Who Else Wants to Get Their Hands on the Upfront $? - Steve Yanovsky - MediaBizBloggers

By Steve Yanovsky Archives
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In a recent article in Broadcasting and Cable, there was a discussion about Microsoft and their efforts to "get a slice of the television upfront market". Microsoft?! Apparently, they think that the Xbox service is their way in. But, they only have 20 million distributed worldwide, with around 70% in the U.S. When you do the math, 14 million is far from the critical mass advertisers and their agencies look for.

But, it is definitely a sign of things to come. That 14 million will continue to grow. And, when focused on a key demo, young men, they are in a position to offer an attractive CPM to advertisers who target this elusive demo.

So, now we have four media that all want in on the Upfront. We had the network television Upfront of 2009. Unprecedented in how slow it was to crystallize. CPM increases, or deceases, falling well below network expectations. A mating dance that took months, not weeks, to evolve.

Simultaneously, all the major players in the cable television arena participated in the '09 Upfront. Bringing their new, and returning, series to market was less traumatic for them than the broadcast networks. Advertisers were still cautious when making long term commitments, due to the fear in the marketplace, but this upfront was less extended and disturbing.

The newest Upfront season has occurred in digital video. Recognizing that agencies were planning and spending ad dollars for the following 2-4 Quarters, ad networks, and some publishers, presented their inventory to digital agencies in a manner similar to the television selling model. That is, get them to make commitments for premium inventory and provide attractive pricing. After all, this is where the eyeballs are going. Initially, this strategy met with modest success.

At the recent digiDay conference there was quite a bit of discussion on the topic of the digital Upfront. Many of the senior agency media exec's indicated that they had no interest in participating in an Upfront. They feel that with the volume of available inventory, and the ability to make real time buys, a 2-4 Quarter commitment is unnecessary. Others, however, take an approach that echoes the television market. That is, they want to lock up premium positioning and feel that the best way to accomplish this objective is to make a long term commitment.

So, with Microsoft joining the fray, and likely others will follow, it will be interesting to see if any Upfronts continue, or will it all turn to a scatter market? Or, will premium inventory always drive long term commitments?

Steve Yanovsky, a marketing and marcom consultant with Customer Focused Solutions, can be reached at steve@stevenyanovsky.com .

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