The NewFronts Has Evolved, but Is It Enough?

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s annual NewFronts is almost here, which for advertisers means a week of sprinting around Manhattan to view multiple presentations from digital publishers. But for Day 3 of this year’s digital content event, taking place May 1-4, in-person attendees will be able to remain seated in a single venue. The May 3 presentations will be held entirely at New York’s 225 Liberty St., following requests from the marketing and buying community that the IAB make the NewFronts more accessible and streamlined. “I think it will be good for both presenter and attendee,” said IAB CEO David Cohen. “A one-stop-shop for 20 different companies” like Crackle, LG Ads and DirecTV, each of whom will have 10- to 20-minute slots to make their pitches to marketers. That’s not the only change in store for this year’s NewFronts, which will offer live and virtual attendee options for the second consecutive year following two years of all-virtual presentations during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Another addition, following feedback from buyers, is further inclusion of presenters from diverse media companies. Blavity, Cocina and Urban One will all have a presence at Wednesday's presentations, and the IAB waived their event participation fees. It’s a theme that Marcy Greenberger, evp and managing partner at UM, will be paying close attention to in this year’s presentations. “There have been a number of partners lately coming up with creative solutions to drive supply and spend with minority-owned publishers,” Greenberger said, noting the importance of continuing DEI efforts despite a soft ad market. “So it will be interesting to see if any of those capabilities are shared out during the NewFronts.” Adweek’s TV Upfronts and NewFronts 2023 Calendar Top priorities Video will be top of mind at the 2023 NewFronts for buyers, with several telling Adweek that they’re interested in strides made in shoppable and ecommerce, including any updates from Amazon’s NFL packages, especially its first-ever Black Friday game. Additionally, attendees will be looking for more insight into CTV transparency, encompassing everything from content transparency to delivery of dayparts and verification. “There is no doubt that the video landscape has changed materially,” said Cohen, noting that ad-supported streaming is vastly different than even three years ago. “The pandemic put an accelerant on where the market is going.” Cohen acknowledged that some presenters believe today’s marketplace is a 24/7 and 365-day experience, and choosing a week or two in May for presentations “doesn’t make much sense.” However, echoing comments from years past, Cohen and the IAB believe that the industry has to look at video opportunities around the upfront buying season in a single period of time, acknowledging the value of bringing the industry together and building relationships. “There is an artificial separation between the NewFronts and upfront week, which takes place two weeks later," Cohen said. “Over time, could those two weeks combine into one? Probably. But the time-space continuum doesn’t allow for all that to happen in one week.” New faces at the NewFronts The IAB’s annual digital content event, set for May 1-4, will feature several new presenters this year, including Americano Media, Cafe Media, DirecTV, LATV, Revry and Teads. Meanwhile, a number of companies that participated in the 2022 NewFronts are skipping this year’s event, including Twitter (following a volatile year with new owner Elon Musk at the helm), Black Enterprise, Dotdash Meredith, Nuestra.TV, Revolt, Tubi and Wave Sports + Entertainment. Losing relevancy? However, some buyers wonder if the timetable for NewFronts and upfront collaboration has already run out. According to one buyer, speaking anonymously, the NewFronts are losing relevancy, as there’s “no urgency” to place transactions, and technology is passing the tech event by. “The NewFronts came about at a time where everything was pretty much around direct digital versus the flexibility of the programmatic world that we live in now,” said the buyer. Multiple buyers told Adweek the NewFronts weren’t necessarily on their radar, especially with the list of event presenters seemingly coming out later and later each year. However, others said they’d welcome a more unified NewFronts and upfronts experience in the future. “The lines have been blurred, particularly when there are partners that take part in both of those weeks, and I think we need to see more collaboration between those two,” Samantha Rose, evp and strategic investment lead at Horizon Media, told Adweek. “I do think, particularly with traditional TV partners and traditional streaming services, there's so much commonality across those.” For now, insisted Cohen, "I do think there is value in getting the industry together building relationships, seeing the new and the next, in one fell swoop.” That said, he added, “the market is always moving, so it'll be curious to see how the NewFronts and upfronts evolve over time. … But predicting the future is a notoriously tricky business."

NewFronts

The NewFronts Evolves Amid a Changing Marketplace—but Is It Enough?

The IAB shakes up its annual digital content event as some buyers question its relevancy

Mollie Cahillane

Bill Bradley

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Mollie Cahillane

Bill Bradley