| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Viacom Replaces Upfront Shows with Dinners | | The media company says it is changing its approach to the upfront selling season and will replace five network upfront presentations with 6 to 10 more intimate upfront dinner pitches with media agency executives, Adweek reports. Robert Bakish, Viacom's president and CEO will attend each of the dinners which will be held beginning in late March and run through April. Right now the dinners are all scheduled for New York, however, Viacom is also looking to hold some in Chicago and Detroit. Sean Moran, Viacom's head of marketing and partner solutions, says a decision was made not to combine all the networks into one large, single event presentation like NBCU did last year and will continue doing this year. The dinners will give Viacom execs more of an opportunity to explain the changes made by the company in its future investments for its networks. The five individual upfront presentation that will not be held are for Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET and TV Land/CMT. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Viacom is not the first media company in recent years to shift away from major upfront events to smaller gatherings. Discovery Communications, A+E Networks and AMC Networks have all made similar switches in recent years. Many buyers say they find the more intimate approach more valuable in their efforts to gain better insight into these companies' respective networks. | | A Take: Adweek | | | | #2 Mindshare Focuses on Gender Equality | | The media agency's employees across all of its 87 worldwide offices, as part of the annual "Mindshare Share Day," spent Wednesday working on ideas that can help advance gender equality working with its brand clients, Ad Age reports. Some of the client participants include Unilever, General Mills and Nordstrom. Gail Tifford, VP of media and digital engagement for Unilever North America spoke to employees at the Mindshare New York office. It is an internal competition of sorts. Each office presented its gender equality brand idea to a team of judges. One winner is chosen from each country or region. And another global judging panel picks the idea which has the ability to "become something bigger." Mindshare North America chief strategy officer Cindy Gustafson says this year's topic and participation was "one of the most spirited ones we've had." The topic was selected based on Mindshare employee feedback. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Gender equality is not only a major issue within the ad industry but throughout the world and more brands are looking to make statements through their advertising and marketing. Mindshare parent holding company WPP last summer struck a partnership with the United Nations to "truly advance the cause of gender equality." And of Mindshare's new hires last year, 63% were women. Of the gender equality day, Gustafson says it is a kickoff to even more work in the gender equality area, adding that it's "not just a one-and-done thing." | A Take: Ad Age
| | | | #3 Optimize Pre-Roll Campaigns with Shorter Ads | | Yes, there is a massive amount of consumers who skip digital ads, but a new consumer study by Magna sheds some light on how marketers can optimize their pre-roll campaigns, Adweek reports. To gather the results Magna replicated online video experiences "to measure attention, emotional response and impact on traditional brand metrics for skippable pre-roll ads." More than 11,000 consumers participated. Among the suggestions for getting better response by consumers include using more 6-second, non-skippable ads; creating an emotional connection with the viewers through storytelling; and begin the story arc sooner in the ad to capture the viewers' attention. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Among those surveyed by Magna, 65% said they are ad skippers, so even with those suggestions, marketers and their creative agencies face a major uphill battle. | | A Take: Adweek | |
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| | 51,000 | | Number of residential video subscribers lost by Charter Communications in fourth quarter 2016, dropping its total number to 16.8 million. | – Reported by Media Post
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| | CBS' 'Doubt' Soft in Debut | by Luke McCord
CBS' Doubt—starring Katherine Heigl—had a modest premiere Wednesday with a 0.8 rating. That was preceded by Hunted at an even 1.2 and Criminal Minds at a 1.3, up 8% from last week. CBS earned a 1.1 rating/4 share among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnight numbers.
ABC came in first with a 1.4/5. The Goldbergs was flat at 1.8, Speechless slipped a tenth to a 1.5, Modern Family dropped 13% to a 2.0, and Black-ish matched last week's 1.5. Match Game fell a tenth to a 0.9.
Fox finished in second with a 1.3/5. Lethal Weapon rose a tenth to a 1.4, while Star fell a tenth to a 1.2.
NBC placed in third with a 1.2/5. Blindspot and Law & Order: SVU were each down a tenth for a 0.9 and 1.5, respectively. Chicago P.D. held even at a 1.3.
The CW scored a 0.5/2. As both Arrow and The 100 were flat at 0.6 and 0.4.
Spanish-language broadcasters Univision and Telemundo pulled in a 0.7 and 0.6. | |
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| • JONATHAN BOTTOMLY was named to the newly created position of chief marketing officer at Ralph Lauren Corp. He was previously chief strategy officer at Vice Media. He was also chief strategy officer at Bartle Bogle Hegarty London, where he spent 8 years in assorted strategy roles, and was strategy director at TBWA London.
• KASH SREE was named a group creative director at gyro New York. He most recently worked at as chief creative officer at SS+K before departing in 2012, according to an Agency Spy report. Prior to that he held positions as an executive creative director at Pereira & O'Dell and JWT.
• CINDY JUDGE was promoted to president as creative agency and consultancy Sterling-Rice Group. She succeeds Walt Freese, who also served as CEO and who recently department. Judge was most recently chief client officer. Judge has been with the agency for 12 years. Prior to that she was a brand manager at Kraft Foods North America. She also worked as an account manager at JWT Chicago. | |
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| | Associate Producer | WBNS 10TV – Columbus, OH, United States
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