Disney has named Joss Hastings as the new Disney consumer products marketing chief, signaling a major leadership move at a pivotal moment for the company’s brand and retail business. With Disney Consumer Products transitioning from Disney Experiences into Disney Entertainment – Studios, the appointment places a seasoned insider in charge of shaping how Disney connects its franchises, products and global fan communities.
Hastings brings two decades of company experience to the role and steps in with a broad mandate: grow the business worldwide, sharpen brand strategy and align consumer products marketing more closely with Disney’s entertainment engine. For a company built on powerful intellectual property, this leadership change matters far beyond merchandise shelves.
Why Disney’s consumer products marketing chief role matters now
The new Disney consumer products marketing chief will operate at the center of one of Disney’s most valuable businesses. Consumer products is no longer just about toys, apparel and collectibles. It now sits at the intersection of streaming, theatrical releases, gaming, live events, fashion collaborations and franchise storytelling.
Hastings will report jointly to Chief Marketing Officer Asad Ayaz and Disney Consumer Products President Lisa Baldzicki. That structure reflects how strategically important the function has become. As Disney integrates consumer products more directly with its entertainment division, marketing is expected to do more than promote products. It must:
- Extend franchise visibility beyond film and TV releases
- Create culturally relevant brand partnerships
- Drive year-round consumer engagement
- Turn fan passion into measurable commercial growth
- Coordinate campaigns across global markets and business units
In short, the Disney consumer products marketing chief is now a key player in how the company monetizes and expands its biggest brands.
Who is Joss Hastings?
Joss Hastings is a longtime Disney executive with experience spanning consumer products, digital, music, parks and gaming. Before this promotion, she served as Vice President of Marketing Strategy, giving her a close view of how Disney’s franchise ecosystem works across platforms.
Her background is particularly notable because Disney increasingly relies on marketers who understand the full fan journey. That means moving seamlessly from content launches to retail activations, from live experiences to luxury collaborations. Hastings’ résumé suggests she is well suited for a role that demands both creative vision and operational coordination.
A 20-year Disney veteran with cross-division expertise
Unlike an outside hire, Hastings arrives with deep institutional knowledge. She already understands the company’s internal partnerships, franchise priorities and brand standards. That can be a major advantage as Disney reorganizes its consumer products business under the entertainment umbrella.
Her experience across multiple divisions also positions her to bridge teams that have historically operated in parallel. For a modern media company, that kind of alignment is essential.
Key campaigns that shaped her leadership profile
The newly named Disney consumer products marketing chief has already played a visible role in several high-profile initiatives. Recent work credited to Hastings includes Disney’s global Formula 1 partnership, which pushed Mickey & Friends into new cultural and sports spaces.
Among the standout activations:
- An event at the Las Vegas Grand Prix designed to expand Mickey & Friends’ relevance
- A sold-out Gentle Monster collaboration tied to the Shanghai Grand Prix
- An expansion into F1 Academy, tapping into the rise of women’s sports
- A Vogue collaboration celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary through designer interpretations of Mickey Mouse
She has also worked with major brands such as LEGO, Lululemon and Gucci, underscoring Disney’s growing ambition to meet consumers in premium, lifestyle and fashion-driven spaces. These partnerships show that the Disney consumer products marketing chief role is increasingly about cultural positioning, not just traditional licensing.
From Princess to Force Friday
Hastings has been involved in award-winning campaigns including Dream Big, Princess and Force Friday. Both campaigns illustrate Disney’s broader marketing playbook: connect beloved franchises with community, excitement and retail momentum.
That balance of emotional storytelling and commercial execution is likely one reason Disney leadership sees her as the right executive for the next phase.
What Disney’s structural shift means for the business
The appointment comes shortly after Disney announced that Consumer Products would move from Disney Experiences into Disney Entertainment – Studios. This is more than an org chart adjustment. It suggests Disney wants tighter integration between content creation and consumer product strategy.
For example, when a new Marvel, Star Wars or animated title launches, product marketing can now be more directly aligned with studio campaigns, audience targeting and franchise planning. That should help Disney accelerate cross-platform opportunities in:
- Merchandise tied to upcoming film and streaming releases
- Gaming and digital engagement extensions
- Fashion and luxury capsule collections
- Experiential retail moments and live event tie-ins
- Global brand activations timed to pop culture trends
The new Disney consumer products marketing chief will be central to making that integration work in practice.
What executives are saying
Disney CMO Asad Ayaz praised Hastings as a marketer who can turn big creative concepts into work that resonates with consumers and drives business results. That endorsement highlights what Disney appears to value most right now: strategic creativity with measurable impact.
It also points to a larger industry reality. In entertainment, marketing leaders are no longer judged solely by campaign awareness. They are expected to create cultural conversation, deepen fan loyalty and unlock revenue across multiple categories.
That is precisely the challenge facing the Disney consumer products marketing chief as competition intensifies for audience attention, especially in family entertainment, collectibles, gaming and branded lifestyle products.
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What comes next for Disney consumer products
With Hastings in place, Disney now has a leader who understands both legacy brand building and modern cross-category collaboration. Her appointment suggests the company will continue investing in partnerships that make its franchises feel contemporary, aspirational and globally relevant.
Expect the next chapter to focus on sharper synergy between TV, film, licensing, sports, fashion and fan experiences. As Disney adapts to changing consumer habits, the Disney consumer products marketing chief will play a crucial role in making iconic characters and stories resonate in everyday life.
Ultimately, this leadership move is about more than a title change. By elevating Hastings, Disney is betting that experienced, franchise-savvy marketing can fuel the next wave of growth. For anyone tracking media, retail and brand strategy, the new Disney consumer products marketing chief is a development worth watching closely.
