Condé Nast held its annual NewFront Wednesday evening, although the event looked dramatically different from those in years past.
This year, under the leadership of the recently hired chief revenue officer Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, the company joined the growing list of publishers that are ditching a public-facing NewFront in favor of a more intimate offering for marketing and agency clients.
In lieu of a formal presentation, the 119-year old publisher hosted a dinner at the New York Public Library, which is currently hosting an exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of The New Yorker, a Condé Nast brand.
In swapping a stage for a supper, the company is following in the footsteps of Paramount, which made this shift in 2023, as well as Roku and LinkedIn, which followed suit this year.
The pivot reflects a broader shift in how publishers are approaching NewFronts in 2025, trading spectacle for intimacy amid a rapidly shifting media and macroeconomic landscape.
An experiential showcase of brand power
Foregoing a showcase in favor of a dinner might suggest a cost-savings effort. But the company made the switch with the intent of creating an “only-Condé-Nast” experience, Herbst-Brady told ADWEEK.
Indeed, the programming hardly looks to be the byproduct of penny-pinching.
The dinner will feature remarks from Vogue’s Anne Wintour and The New Yorker’s David Remnick, as well as a five-course meal curated by Bon Appétit chefs.
Attendees will be seated at tables hosted by editorial leaders—and celebrity guests—from each of the Condé Nast brands.
For instance, the GQ table will be co-hosted by editor in chief Will Welch and actor Jon Hamm; Dana Bash and Molly Gordon will chair the Vanity Fair set; Katie Drummond will represent Wired, Patrick Radden Keefe will entertain on behalf of The New Yorker, and PinkPantheress will sit in with the Pitchfork crowd.
Guests will be photographed by Vogue’s Hunter Abrams and receive custom New Yorker cartoons.
“We wanted to take some of our most important clients and give them a real, differentiated experience,” said Herbst-Brady. “Not everybody can go to the Vanity Fair Oscars party, but this gives them something just as special.”