With baseball Spring Training upon us, I personally think the industry should make it a requirement for every media planner to hit the sunny skies of Florida (or that other Spring Training location out west) just like what the Big Hitters, the Gamers, and the Golden Glove winners are doing right now. Not for a little R&R mind you. Spring Training is no place to take it easy. It’s for sharpening skills, showing how much you’ve learned since last season, and getting ready to beat out whatever your competitors’ are going to throw your way this year.
Thanks to our digital media partners, interactive marketing professionals now can experience a little Spring Training. OK, not in the sunny Florida way. But at the recently announced Digital Content NewFronts (DCNF). The what, you say? I know…quite the name, huh? But even the Marlins have fans, so a name is clearly irrelevant.
What can we expect this season at the Upfronts…I mean, the NewFronts? Let’s start with the Big Hitters.
- We should see plenty of new ad formats across all platforms – desktop, tablets, smartphones. I don’t think any media vendors will do a Manny Ramirez on us and totally shock us by offering something completely off the mark. But they will offer varying options based on the platform and marketers should be ready with varying creative to take advantage of the opportunities.
- The Gamers will be those who won’t be discouraged by the privacy concerns and will continue to use audience data. They will figure out how to keep on reaching the advertiser’s target, get through any rough patches and challenges and perform strongly, if not stronger. It’s a whirlwind of change and headlines right now with Opt-In, Opt-Out, Do Not Track, Please Track. Yes, I made that last one up. But even Bo Jackson had his challenges. And he continued to learn and adapt. And, well, Bo knows.
- And the Golden Glove winners…We’ll see some good competition between video sites, the portals, the ad networks, the video networks, the mobile networks, and whatever other network is formed as everyone works to differentiate themselves and lead in all stats. But the clear winners will be those who can juggle the data, the targeting challenges, be leaders, innovators, and meet their customers’ expectations.
Spring Training: Digital Content NewFronts — love it! It’s about time for both. It’s been a long winter. And here’s hoping this latest rookie in the digital media industry will be a hit and hang in there like The Sandman himself (although sources say this could be his last year).
Every client wants their media plan to be a homerun. Let’s smack one out of the park this season and embrace, encourage, and challenge our vendors. Go team! And here’s wishing your client Skipper is more of a Jim Leyland than an Ozzie Guillen!
