Disney to host virtual road show in lieu of upfront presentation

Walt Disney will present a “virtual roadshow” in lieu of its upfront presentation, the company said on Wednesday. The 30-minute video will showcase Disney talent, content executives and several video compilations to communicate with agencies and clients on its proposition for the upcoming year. Each agency will receive custom presentations, says Rita Ferro, president, advertising sales and partnerships, Walt Disney. “We wanted to create a much more customized experience considering we won’t be there in person.” Ferro says the company hosted its development presentation in Los Angeles right before employees started working from home. They recorded the presentation and found that people don’t engage with it in the same way. “It felt very generic,” she says. “People don’t engage the same, they only watch a piece of it. Part of the learnings from it were if we were going to do some sort of streamed presentation, it needs to feel relevant to them and customized.” The presentations will kick off on May 26, and each holding company and their clients will have their own appointment. There will also be one presentation for brands that buy directly and smaller agencies. A part of the presentation will be taped, and Ferro and her team will be on live during the video. Disney is the latest company to discuss how it plans to speak to the marketplace during the upfront season that’s been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. ViacomCBS announced on Tuesday that it will unveil its programming slate and discuss advertising opportunities for CBS and its cable channels in a series of videos that will be released on May 18 and May 19. NBCUniversal and Univision have previously said they will host virtual meetings next week to discuss the state of the industry and provide updates on their ad strategies. Both noted these would not be replacements for the typical upfront presentations. Register for Ad Age's TV Pivot where TV sales leaders, media buyers and marketers will discuss the future of deal-making and the way forward amid the pandemic.

Disney to host virtual road show in lieu of upfront presentation

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