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To no one’s surprise, NBCU ad sales chief Mark Marshall enjoys having more than 72 hours to plan an upfront event.
In 2023, NBCUniversal’s upfront week presentation faced obstacles, including former ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino leaving the company for Twitter/X days before the event and Hollywood strikes keeping entertainment talent away. That resulted in the presentation going through last-minute changes and Marshall’s part in it completely shifting around.
However, NBCU had “no surprises” ahead of this year’s upfront week kickoff on Monday, bringing in an orchestra to play iconic NBCU songs, an exclusive look at the Wicked trailer, Jimmy Fallon parodying Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Kelly Clarkson bringing the house down with “Stronger,” and even Seth Meyers roasting Yaccarino for her surprise NBCU exit.
In the first of ADWEEK’s upfront postmortem chats, we spoke with Marshall about the differences with this year’s presentation, the ad opportunity around Wicked and, yes, his reaction to Meyers’ Yaccarino joke.
ADWEEK: Last year, you had strikes keeping talent away and had to step into your position with about 72 hours’ notice. What was the mindset coming into this upfront vs. last year?
Mark Marshall: It was nice to have a full planning cycle. Last time, we planned and changed the show over a long weekend. This time, prep started around the beginning of this year that we built to. So yes, plenty more prep, a lot fewer distractions, and I think the show came off pretty flawless overall from what we wanted in the storytelling.
One of the unexpected highlights of the night was Seth Meyers’ joke about Linda Yaccarino, NBC’s former ad sales chief, saying NBC’s Destination X was originally called “The Linda Yaccarino Story.” What were your thoughts? Did you know that was in the presentation?
I did not. I did not know that joke was coming, and Seth has done this for years. He finds things in the ads universe, makes jokes and teases about it. And that’s what makes them great, as they find topical info and make us laugh. But no, I was not aware of it, and obviously, I have a relationship with Linda. It was a funny joke.
What’s the biggest difference between this year’s event and last year’s now that you had entertainment talent back?