All eyes on Twitter
This year, Twitter is set to host its NewFront after Musk struck a $44 billion deal to buy the company. Musk’s vision for handling “free speech” issues on the service has jolted brands and even alarmed some Twitter employees. Musk’s views have raised serious questions about how Twitter will work with the ad world going forward. This week, Twitter’s highly regarded co-founder Jack Dorsey, who left the company as CEO earlier this year, said that Twitter was “owned by Wall Street and the ad model,” and “taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step.”
Ominous words, heading into an advertising convention. Musk is “the elephant in the room,” said Jennifer Kohl, executive director and head of U.S. media at VMLY&R.
“I would not be surprised if brands are a little bit more conservative in their approach [to investing on Twitter],” Kohl said.
Sarah Personette, Twitter’s chief customer officer, Robin Wheeler, VP of U.S. client solutions, and TJ Adeshola, head of content partnerships, will be at the Twitter NewFront. It sounds like, for now, Twitter will operate business as usual, with a company spokesperson saying in an email that the company will have a large presence at the NewFronts, and is ready to discuss new partnerships and content, just like years prior.
Read more: Elon Musk buying Twitter makes advertisers 'anxious'
Meta’s quest
This will be Meta’s first in-person NewFront after presenting a pre-recorded promotional video during the virtual event last year. This is an important moment for the company formerly known as Facebook, as it tries to shift advertisers’ interests toward the metaverse through virtual reality devices like Meta Quest 2 and apps like Horizon Worlds.
Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is set to speak in a video that will be part of the live show happening at Fotografiska, an Instagram-friendly photography museum in New York City. Nada Stirratt, VP or Americas, and Bianca Bradford, director and head of agency North America, will be there in-person.
Meta is still dealing with questions about its social media safety policies, data sharing, and market power. But Meta appears to be holding its own, even against stiff competition from TikTok. This week, Meta said that Facebook and its other apps continue to grow in users, and ad revenue. Meta made $27 billion in ads in the first quarter this year, the company said in an earnings report, which was up from $25.4 billion in the first quarter last year.
Meta’s theme at the NewFront is “Storytelling Goes Here,” and that story will touch on the metaverse and Horizon Worlds. Carl Loredo, Wendy’s U.S. chief marketing officer, will attend virtually, after Wendy’s worked with Meta on the first major brand activation in Horizon Worlds last month.
Media buyers are interested in exploring “paid opportunities in the metaverse,” VMLY&R's Kohl said.
TV Upfronts and Newfronts 2022 calendar
TikTok’s time has come
“TikTok may set the foundation, where they make a play for TV budgets,” said Peter Chun, senior VP and global head of partnerships and growth at VaynerMedia. Chun said that out of all the social media platforms, TikTok is taking the most attention from TV among the younger generations, which makes it fit for upfront ad haggling.
TikTok will discuss how its algorithm picks up trends and personalizes each user’s feed, which is the envy of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. TikTok also has explored longer-form video, introducing 10-minute videos this year.
“For them, what’s next is continuing growth,” Pepsi’s Kaplan said of TikTok, “penetration of all different age cohorts, and continuing to find new ways to engage their community.”
TikTok is expected to triple its ad revenue this year to $12 billion, and hit 1.5 billion users.
Rachel Tipograph, CEO of e-commerce marketing platform MikMak, said that TikTok has seen a surge in advertising dollars from brands because the platform knows users’ interests. “You can buy ‘brand awareness’ media and have an e-commerce outcome,” Tipograph said.
Read more: How Duolingo conquered brand TikTok
YouTube moves upfront
YouTube made a bold move to change its Brandcast event to an upfront presentation on May 17. The YouTube star-studded show typically runs during NewFront week. Hosting an upfront “puts YouTube in a different competitive category,” Kohl said. "It’s a way to stand out and drive attendance among TV ad buyers."
YouTube still will be at NewFronts, though, co-hosting an early morning talk to start the week with Michael Kassan, CEO of the consulting firm MediaLink. YouTube will be discussing the creator economy but has not announced which of its popular creators will attend yet.
Snap comes to town
This will be Snap’s first live NewFront in New York. The company has attended NewFronts West, but only joined the main NewFronts virtually during the pandemic. Snapchat has been building more creator tools for Spotlight, which is its video section that competes with TikTok and is starting to experiment with ads on Spotlight. Snap also has created new publisher tools so media companies can more easily share videos to the site and share in ad revenue.
Of course, Snap also develops augmented reality, which is increasingly being used by brands to promote products through digital Snap Lenses. The AR components of the business tie into its e-commerce ambitions. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel will make an appearance at the NewFront, too.
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Connecting with TV
The connected TV space has become a more foundational part of NewFronts. NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Roku, Vizio, Samsung Ads, Tubi, FuboTV, LG Ads and Amazon will all be represented.
The connected TV players will focus on their data and identity offerings, as well as programmatic ad buying. Roku already announced that it has a new “data clean room,” which is a privacy-safe way for brands to tap into its data about households in order to build ad audiences and target them on TV screens.
Meanwhile, NBCU announced similar tech developments with its One22 ad platform. The connected TV opportunity is massive, because data is being restricted on mobile devices and web browsers, while connected TV platforms have direct relationships with viewers that help keep data and targeting flowing.
“Data and identity, activation and automation, and measurement,” said Joe Cady, executive VP of strategic partnerships at NBCU, “those themes continue to be very important.”
Amazon, meanwhile, has its ad platform and exclusive rights to stream Thursday Night Football in the fall. “We will see the value of Amazon,” VaynerMedia’s Chun said, adding that Amazon’s first-party data helps brands generate sales.
Advertisers are interested in Amazon’s ad-supported video service that was recently rebranded to Freevee, from IMDb TV. Amazon has not announced much about its program for NewFront, which will be hosted by Amy Poehler, but it promises to unveil the “talent” who will helm its new NFL streams.
Read more: Brands turn to data clean rooms
Diverse representation
As brands look to continue efforts started last year to shift ad dollars to diverse-owned media channels, the NewFronts will include more Black- and minority-owned media in the program, including Blavity, Revolt, Black Enterprise, Canela Media and Estrella Media, among others.
“We are really trying to show off our video chops, as well as show people that we have big audiences,” said Justin Barton, senior VP of digital strategy and partnerships at Black Enterprise. “We are on the come-up.”
Black Enterprise did not have to pay for its timeslot, as other NewFront presenters do, as part of a commitment to bring some equity to the IAB’s NewFronts, Barton said. Black Enterprise will present virtually. “It helps us get our foot in the door and see how advertisers and agencies react,” Barton said. “We can get in and help our salespeople better understand how to pitch ads.”
Measurement stakes
Nielsen, Comscore and Samba TV are three of the major measurement providers that will present at NewFronts for the first time. Nielsen is still the currency of choice among TV ad buyers, but it has faced challenges. Issues surrounding the measurement giant have created an opportunity for alternatives, like Samba TV, to take a piece of the pie.
“There is no more hot-button topic in the world right now than measurement,” said MediaLink’s CEO Kassan. He pointed to Goldman Sachs taking a $325 million minority stake in iSpot.TV earlier this week. “That’s a changing landscape,” Kassan said.
