Are the NewFronts worth it?

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty; let's get the show on the road.

Today wraps up the NewFronts, the dog-and-pony show where agencies sit through hours of presentations from digital media companies about any and every video offering, often wondering to themselves, “who cares?” 

This year, it’s a bit different because of the coronavirus, the NewFronts were live-streamed. So folks don’t have to actually sit in a crowded theater pretending to pay attention.

Here’s how the IAB, which typically charges companies about $25,000 to participate, (though not sure about this year since there’s no elbow-rubbing; nor is there actual demand from presenters to fill time-slots according to a several sources) billed this year’s efforts:

Join us on June 22-26 for five days of groundbreaking digital content from the biggest names in media and entertainment, in addition to fresh insights about new behaviors the industry is seeing, and how to embrace those changes.

If anyone followed the NewFronts and saw “groundbreaking digital content” drop it in the comments below.

But to be fair to the IAB, it is the hype-man for the industry; a lobbying organization which according to its 2017 tax filings brought in $29 million in revenue through dues. For sake of comparison, other industry trade/lobbying organizations like the 4As took in $18 million in revenue and the ANA took in $40 million in 2017.

The NewFronts, initially designed to mimic the Upfronts just without the glitz and glamour of TV celebrity (though they certainly try), never seemed to fulfill its promise of delivering advertisers video inventory. For starters, John Q. Public never really embraced online video from media companies the way the industry had hoped. That whole ‘pivot to video’ thing was really just a pivot to Facebook, where a view was counted within the first 3 seconds—and where Facebook screwed up a whole entire industry. 

As Heidi Moore wrote at CJR in 2017:

Facebook flogged the 3-second view for two years, inflating its video views by 60 percent to 80 percent, according to Publicis. The company apologized for misleading metrics, as late as September 2016. Two months later, Facebook admitted to overcounting yet more metrics tied to advertising. There’s evidence Facebook’s advertising metrics are still out of whack: An analyst report found that Facebook is claiming to reach millions more young Americans than actually exist in the US.

And talking to me in 2017, Nieman Lab’s Josh Benton said:

I am 100 percent prepared to be wrong about this, but I think many publishers’ continued investment in video will prove to be a waste of time and money. The platform control of monetization, the high cost structure of quality video, the terrible quality of cheap semi-automated videos some publishers are pushing — there will be winners that come out of it, but nearly all of them won’t come from the newsier end of publishing.

Three years later, if we look at who presented at the NewFronts as proof, Benton was an oracle. 

(Image via IAB)

This is not the “newsier end of publishing.” Sure there’s a smattering of news companies, like Forbes and NPR and WSJ, but the list is mostly platforms, lifestyle companies and ad tech. All of which doesn’t seem to have buyers champing at the bit. 

According to Digiday, buyers are still, “divided on whether publishers with video studios should be top of mind when spending their clients’ video advertising budgets.”

In short, they like the niche, but need the reach.

Condé Nast, Vice Media Group and Barstool Sports were among the 17 presenters virtually showcasing their video inventory to media buyers and marketers. The buyers that Digiday spoke with for this story all said that the appeal of these publishers’ video offerings is not audience, but the brand loyalty they command and the ability to be nimble and flexible during this turbulent time.

However, this year’s IAB video report found that, “More than half of buyers said they are moving some of their linear ad spend to connected TV,” according to Adweek.

The Newfronts also present media companies the opportunity to have a platform to get shit off their chests. Vice, for instance, used part of its time slot to admonish brands and agencies for blocking inventory on its site that surround keywords like “black lives matter” and even “black people.”

When Vice brought up the brand safety blocklist two weeks ago around COVID, I started asking around whether this was an industry thing or a Vice thing, and sources across a bevy of media companies and agencies collectively shrugged.

One agency exec at a large media buying firm, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss agency relationships publicly, told me that Vice “have not emailed, called, or met with me on any topic for 4, maybe 5 years.”  

The NewFronts this year did offer media companies ways to pitch buyers on non-video things; Hulu, for example, introduced a new direct response ad format; the WSJ introduced “a tool that will provide first-party data and pre- and post-campaign audience insights for advertisers,” according to Adweek.

After this year’s presentations, with no networking capability and an industry that generally doesn’t care, I wonder if the NewFronts will go the way of the dodo.

I’m curious: do you find the NewFronts worth it?

Thank you for allowing me into your inbox. If you have any tips or thoughts about the newsletter, drop me a line! Or you can follow me on Twitter. Have as relaxing a weekend as possible. Stay safe. Stay healthy. I’ll see you on Monday. 

Descendents, “Dog and Pony Show”

Some interesting links

• Kanye West Signs Multiyear Deal to Sell New Yeezy Line at Gap (Bloomberg)

• Boss of the Beach For 40 years, the city’s lifeguard corps has been mired in controversy, and for 40 years it’s been run by one man: Peter Stein. (New York Magazine)

• U.S. Consumer Spending Rebounded in May, but Virus Surge Poses Economic Threat (WSJ)

• California Residents To Vote On New Privacy Rights (MediaPost)

• Trump administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare (WaPo)