Welcome to Tuesday—and to Day Two of the TV upfronts. If you’re lost as to what the upfronts are, don’t sweat: check out this video from Morning Brew creator Jack Appleby breaking them down.
In today’s edition:
—Ryan Barwick, Alyssa Meyers
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Francis Scialabba
After advertisers made promises to sustainably invest in Black-owned media last year, publishers feel cautiously optimistic as the 2022 upfronts begin.
Rewind: A year after the death of George Floyd and a swell of corporate statements regarding the disparities and gaps facing Black Americans, some of the largest media agencies, including IPG Mediabrands and GroupM, made public commitments to invest in Black-owned media properties, which advertisers have chronically under-invested in.
Crucially, these were commitments to Black-owned media, not Black-targeted media.
So, uh, how’s it going? Last year, GroupM asked clients to spend at least 2% of their annual media budgets on Black-owned media. In June, 20 of its clients—including DoorDash, General Mills, and Target—agreed to.
- Gonzalo Del Fa, president of GroupM’s multicultural division, told Marketing Brew that GroupM’s coalition is on track to clear its goal, as 1.8% of their collective budgets have been allocated to Black-owned publishers. At least 10 of the 20 clients hit the 2% goal by the end of 2021, he said.
- “This is a little bit of a learning curve that we are all going through and, even though we were already spending with minority partners before meeting [our] inclusion initiative, we have a much stronger commitment now, and we want to follow through with that commitment,” said Del Fa.
Dani Benowitz, president of IPG agency Magna US, said that IPG is making “significant progress” on its commitment to invest at least 5% of client spend in Black-owned media by 2023, but declined to provide specific details.
And yet: Some Black-owned publishers say that, while they have made gains, they are still not equitably invested in.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, in terms of actual spend with Black media,” Detavio Samuels, CEO of Revolt, told us. “I would say it’s a nervous optimism. There’s a view that…the ones that were going to move may have moved already.”
Continue reading here.—RB
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Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photo: IAB
We know what you’re thinking: “There just isn’t enough upfronts content these days.” Fear not, reader. A week after the IAB hosted its 2022 NewFronts, it put on its virtual Podcast Upfront.
If you couldn’t make it last week (or if you were already burnt out from NewFronts), we tuned in and rounded up some of the most important announcements and themes of this year’s event, which positioned pods as “mainstream, prominent, and influential.”
Diversify: Several presenters centered their messaging around the diversity of their hosts and audiences.
- Chris Morrow, CEO of Loud Speakers Network, which he co-founded to amplify marginalized voices, spoke about the network’s “historic success” with African American listeners.
- Univision’s Uforia network, as well as multicultural network POD Digital Media, each highlighted their dedication to Hispanic audiences. Mocha Podcasts Network showcased a slate of podcasts hosted by and for women of color.
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And the hosts of They Call Us Bruce, an independent podcast about “what’s happening in Asian America” that sees 16,000 downloads per month, touted their ability to provide brands with “custom ways for them to authentically join the Asian American conversation.”
Read about other themes at this year’s event here.—AM
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Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.
Kristen Klein is CMO at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati.
Favorite project you’ve worked on? Our capital campaign to raise $50 million for an expansion so that we would finally have enough rooms so that everyone who wants to stay at our House can do so. We exceeded the goal in 18 months.
How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in marketing? I look for opportunities to engage the community with our House and our mission.
What’s your favorite ad campaign? SickKids [The Hospital for Sick Children] in Canada does amazing work. Everything from powerful videos that bring you to tears to testimonials from Ryan Reynolds that are humorous but heartfelt.
What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? There’s nothing more powerful than a firsthand account of a product or service, which is why we love to have our guest families share their experience of living with us. A platform like TikTok that celebrates that every day has huge potential.
Least optimistic about? As far as least favorite, I just read an article that suggested I commit two to three hours every day to learning to navigate the metaverse with an Oculus. And after I was a master, I needed to identify a team of people at my nonprofit who would also make the same commitment because the metaverse is going to be that important to the future success of our organization. The article couldn’t say how or why, but just to commit the time. That sounds exhausting.
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Disney+’s forthcoming ad-supported tier will have around four minutes of ads an hour.
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Netflix is considering rolling out live streaming for certain programming, including certain unscripted shows and comedy specials, according to Deadline.
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Starbucks pledged to reimburse travel expenses to employees who must travel more than 100 miles for gender-affirming procedures or abortions.
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People, the celebrity gossip magazine, will possibly terminate its weekly print edition, per the New York Post.
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Put your ads in their ears. Here’s a stat for your next strategy meeting: Over 70% of US adults tune in to digital audio content every month. Ready to reach ’em? The Guide to Programmatic Audio Advertising ebook from StackAdapt has the case studies and best practices you need to up your multichannel game. Get it here.
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Francis Scialabba
There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.
Inspo: This collection of best-in-class Facebook ads is full of lessons for your next campaign.
Info: This infographic from Reddit is chock-full of data on NBA fans and what they’re seeking out on the platform.
SEO: Sometimes it’s best to outsource it. This guide breaks down when it’s best to bring in an SEO pro.
Message delivered: Ah, the SMS. It’s instantaneous, it’s timely, and it’s personal—which is why it can resonate with customers and elevate your cross-channel experience. Need personalization tips? Iterable’s got ya covered here.*
*This is sponsored advertising content.
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Find your next great marketer by sharing your openings with our 250K+ industry leading marketers on the Marketing Brew Job Board!
Today’s featured openings:
See more jobs or post your job opportunities here.
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Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.
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Yes, TV ratings are down, but overall TV spending is (still) on the rise. GroupM predicts total US TV ad spending this year will increase by more than 6% from a year ago to what billion-dollar figure?
- $92.1 billion
- $74.2 billion
- $101.1 billion
- $57.3 billion
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2. $74.2 billion, according to GroupM estimates. Spending on connected TV alone is expected to climb 22% to $20.3 billion.
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