Warner Bros. Discovery upfront—takeaways from its pitch to advertisers

Movies were a major theme of Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront. Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. sales officer, called WBD’s show the IP upfront, emphasizing its streamer Max as the access point for marketing alongside ad-free HBO originals and films that advertisers previously couldn’t reach. While the company began allowing brands to sponsor HBO shows a year ago with the final season of “Succession” and created custom content with Olay around the streaming debut of “Barbie” in 2023, WBD is taking the offering to the upfront market for its highest spenders with a broadened approach for potential opportunities. More: TV Upfronts Day 3: WBD, Netflix and YouTube pitch Ryan Gould, head of digital, streaming and advanced ad sales at WBD, told Ad Age that in addition to branded content and unique ad formats for title sponsors, WBD will look to feature the brands in promotions for its shows and films, social content and experiential activations. Gould said these can also take unique forms as the company looks to “ensure a premium viewing experience by stripping out the traditional ad load,” such as a speaker brand sponsoring unique audio options in the Max premiere for “Dune 2,” which might also carry over to coming Max original series “Dune: Prophecy.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Additional opportunities for travel and luxury brands are rich in the next season of “The White Lotus,” as well as upcoming films such as “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “Joker: Folie à Deux” when they eventually hit streaming. And the franchising maxxing did elicit a few chuckles when WBD announced “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking” on Food Network. The emphasis on film joins NBCUniversal’s upfront segment on “Wicked” and potential branding opportunities around its release. Streaming and moves from major media companies to package cross-portfolio promotion open new inventory for movies. Indeed, this year’s upfront might be the kickoff for future trends in film-centric shows, boosted by advertisers’ desires to focus on non-disruptive ad formats as consumers grow wary of platforms’ recent pushes to drive more users to ad tiers. The movie-based offerings are also ways for media companies to monetize the current wave of film consumers opting to skip theaters to wait for movies to hit streaming, a behavior that was trained during the early days of the pandemic when media companies shortened the window from cinema to video on demand. Get upfront updates sent directly to your inbox here More ads At its upfront show, WBD debuted new ad formats coming to Max. Each option plays to current marketer demands for connecting TV marketing with business outcomes and purchase measurement. WBD is bringing shoppable ads to Max, which will allow viewers to browse featured products in commercial breaks. Other interactive units coming to Max include trivia ads, in which consumers can answer branded questions, the ability for viewers to choose between ads based on subject preferences and ads in which viewers can select the option to be emailed more information about a product. WBD is also hopping on the “contextual targeting” train with a new option to target ads by the emotional tone or specific elements within a scene. These tools, typically touted as AI-powered, have recently been rolled out by NBCU and Disney as media companies seek more advanced options for advertisers to buy into beyond audiences. These products join WBD’s new cross-portfolio audience planning and measurement tool, Olli, which it announced last month. It’s part of what the company is calling One WBD, its sales platform for serving ads across linear and streaming. Sheereen Russell, WBD’s executive VP of ad sales and client partnerships, said that the company’s emphasis on cross-portfolio sponsorships and custom content has been part of its push to help advertisers reach diverse audiences. For example, Toyota sponsored DC’s “Blue Beetle” launch on Max to reach Hispanic audiences, and Target sponsored the debut of “The Color Purple” on Max. Also read: 16 next gen media buyers to know Missed the memo This year’s upfront shows went overboard on making up for last year’s lack of celebrities. NBCU was light on executives in favor of stars such as Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson, while Amazon brought out A-listers including Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Keke Palmer and Jake Gyllenhaal. And Disney’s upfront was a parade of celebs including Emma Stone, Angela Bassett, Michelle Williams and Kim Kardashian. WBD seemed to miss the memo on the celeb-palooza. A handful of stars did appear—Mindy Kaling, Conan O’Brien and Sarah Jessica Parker (who did elicit gasps from the audience) being the most high profile. The Hollywood elite did appear onscreen, in trailers and slides for season 3 of “The White Lotus,” “Barbie,” “Wonka,” its DC universe and more content being sold to the crowd as part of the media company’s bid as the doorway for top franchises. Shaquille O’Neal was another standout, but with advertisers buzzing about WBD being potentially outbid for renewing its NBA rights after the 2024-2025 season, the appearance from the “NBA on TNT” staple felt somewhat ominous. While the majority of WBD’s show steered clear of discussing NBA negotiations, Luis Silberwasser, CEO of TNT Sports, said the company “looks forward to reaching an agreement that makes sense for all partners.”

Warner Bros. Discovery upfront—takeaways from its pitch to advertisers

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