During the summer months, it’s natural for the connotation of word “festival” to conjure thoughts of parties, performances and celebrating with abandon (i.e., music festivals), whereas in the autumn months the term has been co-opted by semi-cerebral media companies packaging glitzy, thought leadership programming for audiences clamoring to attend networking functions where they can meet notable actors, authors, playwrights and business and tech geniuses in a more “relaxed” setting.

In a way, the Essence Festival of Culture is an amalgamation of both. Although, now in its 29th year, it has preceded most of the molds.

Originally dubbed the “party with a purpose,” the festival began in 1994 to celebrate the 25th year of Essence Magazine, one of the most popular and heralded publications catering to Black women. It has since become the largest music and culture event for Black Americans in the United States, with an estimated 500,000 attendees annually, and continues to draw celebrities, political figures and influential personalities in business, politics and entertainment across multiple generations, disciplines and demographics.

Vice President Kamala Harris—who, last year, spoke with Keke Palmer during a fireside chat addressing the critical issues facing Black women—will return this year to participate in her second Global Black Economic Forum discussion hosted by the festival. Harris will be joined by Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Michael Regan.

It was also the inspiration behind (and setting for) the hit film “Girls Trip,” which grossed over $140 million at the box office, and catapulted a then-unknown Tiffany Haddish to fame.

And most notably, a recent report conducted by HBCU, Dillard University, found that the festival has been a financial boon for the city of New Orleans, which has hosted the event since its inception, apart from 2006, when it was forced to move to Houston in the wake of the city’s devastation following Hurricane Katrina. The study found that in 2022, the city saw an impact of over $300 million from the festival, a figure that Pauline Malcom-Thornton, chief revenue officer of Essence Ventures, says is part of a cumulative economic impact totaling over $4 billion.

In short: The Essence Festival of Culture is a very big deal, and brands looking to authentically connect with the Essence audience, which comprises of highly engaged, educated, and affluent Black consumers, need to pay attention.

Culture club

It is for this and many reasons that the team at Essence Ventures—which owns and operates the festival—remain calculated when considering all aspects of the event…including the brands they partner with to bring the experience to their covetable audience.

“We’re very, very intentional about ensuring that our partners are making meaningful impact within the community,” Malcom-Thornton told Adweek. “That they’re hiring communities of color in terms of preferred vendors that they might work with. And that it really is an investment in the Black economic success and helping us to close the wealth and pay gap in that community. But also, at a macro level as well.”

Malcom-Thornton tells Adweek that this year’s EFOC has close to three dozen supporting partners, with AT&T, L’Oréal, The Walt Disney Company and McDonald’s joining perennial presenting partner, Coca-Cola (who’s been a partner since its start), as marquee sponsors for the weekend-long event.

“The revolution must be financed,” said Malcom-Thornton, both jokingly and with sincerity. “We cannot do what we do every single year in such a high-caliber way without the help of our corporate sponsors. They really do enhance the overall experience in programming [by] bringing incredible panel discussions.”

In addition to Hip Hop’s golden anniversary—which Essence Ventures’ chief marketing officer, Erika Bennett, tells Adweek will be represented by festival headliners Missy Elliott, Megan Thee Stallion and Lauryn Hill (whose acclaimed album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” serendipitously celebrates its 25th anniversary this year)—the festival’s programming will offer a myriad of experiences for the intergenerational crowd.

“What’s really cool about the way we’ve programmed festival is in addition to the returning, popular fan-favorites like the ‘Food & Wine festival’ for example, we’ve also added new experiences that showcase the magic of all the experiences within the Essence Ventures portfolio,” said Bennett.

That portfolio includes AFROPUNK, which Bennett says caters to self-expression and futurism, Essence Girls United, the brand’s Gen Z platform, and the newly acquired Beautycon, which serves personal care and wellness enthusiasts—all of which will be making their debut at the flagship festival. Bennett told Adweek AFROPUNK will have an immersive experience entitled “BLKTOPIA” at the Convention Center, and both AFROPUNK and EGU will host separate events featuring indie artist performances and a post-concert kickback for younger festivalgoers.

“A fun lineup of artists. TikTok-worthy moments. And just a real VIP vibe,” says Bennett, describing the bespoke experiences.

A beauty-full new relationship

Both Bennett and Malcom-Thornton told Adweek that Beautycon will also return as a standalone event in Los Angeles in September after a four-year hiatus, with Walmart as its exclusive retail partner.

“Beautycon is so beloved by so many consumers and brands alike, it’s really important that we were intentional about the mission and vision for Beautycon as we bring it back,” said Bennett. “It’s more about creating a community. And even more importantly, about redistributing the power back to individuals, and to consumers defining beauty on their own terms.

We’ll be showing up in more of a 360 way. Through storytelling, through our online presence and in the way we partner with and empower and center creators.”
She continued, “I think for a long time, we’ve seen a handful of gatekeepers really define what your hair should look like. What your skin type should look like. How your body should be shaped. Very externalized and very specific definitions of beauty. And it excludes a significant portion of people globally.

And then you have folks then trying to attain an aesthetic that is not attainable because it’s not real. And so, the intention behind the work we’ve done in terms of our brand, our mission, is that it’s important that we allow consumers that freedom, and we create the space for consumers to go on a personal journey, inward, and then really define for themselves how they want to express outward.”

The (Hip Hop) revolution will be televised

In 2022, for the first time in its history, EFOC partnered with Hulu to livestream its Evening Concert Series, allowing audiences to watch headliner (and icon) Janet Jackson perform from the comforts of their own homes and anywhere in the country.

The streamer will be back this year in a larger capacity to celebrate Hip Hop’s milestone, according to Malcom-Thornton, bringing with them Ed Lover, Rocsi Diaz and Big Tigger, whose connection to the genre and the culture date back to the 90s as hosts of popular cable shows Yo! MTV Raps, and BET’s 106 & Park and Rap City, respectively.

“Last year, we had close to 2 million unique attendees for Essence Festival, which was record-breaking. That’s both in-person and streamed audiences … so we’re super-excited to have that partnership, because it plays such an integral part in expanding who sees [us] and who engages with our brand across the country.”

‘Seeking long-term partnership: serious inquiries only’

While the festival’s cache has drawn several brands willing to buy-in to have a presence at weekend-long event, the challenge has been convincing many of them to keep the same energy year-round and go the distance with the full entity that is Essence Ventures.  

“A lot of our partners are really invested in partnering with us 365. We are coming up with content together and all sorts of ways that we can continue to engage and support a community that is often overlooked by the big brands.”  

She continued: “I just want to ensure that festival is just one of the many touchpoints that we have for Essence as a brand and for Essence Ventures. It’s an incredible one and it’s a huge one.” 

Malcom-Thornton told Adweek the company will be presenting their 2024 Media Upfront at the EFOC kickoff on June 29—eschewing the usual April-May timeline followed by most media companies. With a captive audience and a full portfolio of brands and content offerings available to experience, it is an efficient plan that removes the guesswork for companies still on the fence and gives current partners an opportunity to hit the ground running to secure new agreements and begin planning for next year’s 30^th anniversary.  

“We want to really bring our partners into our ‘Super Bowl’ and [into] our culture at large,” she said. “The ‘Super Bowl of Culture’ being Essence Festival. So, it’s really intentional that we’re inviting prospective partners and current sponsors to hear what’s next and new from a sponsorship perspective across our entire ecosystem of brands—including Essence Festival, but also Beautycon, Essence proper, AFROPUNK and Essence Studios.”  

She also noted that Coca-Cola, AT&T, L’Oréal, Disney, and McDonald’s have already locked in multi-year agreements, which she said was “historic,” citing that in the past Essence saw a lot of transactional relationships with partners that she referred to as “one-and-done.”  

“Each year we were at the table negotiating again—which doesn’t really bode well for this audience that we really super-serve every single day for the past 50 years.”

Investing dollars on an audience that makes sense

In the words of Jay Z, “Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t.”

While they are going into the festival weekend in good spirits and manifesting good fortunes, both Bennett and Malcom-Thornton are still feeling the burn of seeing Black media companies bearing the brunt of recent budget cuts brought on by the recession. Malcom-Thornton hopes companies who made pledges in 2020 that were since abandoned return to the fold to renew and follow-through on those promises to invest in EFOC and Black-owned media, and like any good CRO, came armed with compelling stats to make her final case.

“The average time spent in a booth at the Essence Festival is close to 30 minutes; whereas the average time spent on a digital ad, in general, is less than two seconds. So, the time spent with this audience is unparalleled, versus any other medium out there.”

She added, “My message to our future marketers is to tap into the $2 trillion buying power that the Black consumer has, and [do it] in a very meaningful way.”

NBCUniversal and Blockgraph are looking to bring more efficiency and capabilities to the TV advertising landscape.

Today, NBCU and the privacy-focused tech and data company announced a new partnership to optimize first-party data activation for the media and entertainment industry. The collaboration looks to enhance the use of first-party data in marketing campaigns across One Platform, driving improved outcomes for brands and marketers.

Through data integration with NBCUnified, the partnership will allow advertisers, agencies and measurement companies to use first-party data more efficiently and effectively for planning, targeting and measurement.

Krishan Bhatia, president and chief business officer at NBCUniversal, told Adweek the collaboration is a “continuation and a doubling down of NBCUniversal’s strategy to invest in first-party identity and data,” which the company sees as the future of television advertising.

“This latest chapter and our partnership with Blockgraph is to scale the way that we resolve identities based on the unique participants in the Blockgraph platform and do that a lot more efficiently on an always-on basis,” Bhatia said. “And then ultimately also be able to enable additional use cases within the footprint of the Blockgraph participants that we might distribute content on the MVPDs to enable addressability, attribution, measurement, use cases, etc.”

Blockgraph is owned by Comcast NBCUniversal, Charter Communications Inc. and Paramount, and Jason Manningham, CEO of Blockgraph, noted that NBCU has been a part of the company’s journey for “quite some time,” but this partnership is an evolution of that relationship as the TV world faces more changes than ever.

When talking about the benefits of the partnership, Manningham noted that the three significant trends of the TV and broader marketing ecosystem include the shift from demos to IDs for targeting, the ongoing shift from third-party to first-party data and the shift from cookies to clean rooms for matching.

“We have felt that there is a fundamental need for technical infrastructure that can ultimately address those three macro challenges and help bring together all the different disparate datasets that exist, but do it in a way that allows every single data owner in that ecosystem to feel comfortable with how their data is being connected with their supply chain partners, whether it’s measurement companies, distribution partners, brands directly, so on and so forth,” Manningham said. “And that’s really what Blockgraph offers.”

Since it was first announced in January 2022, NBCUnified has scaled to around 200 million IDs and 90 million households, becoming the underpinning of how NBCU partners with agencies and clients to connect marketer data with the company’s first-party data.

In addition, 60% of the company’s campaigns on its streaming portfolio are already based on first-party data and advanced advertising segments, leveraging both marketer data as well as other unique data sets.

With the new partnership, NBCU looks to build on those numbers and capabilities, improving interoperability at scale.

“In the past, the way you would actually merge datasets through crosswalks was both operationally inefficient as well as high cost because you had lots of different vendors involved in that process,” Bhatia said. “And we increasingly believe that there can be a more direct connection between marketers and programmers like ourselves through platforms like Blockgraph that take out a whole bunch of the inefficiency that exists, take care of the permissioning of data matching use cases and allow us to grow that 60% of our business.”

A more efficient future

When it comes to unlocking the value of data-driven TV, Manningham noted that the essentials include making sure there is true data control, fidelity and safety throughout the process as well as making sure you’re matching with scale and simplicity in a fast, effective way.

“If you think about where we are in the industry as the world is starting to go towards more AI, I think being able to bring together first-party datasets and use them in an effective, ethical and very efficient fashion, we’re entering the stage where TV will ultimately become even greater of a marketing vehicle, and it’s already the best,” Manningham said.

For Bhatia, the partnership represents another way of encouraging industry collaboration and breaking down silos in an increasingly fragmented video ecosystem. It’s also a push to allow marketers to connect with diversified audiences beyond broad demographic segments.

“This is another massive step forward for us to be able to give marketers the tools to be able to tailor and target and measure their marketing messages to the people that matter, first and foremost,” Bhatia said. “And doing that as efficiently as possible and at scale, we’re looking forward to many more partnerships to help unlock that.”

The global ad market will continue to grow in 2023, though traditional media formats have seen better days.

Just ahead of Cannes Lions, Magna is releasing the summer update to its Global Ad Forecast, showing advertising revenues will reach $842 billion, a 4.6% growth over 2022 ($805 billion). According to Magna, though Western markets are facing a down economy, stronger-than-expected growth in markets such as China and Spain, as well as verticals such as retail and social, are mitigating losses.

Overall, Magna’s forecast is 0.2 percentage points lower than its previous December 2022 prediction of 4.8% growth.

“Advertising spending slowed down to a halt in the first quarter of 2023 (+1.5% globally, flat in most Western markets) due to economic uncertainty and the lack of cyclical drivers,” Vincent Létang, evp of global market research at Magna, and author of the report, said in a statement. “There are, however, some drivers mitigating the impact of economic slowdown: ecommerce and Retail Media bringing more marketing dollars into digital advertising formats, and the counter-cyclical dynamic of some large industry verticals (Retail, Auto, Travel).”

Though Létang and Magna expect the global marketplace to keep growing this year, traditional media formats and mature markets will struggle. However, Létang added that traditional media owners are developing cross-platform capabilities and brand-safe addressable solutions that are increasingly attractive to brands, accounting for 19% of their advertising revenues.

TV is among the industries facing an uphill battle.

The report notes that editorial media companies and branding formats (television, audio, publishing, OOH, cinema) are vulnerable in economic downturns and uncertain business climates when brands are tempted to reduce marketing budgets or prioritize performance-based digital ad formats over high-funnel branding channels. Thus, the advertising revenues of traditional media owners will shrink by 3% this year to $264 billion, which comprises 31% of total ad sales.

Overall, television advertising revenues (cross-platform long-form video ad sales) will shrink by 5% this year to $159 billion, according to Magna. The continued migration away from linear is also hitting TV broadcasters hard in live linear viewing and rating supply (averaging a 10% drop in 2022), a slowdown in pricing conditions and a lack of cyclical events following the record cyclical spending of 2022 with events such as the FIFA World Cup.

According to Magna, the “lack of a major cyclical sports event in 2023” will also slow the growth of various industries, such as betting. (However, Fox Sports recently noted to Adweek that ad buys for the Women’s World Cup were up by 50% over 2019.)

However, streaming is still on the rise. According to Magna, digital ad sales, including addressable linear campaigns and AVOD pre-rolls on connected TVs, keep growing. In 2022, these sales accounted for an average of 12% of total advertising revenues for broadcasters in top markets (U.S. and U.K. around 15%, Germany 9%, France 7%, Japan 2%). Broadcasters’ non-linear revenues grew by 10% to 20% across key markets last year, but there was a slowdown in the first half of 2023. Regardless, Magna notes that the scale does not compensate for the loss of linear ad sales thus far.

Elsewhere, digital pure-play advertising is on the rise, as it’s set for 8.5% growth, reaching $577 billion and 69% of total ad sales. Growth factors include ecommerce, retail media, media consumption shifts and stabilization in the data landscape. Social media formats are re-accelerating, expected to grow more than 9% to $172 billion, while short-form pure-play video advertising will grow 8.6% to $71 billion. Search/commerce formats will also remain large, approaching $300 billion for the year.

Within search/commerce, retail players are expected to generate $121 billion in advertising sales on the year, a 12% gain with product search and ecommerce sponsorship leading the way. Though the bulk of these ad sales will come from ecommerce pure players, traditional retailers are developing media capabilities that will have ad sales growing by 24% to $21 billion.

Where markets are heading

When it comes to markets, the strongest growth rate will come from India in 2023, as the country looks to gain 12.3% to reach $12.6 billion. Meanwhile, the Chinese ad market will recover faster than previously expected, rising 8.4%. Western European markets will stagnate this year, according to Magna, with Germany, France and Italy all below 3% growth across media, and negative returns for traditional media owners.

In the U.S., media owner advertising revenues will increase just 2.5% to $333 billion this year. Cross-platform video has some of the biggest struggles, dropping 8%. Publishing is expected to be down 6%, audio down 2% and direct mail down 7%. Though ad spend stagnated in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, it’s expected to accelerate in the second half (which is a notion publishers have often been repeating in earnings calls).

Though big-ticket items typically struggle in economic downturns, Magna reports that the current situation is complex due to a number of factors. Firstly, high inflation, especially for food and drink products, is a challenge for CPG. Plus, unemployment remains low, which is key to keeping big-ticket purchases strong. And Lastly, travel and automotive are back in a big way while recovering from Covid-19 disruption and supply chain issues. The industries are growing spending by more than 10% in most markets on the year.

Meanwhile, several categories, such as tech and telecom, finance (except in some markets like Germany where high interest rates are reviving competition between investment and saving products) and restaurants have struggling sales and stagnating or declining marketing spending. Others have more promise than expected, including grocery retailers in markets such as Germany, France and the U.K.

Block-busted

Entertainment has also disappointed, according to Magna, which expected blockbuster releases and streaming to ramp up sales. Still, Magna expects entertainment brands to resume the market share grab in 2023 or 2024, especially with rebrands such as Max hitting the market and the influx of ad-supported tiers.

And for top vendors, more competition is on the way.

The three largest media owners in 2022 (Google, Meta and Alibaba) captured 47% of global ad spend, a loss of 2% from 2021 due to slowed growth. However, challengers grew much faster than those big three companies in both the Western world (Amazon up 21%, Apple up 37%) and China (Bytedance/TikTok up 40%, Pinduoduo up 42%).

In its conclusion, Magna predicts that 2024 will have economic stabilization and a return to major cyclical events such as the U.S. presidential election, the Olympics in Paris, Euro Football champions will re-accelerate ad spend, with 6.1% growth expected globally to $892 billion and 7.3% in the U.S.

Traditional media owners’ ad revenues will recover by 1% while digital pure players ad sales will increase by 8%.

Tubi and Mischief are at it again.

Ahead of Cannes Lions, the AVOD and agency of record Mischief @ No Fixed Address teamed up for a b-to-b marketing campaign designed specifically for the creative ad community.

The campaign will feature nine different satirical film posters with titles that will resonate with festival attendees, including names such as The Idea Someone Else Did, Creative Déjà Vu, Posing With a Lion and Unattended Panel.

The partnership, which is behind Tubi’s viral Super Bowl campaign and its most recent b-to-b upfronts campaign, created content specifically for Cannes attendees, highlighting the experiences everyone shares at the events.

“We really have had the chance to create more of an emotional connection with our advertisers, and they are our business,” Cynthia Clevenger, vp of b-to-b marketing at Tubi, told Adweek. “Speaking to them in a way that not only communicates the value of investing in Tubi from an advertising perspective, but also getting who we are as a brand, has been extremely important.”

The AVOD is not planning a “full takeover” at Cannes, but it will have an activation on the Parvis where sketch artists will place attendees in their own satirical film posters.

“We saw a ton of engagement on the [b-to-b] videos, and what’s fun about marketing to marketers is we know who they are, we can have a little bit of fun with it,” said Clevenger. “We thought, ‘What can we do in a clever and unique way that gets people to notice us, and is really different from a mainstream way that everybody shows up there?’”

According to Clevenger, the company “really challenged” partner Mischief to come up with a creative and unique approach, going through several iterations before landing on the film posters.

“It’s really taking what we did in our ‘Call to Action’ campaign timed around upfronts and applying it to this localized conference where we know there’s a high level of advertising folks in a centralized location,” said Clevenger.

Tubi will also have out-of-home placements, and on the Parvis, attendees can also get physical copies of the nine posters.

“With a content library more than 50,000 titles strong, there’s something for everyone on Tubi—even ad people. And, given that Tubi relies on advertisers as part of its model, it felt only natural that we turn up at advertisers’ biggest festival of the year.” João Viégas, associate creative director at Mischief, said in a statement. “Inspiration for the campaign was extremely easy to find, given, well, we are the target audience. It was also somewhat therapeutic. And a wakeup call that I should stop bragging about awards for work I barely worked on.”

Tubi will also be hosting clients in its executive suite alongside the Fox team, and CMO Nicole Parlapiano will have a number of speaking engagements, including at Adweek’s “Stacking the Marketer’s Toolbox for Success” during Adweek Abroad in Cannes on Monday.

With less than a day to go until Warner Bros. Discovery launches Max—the new streaming service combining HBO Max and Discovery+ content—the company unveiled a comprehensive social marketing strategy headlined by Jason Momoa and Issa Rae.

For launch day on May 23, all HBO Max brand social and audience handles will become Max. With a reach of more than 16 million followers across platforms, the social brand team wanted to ensure that audience recognized the new combined content platforms and draw wider reach.

“The organic social campaign to support the launch of Max is as far-reaching and varied as the audiences that we’re going to have on Max,” Jason Mulderig, svp of brand marketing at HBO and Max, told Adweek.

Mulderig said the campaign will take advantage of a “triple threat of social,” pointing to brands like Food Network and HBO, franchises like Game of Thrones and 90 Day Fiancé, and audiences profiles like Scene in Black and Pa’lante.

“Our goal is to reach those audiences in-feed from brands they touch and create that connection to Max, and I think that’s really the most authentic way to go about doing it,” Mulderig said.

Vast brand support

Twitter handles for WBD’s networks will have a unique asset for Max’s launch, which will highlight the brand’s highest-profile titles. Those include brands like Food Network, TBS, TLC, Animal Planet, Magnolia Network and more.

On the IP side, WBD developed creative to showcase Warner Bros. Pictures, The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Sex and the City, Gossip Girl and DC Comics, among other properties.

“It’s very likely that our audience follows multiple feeds from brands and from shows, so those experiences in-feed from brands they trust, they’ll start to have impressions from Max all across the ecosystem,” Mulderig said.

The company will continue its existing One to Watch campaign and also further the To Be Continued campaign.

Max also partnered with more than 100 influencers that the company said reached over 270 million people, but is prioritizing authenticity over scale.

“It’s a similar strategy,” Mulderig said, noting how influencers create authentic content for their followers. “Create content that’s right for your audience.”

Strength of video

WBD has seen “incredible performance” on video across TikTok and Instagram Reels, and will also be promoting Max on Instagram Stories.

“We’re taking advantage of pretty much any meaningful engagement that we can create on those platforms, and use those tools that we have,” said Mulderig.

There will be AR filters on TikTok, Snap and Instagram, which will have paid, influencer and talent support.

TikTok will also have an interactive branded effect for Max, and there will be interactive tap-to-reveal advertisements for And Just Like That.

Content will also be tailored for different platforms, as Mulderig noted that some perform better from a video versus a static perspective.

“We’re using all of those features that those social platforms provide in the most native way that we can,” said Mulderig.

Momoa and Rae are the faces of the campaign, but WBD will also leverage other talent, including Chip and Joanna Gaines, Guy Fieri and animated characters such as Bugs Bunny.

Last week during WBD’s upfront presentation, the company announced Momoa as this year’s host of Shark Week, which Mulderig said is a good example of the wide variety of content that appeals to Max’s audience, noting that Aquaman and Shark Week can be found on the streaming platform.

The Max team isn’t new to creating viral content that takes off organically, considering the viral Negroni Sbagliato clip from last fall featuring House of the Dragon stars Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke.

“We built the foundation for the Negroni video the year before when we started to specialize the teams around very specific verticals: publishing, analytics and a vertical that does lenses and influencer management, and of course we have a creative editorial function,” said Mulderig. “For something like Negroni, we started to see the more casual, caught moments perform.”

Max has also found success on social with IP such as Succession (4.2 million organic TikTok impressions), the House of the Dragon TikTok branded effect (98.2 million impressions) and Euphoria’s Instagram filter (1 million impressions).

The social rollout first began last month during WBD’s streaming day, but prepare for an “inflection point” for Tuesday’s launch, with more to come.

“It’s the start of the Max conversation with the audience, and we will continue to evolve and push the brand voice,” Mulderig said.

At YouTube’s upfront week event today from Lincoln Center, the video platform wanted to emphasize that it not only has a right to play among the TV networks but that it’s the best option for reach.

“It’s a place where [advertisers] can build their brands because it’s the place people come to watch,” Sean Downey, president of sales at Google and YouTube, told Adweek. Downey cited recent Nielsen figures that YouTube was the No.1 most-watched streaming platform in April.

YouTube was less focused on particular TV shows, though it highlighted its NFL Sunday Ticket programming. In addition, the platform will bring creators like Mr.Beast behind the NFL games.

The company’s status as a platform of user-generated content served as a particular asset this year since YouTube was a rare upfront week presenter not faced with pressures from the Writers Guild of America strike, though that didn’t stop protesters from planning to march outside the event anyway.

Still, YouTube fulfilled other upfront staples, including populating the stage with major talent like Jacob Collier, Amelia Dimoldenberg, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Doja Cat performing.

Instead of introducing new shows or a Thursday night lineup, YouTube used the event to announce new ad formats. The platform is bringing back 30-second unskippable ad slots to YouTube Select, which it had phased out in 2018.

The format will be available across YouTube Select, a slate of content that is among the top 5% of most viewed and most engaging content on YouTube. The 30-second ad will replace two 15-second video spots currently available on YouTube Select CTV video content.

“We’re making it easier for advertisers who normally use linear television to advertise on YouTube,” Downey told Adweek, noting that 70% of YouTube Select impressions are watched on TVs, making them ideal for the lean-back experience of a longer ad.

In addition to the 30-second spots, YouTube is introducing ads when users pause videos, which will start with a static format.

The Select ads will be available immediately, and the pilot for pause ads will start later in the 2023-2024 upfront year,

“We’re going to play with it and learn along with the brands, and then we’ll launch more definitive products to the marketplace,” Downey said.

Other publishers, like Hulu, have launched pause formats, though advertisers have had mixed reactions to their effectiveness.

“From a reach and brand awareness view, pause ads do an OK job, but not great,” said David Mirsky, Group Director at MMI Agency. “They are limited in brand storytelling opportunity but offer a valuable format that recognizable brands can use to cement themselves in a consumer’s minds.”

Mirsky added that pause ads could be more compelling with the addition of audio and other creative options.

Earlier this month at its presentation during NewFronts, YouTube also announced expansions in ad inventory, focused on Shorts, its short-form video product.

Luxury French fashion and perfume company Mugler is promoting its new fragrance, Angel Elixir, using augmented reality experiences across France and Germany.

In collaboration with creative studio Fondamentale, Mugler used FFFACE.ME’s AR mirrors to launch three augmented reality installations in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Alexa Mall in Berlin and Pep mall in Munich. The installations allow visitors to view themselves on a screen, with the AR mirror applying a digital constellation overlay to their appearance through augmented reality once they “spray” Angel Elixir. The sparkling stars in the mirror are inspired by the perfume’s iconic star-shaped bottle. Visitors can tap on the screen to record a photo or video of themselves that they can download and share.

In addition to these real-world installations, Instagram users can try the filter in the photo- and video-sharing application by visiting Mugler’s Instagram profile.

According to FFFACE.ME, the AR mirrors utilize Meta’s Spark Player, which translates Instagram filters into interactive installations outside of the social media app.

“Soon, AR mirrors will become a mainstream part of offline retail for all industries. The technology is ready, the experience is easy for audiences, and it brings measurable value to businesses,” said Polina Klekovkina, COO of FFFACE.ME. “It’s just a matter of time before we will be able to try on any product—from makeup to clothing—by simply looking in the mirror. We’re proud to implement this gadget with the help of our partner, Meta, and excited to see how mixed reality experiences will continue to revolutionize the retail industry.”

AR mirrors are a hot new trend among fashion brands. Companies such as Coach and Tommy Hilfiger, among others, have also adopted this technology to combine in-store shopping with augmented reality.

In last year’s upfront event, Disney delivered on its promise of featuring more talent onstage than ever, with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Selena Gomez and more making marketers marvel. And despite a writers strike keeping many celebs far from upfront stages this year, the company still managed to showcase several big names, including Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian and Marvel head Kevin Feige.

Thus far, the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike has made its presence known in nearly every upfront week presentation, with Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix confirming that they’re going sans talent for their events, as celebrities are wary of crossing picket lines. And with WGA protesters marching outside Disney’s presentation at the North Javits Center in New York—a more expansive venue than last year’s Basketball City—Disney’s ad sales chief Rita Ferro acknowledged the obstacles the event faced in her opening remarks.

“Preparing for this presentation, as you all know, is one of my favorite times of the year, even in years like this, full of difficult challenges,” Ferro said, seemingly acknowledging the strike. But the ad sales president added that “Disney is prepared to meet every challenge.”

For the company, one of the most notable challenges was the strike-related absence of Jimmy Kimmel, its perennial upfront roast master, who’s been so dedicated to the event in the past that he even performed via Zoom after testing positive for Covid-19 the day of Disney’s 2022 presentation.

Making big names a ‘Reality’

Without much of its entertainment talent to focus on, sports took up a large portion of the presentation before the company transitioned into news and reality.

Recent Adweek cover subject Serena Williams appeared to announce ESPN’s In the Arena: Serena Williams, a docuseries featuring exclusive looks at the athlete’s career, and Pat McAfee revealing he’s joining ESPN. The company showcased the NBA on ESPN by bringing out Donovan Mitchell from the Cavs to recall his 71 point performance from the season, and Breanna Stewart and Angel Reese appeared on stage, promoting women’s basketball and urging marketers to increase the current stats of only around 5% of sports media marketing going into women’s sports.

Troy Aikman and Joe Buck also pontificated about ABC, ESPN and ESPN+ having 35% more NFL games and the Super Bowl coming to the company in 2027 and 2031.

Peyton Manning previewed the company’s live events, including Dancing With the Stars, which is returning to ABC this fall after airing exclusively on Disney+ last season, and the CMAs, which Manning is returning to host in 2023. David Muir shared stories from World News Tonight, and Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos talked about some of their biggest interviews.

Hours before the upfront, ABC announced its fall lineup, which includes a golden years version of The Bachelor franchise called The Golden Bachelor, and host Jesse Palmer came onstage to talk about being a part of the season, even giving out roses to Kim and Khloe Kardashian, who shared that The Kardashians was renewed for 20 more episodes on Hulu, ahead of Season 3’s May 25 debut. Ryan Seacrest introduced several of Disney’s other biggest upcoming series, like the return of FX’s The Bear and Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.

Marveling at footage

Marvel Studios president Feige once again presented at the event, evangelizing Marvel’s success on Disney+.

“I’m pleased to share that when you compare our Marvel series to some of the buzziest shows on competitive services, even our smallest series reached a much larger and more international audience, often two to three times the number of views,” Feige said before introducing new footage for Secret Invasion (which premieres June 21), Echo (releasing all episodes on Nov. 29) and Loki Season 2 (due out Oct. 6).

The footage had several major story reveals, including Kingpin returning in Echo, clearly surviving his supposed death in Hawkeye, and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Owen Wilson’s Mobius interacting with Ke Huy Quan’s new character.

Not to be outdone in Lucasfilm’s first ever upfront appearance, company president Kathleen Kennedy then introduced footage for a trio of upcoming Star Wars series coming to Disney+: The Acolyte, Skeleton Crew and Ahsoka.

Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter also appeared via video message, teasing the company’s first Disney+ show, Win or Lose, which comes to Disney+ with eight episodes in December.

Yet, the presentation’s biggest moment didn’t even come from any of the boldfaces names. Towards the end of the nearly two-hour event, Disney brought out 100 actors dressed as Samurai warriors in honor of FX’s upcoming title Shogun, the most expensive series in the company’s history. The Samurai went through the crowd, sword fighting before Disney shared an early look at footage from the series.

Keeping DEI in the conversation

Though the presentation mostly focused on Disney’s upcoming content, the company also gave a quick update on Disney+’s new ad tier, which Ferro said had “healthy growth in terms of subscribers and advertisers,” with new capabilities rolling out the previous week.

Additionally, DEI was a main topic of conversation throughout Disney’s presentation.

Disney has required multicultural ad buys as part of its upfront negotiations since 2021, and, ahead of the upfront, Ferro told Adweek that after clients tripled Disney’s overall upfront DEI ask in 2022, the company is challenging them to triple its original ask again this year.

Ferro also challenged marketers from the upfront stage to be intentional with their buys.

“Be deliberate about your investments. Lean into all dimensions of diversity. We have the best storytellers who understand culture, and how to talk to the communities in relevant ways,” Ferro said. “We’ve never been more focused as a company to ensure we deliver against all audiences with the quality stories they expect from Disney and our brand partners.”

The lack of major celebrities from the world of entertainment wasn’t lost on the crowd. After all, in place of Kimmel’s usual comedy routine from the end of the event, Ferro took the stage to talk about the company’s tech stack.

Disney previously explained the details of its tech stack to Adweek, revealing that it’s bringing the power of its films and shows to its advertising. But the topic doesn’t lend itself to many laughs.

Then again, with writers and studios still at an impasse as of the presentation, perhaps it isn’t the right time to laugh anyway.

In this episode of Brave Commerce, Eduardo Luz, chief brand and concept officer at Panera, discusses AI, generosity and a member-first approach with hosts Sarah and Rachel.

With an exceptional 55 million loyalty members, Panera has identified “generosity” as the defining characteristic of its brand. Luz delves into how Panera’s dedication to generosity towards individuals, community and the planet, has shaped its initiatives. Through its approaches, such as donating its unsold goods to local nonprofits, Panera is staying true to its core values.

Luz discusses how integrating AI technology in its customer service initiatives has aided in the diversification of its revenue streams and increased its conversion rate by 30 to 40% in the first 3-4 months of implementation. He emphasizes that finding the correct balance between technology and authenticity is key when developing an AI strategy.

Key takeaways:

• By adopting AI technologies such as machine learning and chatbots, businesses can improve operational efficiency, increase customer engagement and drive growth.
• A strong brand identity helps differentiate a business and resonates with customers on a deeper level.
• By integrating a technology-first mindset throughout the organization, businesses can foster an environment of innovation and stay at the forefront of their industry.

This year’s IAB NewFronts has finally come to a close, capping off a week of new tech and video announcements, high-profile concerts and even Conan O’Brien.

Adweek was on the ground for all the biggest events throughout the week—with the exception of TikTok’s presentation, an event that was closed to the media. From the effect of the Writers Guild of America strike on presentations to concerts and FAST changes, here are the biggest moments. (And see all of our NewFronts coverage here.)

YouTube

YouTube kicked off NewFronts week by establishing itself as a place where culture happens. The video platform featured a segment where people on the street were given side-by-side pictures of traditional celebrities and YouTubers, and often, the pedestrians identified the YouTubers and not household names that have typically been on the cover of magazines. Many of YouTube’s biggest creators populated the event itself, including Alan Chikin Chow, a top Shorts creator with over 23 million subscribers, who made a humorous short specifically for the NewFronts, playing with the idea of running late for the cross-country journey from Los Angeles to New York for the event. Attendees got cookies in the shape of Chow’s exasperated face, in addition to access to a host of new ad formats on the Shorts platform. — Catherine Perloff

Vizio

Vizio’s second in-person NewFronts moved to a new venue—New York’s Penn 1. Despite having seating this year, it was still standing-room-only for the connected TV company’s presentation. Vizio debuted its Branded Content Studio and gave attendees a sneak peek at upcoming home screen enhancements. Followed by a reception with a full bar, guests left with their own Vizio soundbar. — Mollie Cahillane

Amazon Ads

Amazon’s nearly two-hour presentation went all in on AVOD, with the announcement that 100 Prime Video originals will be available to stream on Freevee by the end of the year. Speaking of Freevee, James Marsden of the hit series Jury Duty took to the stage and talked about the docu-comedy series before pointing out Ronald Gladden in the crowd. Plus, Marcus Mumford performed Look at Us Now (Honeycomb) from Daisy Jones & The Six live for the first time. — M.C.

Samsung Ads

Conan O’Brien earned the title of Adweek’s 2022 Media Visionary for his influence across late-night, broadcast, cable, podcasting and streaming. And at Samsung Ads’ NewFronts presentation, Cathy Oh, vp global head of marketing at Samsung Ads, announced that the comedian’s first FAST channel is coming to Samsung TV Plus. The comedian even sent in a video message highlighting his 24/7 curated programming. It’d be difficult for O’Brien to repeat as Adweek’s Media Visionary, but he’s coming up the rankings … FAST. —Bill Bradley

Snap

Hosting its NewFronts at Lincoln Center’s Rose, Snap continued its saga of touting its creator arsenal. This time, the platform brought mega personalities from the world of sports, including Sue Bird and Carli Lloyd. But Snap’s pitch to introduce sponsored links to its AI chatbot, My AI, was the most intriguing announcement. As more brands dip their toes into leveraging AI, how this tastefully develops and contributes to Snap’s revenue is worth tracking. Unlike the kale salad that was served, which was just bitter. Not a fan! — Trishla Ostwal

Peacock

From the long line of protesters stationed outside Center415, there was no question where Peacock was holding its NewFronts event. With the Hollywood writers strike kicking off on Tuesday, the picketers semi-blocking the entrance to Peacock’s event sent a strong message. And with rumors that talent may have even skipped out of the event to avoid crossing the picket line, it seems that message was received. — B.B.

Roku

While Roku’s event was packed with celebrities including Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Weird Al and more, the company brought out singer/songwriter Charlie Puth to close the presentation and announce his upcoming show Charlie Makes a Record (working title) to the surprise of attendees. After riffing for several minutes on the piano about what he should call his series, he finished by writing the “theme song”—which included telling buyers to spend on Roku and asking what ROI and CPM are. — M.C.

Yahoo

After a one-year break, Yahoo returned to NewFronts week with a Chance the Rapper concert. The event was more party than presentation. And Chance even revealed an early Yahoo connection: The Grammy-award-winning artist’s username was “2hot4u” on Yahoo’s now-defunct messenger service. — C.P.

Condé Nast

During the Condé Nast NewFront event, the president of Condé Nast Entertainment, Agnes Chu, introduced a new series for GQ featuring the street stylist Mordechai Rubinstein by inviting “Mort,” who was seated in the audience, to conduct a spontaneous fit check. Mort turned to the man next to him and asked him to describe his outfit, which turned out to be a vintage Ralph Lauren suit, a collarless linen button-up thrifted in Japan and golden-orange brogues—by all accounts, an outstanding look. But alas, the moment was too good to be true: The man in question was a plant, a Condé Nast executive who knew of the stunt beforehand and dressed accordingly. But with Anna Wintour looking on from the front row, wouldn’t you do the same? — Mark Stenberg

Meta

Meta’s pitch this year was pretty straightforward. Albeit a little late in the game, the company announced AR ads with Reels and Facebook stories this year, positioning the company against Snap for marketers’ ad dollars. But what got the audience equally excited was the host of the event, Ashley Park, most recently seen in Beef and Emily in Paris. However, there was no mention of the company’s much-touted metaverse during the 2-hour presentation. — T.O.

Vevo

Vevo, the music video-focused streamer owned by Universal Music Group and Sony Entertainment, wanted its ad buyers to see it as not just on part with more traditional linear and connected TV offerings, but better. Vevo said it was the top FAST network in the U.S. and noted that some of its music videos get more views than TV megahits like Bachelor in Paradise. The event, which was interspersed with music videos, ended with a J Balvin concert, where the musician performed a never-before-heard song with the chorus, “Click, click, flash.” — C.P.

Twitter

Lastly, though Twitter was thought to be a NewFronts holdout for 2023, it still provided a memorable moment.

Adweek learned the company held an unofficial event on Wednesday evening. When asked about the event, the company gave a thoughtful and measured response: