NewFronts West 2019: Trends Report

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The IAB’s second-ever NewFronts West was held on

September 11 and 12 at NeueHouse Hollywood,

and this year’s event featured the theme:

“Relationships Matter. Take a Stand!”

Creators, traditional celebrities, brands, agencies,

and publishers convened to share insights and

explore the latest innovations in the digital content

space.

And this was all made possible by one of our own

agencies, Digitas, who created the original

NewFront back in 2008. In 2012 Digitas co-founded

the Digital Content NewFronts as we know them

today…

2019 NewFronts West: What They Are & Why They Matter

“Hollywood is known as the center of the entertainment

world—it’s a place that understands and values

storytelling. This is why we are bringing the NewFronts

back to L.A., connecting content creators and brands to

explore how to tell stories that speak to the causes and

issues that consumers care about in these polarizing

times.”

Patrick Dolan

President

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EVERY PRESENTATION (IN FIVE WORDS OR LESS)

The importance of consumer

trust

Empowering voices of new

majority

Equal Gender Representation

throughout organization

Music is meant to be livePeople connect deeply with

UGC

Podcast advertising evolving

quickly

We make stuff that mattersConnected TV Delivering on Ad

SpendMusic videos always in style

Foundation for a premium

advertising marketplaceImmersive content is the future

Always inspire others through

kindness

How consumers comprehend

your adsSocial is the new reach

Where cutting-edge culture

meets passion

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TOP FIVE THEMES

Content Mirrors Society: Representation, Vulnerability, Authenticity, Purpose

Blurred LinesTraditional Celebrities & Social Influencers

Online Video Is Now “TV”

Podcast Differentiated:The Brand Story Becoming Clear

Music As a Medium:More Than Just Audio

Content Mirrors Society: Representation, Vulnerability, Authenticity and Purpose

NewFronts West 2019 was not immune to the realities of our current social and societal

climate. Both in front of the camera and behind it, representation was front and center. BBC

News highlighted the 50/50 project, an initiative that aims for at least 50% female

representation in all areas of BBC content. Gender representation was the most prevalent

topic, but the representation gap between various segments of society were highlighted

throughout. Digitas’ Scott Donaton led a panel discussing 5B, a feature length documentary

about the world’s first HIV hospital ward in 1980s San Francisco, while SoulPancake leaned

into “impact entertainment,” specifically citing the 70MM domestic workers (ie. elderly

caregivers, nannies, etc) that have no workers’ rights in the US.

Vulnerability was also a consistent theme throughout NewFronts West. Jamie Lee Curtis

opened NewFronts West with a discussion about the importance of showing vulnerability

and how that fosters a stronger bond between content creators and an audience. This

theme continued throughout, but the most poignant moment was Rainn Wilson asking the

audience to Google search “College makes me feel…”; the top auto-completed results:

”depressed,” “like a failure,” “lonely” and “stressed.

Takeaway: Marketers should take cues from society-at-large when developing a content

marketing strategy that will engage today’s attention-deprived consumer. As Scott Donaton

sums up perfectly, the most impactful branded experience is “content that is worth a

viewer’s time and a brand’s investment.” In 2019, society’s passion is aligned with:

representation, authenticity, vulnerability and purpose. Marketers should take notice!

Blurred Lines: Influencers & Traditional Celebrities

One of the key trends we saw in 2018 was the migration of social influencers beyond the

walls of social. Many top influencers expanded their footprint to television, feature film, and

more. That trend has continued, to a lesser degree, in 2019, but the new trend is almost

exactly the opposite.

More than ever before, traditional celebrities are looking beyond their core outlets and

pursuing digital-native ventures. This is not an entirely new phenomenon, as Ellen

DeGeneres illustrates clearly. Ellen successfully transformed an hourlong TV show into a

digital empire that reaches 215M cross-platform followers, has produced 29 original video

series and features an app-based gaming empire played by nearly 60M people.

Replicating that level of success will be difficult, but traditional celebrities are following suit

to a much smaller degree. For years, Hollywood by-and-large viewed digital as a second-rate

frontier. But, as social influencers continue to grow their share of the overall “popularity

pie,” the entire concept of celebrity has changed. Paraphrasing CAA’s David Freeman, the

mentality amongst Hollywood’s elite has shifted dramatically, and the general sentiment is

“evolve or face irrelevance.”

Takeaway: Historically, a brand’s access to leading celebrities was limited to seven-figure

payouts and :30-:60 second commercial spots. Influencer marketing allowed brands to

develop authentic relationships with influential people in a user’s native environment.

These two worlds are merging, and that opens up tremendous opportunity for marketers to

align their message with celebrities in ways we did not think were possible three years ago.

Podcast Differentiated: The Brand Story Becoming Clear

Podcasting continues its phoenix-esque rise across consumers, media companies and

marketers. The big question since podcasting emerged from the ashes has been: Why now?

Podcasts have been around since 2004, but only over the last two years has the medium grown

into the powerhouse it is today.

The reason is fairly straightforward: Consumers are streaming television ad-free, DVR’ing past

commercials, ignoring terrestrial radio ads, and are increasingly blind to banners, newsfeed ads

and most other forms of disruptive ads. However, according Art19, podcast consumers listen to

at least 85% of every podcast they subscribe to and they pay more attention to podcast ads than

any other ad format.

Podcasts also thrive where other formats fall short: the fusion of depth and mobility. Podcast

listeners are generally well-educated and affluent; they want to go deep on topics that matter to

them and they want to go deep while simultaneously on-the-go. Video simply cannot be

consumed by the average person while on the move.

Another underrated aspect of the increased demand for podcasts has been investment in ad

capabilities. Art19 boasts 10,000 targetable segments, from “light beer drinkers” to “shop at

Nordstrom” to “I prefer cooking at home vs fast food.”

Takeaway: In 2018, it was difficult to articulate the true value of podcast advertising.

Fortunately, increased interest and investment has led to a quick evolution in capabilities for

marketers. It may not be the best medium for every brand, but for marketers looking for curious

and loyal customers, podcasting is growing more attractive with each passing day.

Online Video Is Now “TV”

All digital video is consumed on three form factors: PC, Mobile or Connected TV.

According to Innovid, 60% of digital video was consumed on PC in Q1 2016; that figure

fell precipitously to 25% by Q1 2019. Mobile video consumption peaked in Q1 2017 at

50%, and has seen 1-2% annual decline since then. On the flip side, only 7% of digital

video was consumed on CTV in Q1 2016; that figure increased to 32% in Q1 2019 and

shows no signs of slowing down.

Content creators have taken notice of viewers’ shifting habits, and are vastly increasing

their programming for the living room. Jukin Media, for example, has launched seven

CTV platform partnerships to date, and now generates 287M monthly minutes watched

and an average watch time of 50 minutes. AT&T has taken it a step further, pairing

subsidiaries Xandr and CNN Courageous Studios together to produce, distribute and

measure powerful storytelling on the largest screen in the house.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Between now and April 2020, the CTV/OTT market

will see new entrants, such as Disney+, AppleTV+ HBO Max, and NBCU’s Peacock.

Some are ad-supported and others are not, but the message is clear: The living room is

back in style.

Takeaway: The term “TV” has traditionally been considered synonymous with linear

television. However, with the rise of OTT, consumers now think of ”TV” only as the

physical screen in one’s living room; whether content comes through the glass via

coaxial cable or broadband internet no longer matters. This has major implications for

brands, as CTV/OTT is and will continue to be the fastest growing form factor for digital

video. Marketers should follow the viewers’ lead and invest in a digital content strategy

that is truly cross-screen.

Music As a Medium: More Than Just Audio

Music’s role in popular culture continues to grow beyond the walls of audio. MTV ushered in

the multimedia era of music in the 1980s, but little innovation took place in the ensuing years.

Only in the last few years, as music festivals have grown into one of the fastest-growing areas of

entertainment, did music’s real potential come to the surface.

Vevo took the music video baton from MTV and has developed a video business viewed by 30M

users every day. Scale is part of the equation, but the data shows that audience diversity is

where music really excels; of the 130M people that consume Vevo music videos in a given

month, 18M are African American and 25M are Hispanic.

Music is also a clever medium for brands to tap into societal moments. For example, in the 72

hours following the 2016 election, YouTube views of REM’s “End of the World” skyrocketed

2855%. Leading up to the 2017 eclipse, Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” music video

views spiked 410%.

Lastly, music is an ideal medium for live video as festivals grow in numbers and prominence.

Live X Live has created LiveZone, which is described as ESPN College Gameday for music

festivals. The company is also partnering with the MTV VMAs to create the “Live Music Awards”

and announced several original video series starring some of music’s biggest names.

Takeaway: In the words of Fuse Media’s Jason Miller, “music culture is driving youth culture.”

As marketers look for entertainment mediums that check many boxes on the media strategy

checklist, music is a versatile and generally safe area for investment. And as more media

companies invest in music programming, the opportunities for brands will continue to grow

more dynamic.

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