Cheat Sheet: Social platforms and publishers retook the NewFronts stage on the event’s third day

By Sara Guaglione

The third day of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s four-day NewFronts this year returned the event to its digital and social video roots. After connected TV and cookieless targeting respectively dominated the first two days, creator-driven short-form shows shared on social platforms took the spotlight on May 5. Platforms and publishers also seized the opportunity to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion — and, of course, to talk about cookieless targeting, too.

The key details:

BuzzFeed returned to the NewFronts, bigger and more diversified than the last time it presented in 2016.
Snap announced the launch of a Creator Marketplace to connect brands directly with its creators.
Vice doubled down on contextual targeting, calling demographic targeting “shallow and diminishing,” and announced an expanded partnership with Google Web Stories.
Twitter ran through a long list of content partnerships with publishers and sports leagues.

Snap

Peter Naylor, Snap’s vp of sales for the Americas, nailed down the buzzword of the NewFronts (in air quotes): “incremental.” Snap — as well as the other platforms and publishers that presented — emphasized that digital media companies can get advertisers to reach incremental audiences via online video content and CTV that they can’t reach via linear TV. Citing Nielsen data, Snap claimed that nearly 60% of Snapchat’s audience over 18-years-old watch less TV or no TV compared to non-Snapchat users.

During its presentation, Snap announced the launch of the Creator Marketplace, which allows brands to connect with top talent on the platform. The Creator Marketplace will open later this month to all brands, which can work with a select group of AR Creators through 2021 (200 million Snapchat users engage with augmented reality daily, according to the company). In early 2022, it will expand to an open marketplace that includes all Snap creators.

Snap also introduced a slate of nine new original shows. Vanessa Guthrie, head of Snap Originals, name-dropped celebrities who have shows on the platform like Jaden Smith, Kevin Hart and Ryan Reynolds, as well as Snapchat stars like Loren Gray, Nikita Dragun and Swae Lee. A new show called “The Me and You Show” lets Snapchats users use AR to take part in their own sketch comedy show with friends. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion will be a part of a new show about pets. A few new docu-series were also called out, like “Meme Mom” and “Lago Vista,” about a new mom, and the life of seven Texas high school seniors and recent grads, respectively. Unscripted series like “Coming Out” and “Charli vs. Dixie,” and scripted series that touch on social issues, mental health and climate change were also mentioned.

According to the presentation, Snap has 280 million users every day, an increase of 51 million, or 22%, year-over-year. In the first quarter of 2021, Snap grew revenue 66% year-over-year to $770 million, with over 50% of revenue from direct response advertising. Sean Mills, head of original content at Snap, said that over 400 million people watched shows on Snapchat last year, including over 90% of the Gen Z population …read more

Source:: Digiday