

Furthermore, Disney+’s Brand Love score has been continuing to build over this period, with Brand Love in Q2 ’22 8.5% higher than it was in Q3 ’21 – the biggest increase of all brands over this period.

We have also seen penetration (those using Disney+ in the last 12 months) continuing to increase, and the rate of increase is almost more than twice any other brand we are collecting data on.

Since launching during the pandemic, 43% of UK respondents say they have used it in the past 12 months, up from 33% in Q4 ’21.

Is this growth sustainable?

The penetration of Disney+ is impressive given its short existence, however Amazon Prime Video and Netflix have penetration figures of 55% and 69% respectively, indicating there is further room for growth. The challenge that both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have faced is creating enough new and engaging content for audiences to keep renewing their subscriptions.

This is one area where Disney+ has an advantage, given that content is one of its core businesses. Subscribers have access to content dating as far back as far as 1938 with childhood favourites across all generations available at the touch of a button. The brand has nurtured a truly nostalgic relationship with its customers, providing the competitive edge it needs to flourish in a market awash with streaming sites.

However, Netflix has been holding the #1 spot for the last 3 quarters and is BrandVue’s 2nd Most Loved Brand across all sectors – it will take some feat to knock it off its perch, although the current signs are positive, especially after the recent news that Netflix is losing subscribers and is currently considering whether introducing adverts could help to keep subscription costs down in order to sustain subscriber growth.

Netflix has broad appeal across all generations, whilst Disney+ has appeal for all generations except the Baby Boomers. However, we can look at Gen Z for some bellwether indications for the future. Both Netflix and Disney+ have seen good increases this year among Gen Z (9%) however Disney+ has closed the gap since Q3 ’21.

Of course, with Disney+ seeing strong success, other studios and content providers will be wondering whether they can achieve similar feats. As streaming becomes more and more fragmented, there will come a point when too many streaming platforms is too much. However, that does not appear to be the case for Disney just yet.

BrandVue’s Most Loved Media Brands 2022

Download the full report here to discover the UK’s Top 100 Most Loved Media Brands, as well as expert analysis on where the industry is heading and what brands can do to become more loved by consumers.

The report provides an insight into how the No.1 Most Loved Media Brand gained the top spot and whether this can be maintained. We also take a look at how brands can succeed with multi-generational marketing campaigns, and touch upon what Spotify’s success can teach us about Brand Love.

Knowledge centre

Read More
Explore