Jeffrey Weinstock

101 Great Minds on Music Brands and Behavior

Jeffrey Weinstock, Vice President & Creative Director at Disney CreativeWorks

Jeffrey Weinstock has been part of The Walt Disney Company for over 15 years. He is currently the Vice President and Creative Director at Disney CreativeWorks. As a brilliant remarkable storyteller, his creative and innovative strategies have continuously placed Disney’s legacy at the very top. Jeffrey also holds a Bachelor of Science (Radio, TV and Film) from Northwestern University. In addition to providing impeccable team leadership, Jeffrey is also a multi-Emmy award-winning Creative Director.

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“We call ourselves ‘The Avengers of branded entertainment’ because we’re a group where each of us has different specialities.”

— JEFFREY WEINSTOCK, VICE PRESIDENT & CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DISNEY CREATIVEWORKS

Reese: Talk to me about your role at the brand.

Weinstock: As the VP Creative Director of Disney CreativeWorks, I’m focused on branded content for our television brands as well as the social and digital side too (ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Digital). We serve our clients and partners as a creative agency/branded content studio. It’s our job to take whatever the advertiser’s goal is and to blend it with our IP. Ideally, we enhance both brands and compromise neither, leading to unique, compelling and engaging content for our partners. We act as a full-service agency, and as the business and portfolio has grown, we’ve grown – we just happen to be housed within Disney. We call ourselves ‘The Avengers of branded entertainment’ because we’re a group where each of us has different specialities. So, for example, what we do on ABC in partnering with a primetime TV show is going to be different from what we do on Disney Digital.

Reese:What is your perspective on sonic? 

Weinstock: It’s woven into the work that we’re doing because we’re blending at least a minimum of two different brands together. We have to make sure that the brand’s style, whether it be audio or visual, pairs nicely with what we do. We want to make sure that at the end of the process, it feels cohesive and complementary with the rest of the campaign. T-Mobile has a nice sonic logo, and you’ll hear that at the end of the spot; if we’re doing something with them, we know we’re going to end on that. So, it certainly plays a part.

Reese:In general, how important is sound for building a brand?

Weinstock: Music plays an incredibly important part in our lives; sound and audio create an emotional feeling for the listener, and every aspect of the creative process is important in some way. But what we’re finding is that some things are often an afterthought, meaning you’ve cut a traditional 30-second spot, and then someone says ‘Oh, do we need music?’. Then they pull from a library of tracks. It happens all the time. Or at the beginning of the process, someone sends me music, but it’s challenging because I want to consider all the elements together. However now, because of technology and the ways in which viewers are interacting and engaging with us, we have to think differently. People are consuming media differently now; there’s constant competition for our eyes, ears and minds. So anything that grabs your attention is incredibly important. 

Reese:People ask why they should have a sonic identity, but Disney has a sonic language that goes back to its origins…

Weinstock: There’s a comfort in hearing sounds that are familiar. For me, it’s often associated with travel, or a subway noise or public place I haven’t been to in years. I hear it, and suddenly there’s this smile on my face because it brings back a memory. No matter where you are, audio brings you back to that moment instantly. However, sometimes music is inserted to change things up and for me, in that context, it’s not a brand builder, it’s an attention grabber. It works well if a brand is associated with a track, but sometimes creatives get antsy, and you have to remind them that the consumer has maybe only heard or seen it once or twice. 

“People are consuming media differently now; there’s constant competition for our eyes, ears and minds. So anything that grabs your attention is incredibly important.“

Reese:Why did sonic become so dominant, and where is it going?

Weinstock: We always say that Disney is about great storytelling, and that’s what sets us apart as a company. It’s all about the storytelling even going back to those old-style radio shows. It’s music, a good book… and now a podcast can prompt the listener or reader to immerse themselves in that world. What’s interesting is that, with the rise of technology, podcasts and noise cancelling headphones, it’s as if the artists are singing or talking solely to you. The constant change is exciting. But no matter where we end up, if we don’t have a good story and good creative, we’re dead in the water. The challenge now is dealing with all the distractions in technology. 

Reese: Because of your background, have you got a favourite musical moment?

Weinstock: One of the jobs I had was interviewing some pretty unique people at junkets to help promote movies. As I mentioned, I’m a musician, and one of my favourite questions at the end to ask was; “What’s your favourite chord and why?” I remember Elton John saying; “Oh it’s G minor because I love those sad songs”. They know what that particular chord does and how they can create an emotion with it.

Reese:As someone who has a passion for music, what is the thought you want to leave us with? 

Weinstock: My wife jokes that we are a ‘two-accordion home’ because I’ve got two accordions, plus five keyboards, a piano and a guitar. Music is at the core of what I do. I love it when a colleague pitches an idea, and it’s an instant ‘get’ because you know exactly what they’re trying to do with the style of music, and how they want to use it to help tell the story. As Creative Director, my job is to be the best creative chamber I can be, to take what they have and if I can, elevate it to something even greater. If I can’t do that, I get out of the way. So, when I see that kind of input from someone, it’s a gift because they’ve really thought about the entire piece, and not just as something that’s a collection of elements. When I get to witness that, for me, it’s the best part of the job.

Note: The interview took place in Los Angeles on December 18th, 2020.

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