The Disney Bundle; ESPN, Hulu & Disney + wowed audiences with their ultimate fan-experiences at D23.

With a combined viewership in 2022 of over 268 million, The Disney Bundle is a video streaming powerhouse with a devout fanbase. Every two years, tens of thousands of Disney fans descend on Anaheim, CA for the D23 Expo to experience the latest and greatest that Disney brands have to offer.

When The Disney Bundle announced they would be taking over a section of D23 Expo, they chose 2Heads to bring their new and original content to life on the colourful and crowded expo floor. The resulting 12,000 sqft experience brought together four major stakeholders under one roof – ensuring that Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and The Disney Bundle shared the spotlight, while supporting each of their unique business objectives.

The Brief | Build the Ultimate Disney Fan Event

The Disney Bundle activation has four main stakeholders; Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the Disney Bundle. Each a powerhouse brand who shared an objective; showcase the breadth and depth of content offered by one of the most successful streaming services worldwide beyond the Expo floor.

The reach of D23 is not to be underestimated – with minute by minute programming across the show floor, patrons have the chance to be a part of their favourite Disney content, and participate in live announcements and celebrity meet and greets. 2Heads were briefed by The Disney Bundle to create an experience centerpoint to the expo; a highly visible, natural meeting place for attendees to gather and celebrate their love of Disney. From increasing foot-traffic to creating highly immersive environments exploding with content – each brand wanted an innovative, magical environment that also captured guest participation analytics to measure the success of the event against their own internal KPIs.

The Solution | A Branded Complementary Curation

2Heads designed a series of environments that would complement each other and flow seamlessly within an exterior framework that gave each brand their own playground. Mimicking a stadium with a central stage providing high visibility to a curated selection of Disney Bundle titles, and providing a natural back-of-house for green-rooms, production and our VIP 2^nd floor viewing platform. This VIP platform allowed talent and executive teams to experience the energy of a packed house, while allowing for private interviews and hospitality between sets.

As part of the experience design process, 2Heads ingested as much brand content as possible – bringing in experts from each stakeholder to work collaboratively on ways to showcase the vast variety of content available. By creating large vignettes, guest flow and engagement were designed to be efficient and purposeful. Using the UX of the Disney Parks as inspiration, 2Heads sought to create line experiences that felt as immersive and exciting as the displays themselves.

2Heads also incorporated RFID touchpoints throughout The Bundle Booth to deliver measurable results in line with the KPIs of each brand. In prior years the focus of The Disney Bundle had been the conversion of foot traffic into subscriptions, however 2022 came with the opportunity to welcome attendees back to an in-person experience, and the focus was on delighting and educating guests on the entire portfolio of content.

The Results | A Beating Heart of Content

Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, The Disney Bundle offers a comprehensive content portfolio that moves beyond the beloved original Disney titles. Which begged the question – why attend D23 Expo in person when guests can join from the comfort of their homes? 2Heads had to make it more than just the chance to meet A-list celebrities like Harrison Ford, Owen Wilson, Gal Gadot, Amy Poehler, Jude Law, Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel. Every point of the Disney Bundle environment came back to guest experience and the seamless integration between the physical environment and the digital enhancements.

For Disney+, 2Heads designed The Lenticular Wall, a digital showpiece that showcased rolling content on 8ft high synchronised LED panels. The Interactive Hologram wall was another extremely popular touchpoint, activated by floor pedals and full of Disney characters waiting to drop in and say hello. This activation served as a backdrop for many Disney+ livestream moments, given the dynamic content, guest interaction, and high level of brand visibility.

TThe immersive Hulu line experience included a Reality TV Confessional moment where guests could select a digital background from their favourite reality tv titles and receive a digital photo sent via a custom RFID integration with D23’s guest management system.

The ESPN+ zone encouraged high level of excitement with the addition of superstar memorabilia like the College Football National Championship Trophy and UFC Championship Belt. The ESPN+ zone included an RFID enabled photo op that put guests behind the commentator’s desk in a full scale recreation of a sports broadcasting studio.

The Disney Bundle Stage welcomed actor Brie Larson to discuss her new augmented reality film Remembering and actor Darren Criss leading a Disney sing-along. The Muppets stopped by to promote their latest film, and Oscar-winning Documentary filmmaker Jimmy Chin and Free Solo climber Alex Honnold shared heart-stopping clips from their adventures.

By the Numbers

The Disney Bundle Stage supported every programme in a way that felt inclusive and exciting, drawing 600+ person crowds for every session from across the Expo to see their heroes up close and personal.

• 100,000 in-person guests of D23 2022 plus live-stream available on Disney+
• 12,000 sqft of Disney Bundle footprint
• 4 Unique brand environments

The D23 Expo is the premiere Disney fan event – and the standards are incredibly high when your audience is as committed as Disney’s. The client collaboration and trust from ideation to show-closing was critical in bringing together four powerhouse brands. Witnessing the outpouring of love and excitement from fans when doors opened told us we had hit the mark and 2Heads were honoured to have partnered with The Disney Bundle to bring that magic to life.

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