Disney had a widening relevance gap with Gen Z and Gen Alpha in the UK. The IP was still globally iconic, but in youth culture it risked feeling distant, nostalgic or overly engineered. We needed to find where Disney could credibly turn up, and how collaborations could make its worlds feel fluent rather than forced.
Dropping characters into culture wasn’t the opportunity. Turning them into cultural avatars was: figures that carry style, attitude, humour and real subcultural meaning. That called for partners who could reinterpret Disney’s IP through the music, fashion, creators and platforms shaping UK youth culture.
NERDS developed a UK culture and collaboration strategy, mapping where youth culture is being made and finding credible partners across fashion, music, creators and platforms. Then we created the Disney Lab: a strategic engine to test, validate and evolve partnerships across multiple IPs, with clear principles for building relevance without diluting brand equity.
