NewFront News and Views: Defy, Collective and Whistle

Defy MediaVenue Diamond Horseshoe the horseshoeshaped nightclub below the Paramount Hotel on W 46th St The stairs to the club were way too dark and a few large signs were set up in such a way one could easily trip if not careful The lighting didn39t get better until about halfway into the club space Nice fingerfood served prepresentation Big presentation points Operating in an environment of content democracy with series relevant to Millennials 500 millionplus video viewsmonth for programming largely developed inhouse often without advertiser commitments beforehand embracing smart TVsRokus and other smart TVmaking devices as a big distribution opportunity Big news points More than 30 new series ahead spread among various Defy sites Smosh Breakcom etc including new sketchcom amp8220Every Blank Everamp8221 and amp8220Manterventionamp8221 men transform their looksattitude Also amp8220Smosh the Movieamp8221 debuts in theaters July 23 What worked The amp8220what we announce we39ll produceamp8221 initiative from Defy executives good mix of pitches and video clips showcase of amp8220Prank It Forwardamp8221 the breakout shortform series where the pranks lead to inspirational outcomes What didn39t work All that darkness en route to the space Overall Grade 3 JacksCollective Digital StudioVenue SVA Theater on W 23rd St near 8th Ave Big presentation points Making content in organic fashion drawing 100 million viewers a month company caters to both programming creators and brands Big news points Variety of new series ahead including amp8220Epic Meal Timeamp8221 spinoff amp8220Epic Tool Timeamp8221 amp8220Fake Company Incamp8221 pranks originating from a fake business scripted amp8220Maximum Rideamp8221 based on the popular James Patterson novels and amp8220The Science of Fashionamp8221 launching Prank Week a global celebration of prank activity 247 What worked quotGotta Sharequot a catchy musical spoof of social media usage from group Improv Everywhere What didn39t work That scripted interview covered in an earlier column involving three of Collective39s fashionlifestyle hosts and a Harper39s Bazaar editor If you didn39t glance at the teleprompter in the back you39d assume this interview was off the cuff from start to finish which was NOT the case Thatamp8217s our nominee for biggest 2015 UpfrontNewFront blunder Overall Grade 3 JacksWhistle SportsVenue Hard Rock Cafe near Times Square all dressed up with sports memorabilia and a hearty breakfast buffet Big presentation points Different leanin sports experience for target Millennial audience short snappy focus on the personalities and environment they play in rather than playbyplay coverage 70 percent of viewing is on mobile devices quotSocial media is where our audience goes first then the PC and TVquot declared chief executive John West Big news points At least seven new series over the next year including amp8220World Tour with Bodie Smithamp8221 amp8220Challenge Acceptedamp8221 and amp8220Next Trick Shot Superstaramp8221 And yes there39s a goodhearted prank effort in play here too amp8220Most Valuable Prankamp8221 What worked Overall pacing of the presentation moving seamlessly from speaker to videos and branded content involving Gilette and WalMart marching band and dancers opening the event to quotGet Readyamp8221 a big finish using video highlights of fan event at Hard Rock the night before set to quotHow Do You Like Me Nowquot Kudos to the production crew for a quick overnight turnaround on that one What didn39t work There was no onscreen identification of Whistle executives and speakers Overall Grade 4 JacksA quick reminder of our Jacks ratings5 JacksExcellent4 JacksVery Good3 JacksGood2 JacksFair1 JackPoor0 JacksWorse than thatSeveral final thoughts on Digital Content NewFronts 2015More than a third of the presenting companies did not respond to most press requests for RSVPs including those from MediaBizBloggers The unresponsive bunch The New York Times Yahoo Refinery29 Time Inc Lin DigitalMedia General News Corp Time Warner Cable Fullscreen Discovery Digital Media StyleHaul Beatport TheStreetcom Endemol Beyond DailyMailcom and Elite Daily Also many companies that staged their own NewFronts independently of the Interactive Advertising Bureau39s oversight didn39t let the press know what they were up to until after the fact in press releases those errormakers included Vox Media and BunimMurray Result Little or zero coverage of their showcases Itamp8217s called Publicity 101 folks Enroll nowAnother small group of presenting companies made the call to flatout bar press from their events or restrict attendance to a few Sony PlayStation HealtiNation and Bloomberg Media fall into that category Why In particular why did Sony PlayStation hide out especially given A the success of amp8220Powersamp8221 Sony39s first scripted series for PlayStation and smart TV sets and B Sony division Crackle did its own highly effective event a few weeks earlier open for all press to witnessBottom line Itamp8217s time for the IAB to do what Advertising Week CE Week NYC Television Week and other NYbased theme weeks do Distribute an overall press pass to everyone covering the NewFronts If some presenter objects they tell IAB and IAB issues an alert which is what they did in Sony PlayStation39s case and didn39t in the case of their own NewFront lunch No more asking journalists to email dozens of companies to get in and risk ending up in their spam pits Make it happen IABThe Sorry State of Internet Week New YorkFor the fourth straight year Internet Week New York going on through Saturday at Metropolitan Pavilion and many other venues throughout the five boroughs is rejecting coverage requests from the majority of journalists who want to be there PKPR IW39s public relations agency continues to provide a disservice to its client the organizations supplying events throughout IW and ultimately the public who would benefit from knowing what happens here Moreover any IW sponsor influencing or endorsing PKPR39s mass rejection of coverage from respected journalists whether they cover TV media the Internet or technology also does a disservice That is why once again you will not see coverage of Internet Week here What an extreme shameUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Media Village management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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NewFront News and Views: Defy, Collective and Whistle

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