NewFronts 2023: A Quick Roundup for marketers!

Published: May 05, 2023

min read

The IAB NewFronts’ 2023 presentations kicked off in the first week of May. All the big names in the industry, from Meta, Snap, and Google to Roku and Peacock, participated and presented at the event.

While negotiations between ad buyers and programmers occur throughout the year, the presentation serves as a current and significant temperature check on the current condition of the businesses.

The 2023 upfront also guaranteed an exciting shift in advertising's steady transition from linear to streaming TV, improvements in ad innovations such as shoppable TV, and novel approaches to draw in viewers on second screens.

Here is a glimpse of some of the new ad products and partnerships announced by streaming media platforms and digital content platforms.

Samsung introduced a slew of new products for advertisers looking for fresh methods to connect with streaming consumers across platforms, such as new measurement products, shoppable advertising, and digital out-of-home inventory.
Snap is experimenting with new ads via its new ChatGPT-powered chatbot.
Peacock unveiled new data-forward ad products: Power Break, Marquee, and Spotlight+.
As part of launching new ad formats in its popular screen saver, Roku City, Roku brought McDonald’s to Roku City.
Disney added Innovid to its roster of streaming measurement providers. The collaboration will enable advertisers to track consumer behaviour after seeing a targeted ad.
YouTube has added new advertising features to its short-form video offering, Shorts.
Dentsu will incorporate LG's audience data into its M1 agency ID solution. It will provide Dentsu with planning and measurement insights into LG inventory.
Meta is bringing augmented reality ads to Reels.

How must marketers handle the rush of new ad products entering the market?

From social platforms to CTV, AI-powered new ad formats are entering the race. At the same time, while big names are facing lawsuits one after the other, there was less emphasis on privacy and data security in the presentations.

But one thing is certain. Marketers have a lot on their plates in terms of experimenting to see which one works best for their brand.

In their quest to be first, marketers often overlook some critical considerations that are significant to achieving success with their new experiments and avoiding ad dollar waste.

While playing around with new ad formats, running small-scale experiments is important as it will allow marketers to see how their target audience reacts to the ad format and make changes accordingly. This helps with optimising the ad format accordingly and increasing its efficacy.
It is vital for marketers to study the platform where the new ad format will be tested if it is new to them. It will assist them in determining whether the new ad format will make sense to their target segments, and hence they can decide appropriately on putting in ad dollars on that platform.
It is also important to keep an eye on how competitors are taking steps with new platforms and new ad formats. This will allow them to spot new opportunities to stay ahead of the competition and will be helpful for the adaptation of new advertising strategies.
Not coming to a conclusion too quickly is as important as taking small steps with experiments. For this, marketers need to continuously analyse ad performance and optimize campaigns in order to enhance their effectiveness. And marketers shouldn’t ignore A/B testing, particularly when experimenting with new ad formats to determine the campaign's effectiveness.
To minimize the risk of wasting advertising dollars, curating the ads as per their target audience's interests and preferences while exploring new ad formats is also crucial.

Overall, the entry of the new advanced ad formats will possibly give brands new opportunities to entice their audiences to buy their products. Now, it is only up to them to determine how they will harness the ever-changing advertising space and use it to their advantage.

Author

Bill Walker

Bill is a marketing strategist who believes in the power of storytelling. He's known for his creativity, wit, and ability to connect with audiences across all channels. When he's not crafting marketing campaigns, you can find him hiking in the mountains or reading a good book.