Steve Ellwanger

Following the 2016 Digital Content NewFronts, Trusted Media Brands managed to produce 65 videos for its advertising partners. Along the way it learned that it needed even more digital video capabilities. “We’ve got a really high bar to get past in 2017,” says Rich Sutton, CRO of the more than century old publisher “gets it […]

Knowing that trying to be an entrepreneur can be “lonely and terrifying,” Entrepreneur.com has bulked up its own content creation output with a network of nearly 80 partners who have been down that particular road and have stories to tell. At a time when so many people fear for their jobs, some are ready to […]

The latest FreeWheel Council for Premium Video position paper contains many insights and conclusions, one of which in particular stands out to James Rooke. When it comes to delivering optimal ad experiences across different screens, there is shared accountability and responsibility. “There was a clear understanding, based on the conversations that we had with brands […]

Like most publishers, Newsy wants to reach consumers on every type of screen out there. But it’s particularly fixed on being on the biggest screens, as in the living room. And if it can disrupt the likes of CNN along the way, all the better. “The big picture for us is really moving toward the […]

VICE Media is spreading its creative wings in both the types of programming it offers and the ways in which brands can engage with its viewers. On the content side, “We speak with a voice that just connects with young people,” says Chief Commercial & Creative Officer Tom Punch. “People like to spend more time […]

Over-the-top viewing of CNN “is blowing up in terms of consumption,” while video on demand is providing a big boost to Turner’s entertainment business. The latter provides a venue for commercial viewing via dynamic ad insertion beyond the C7 ratings window, according to Nick Johnson, SVP of Digital Media Strategy at Turner. As consumers migrate […]

Marketers all around the globe face three basic, common challenges, according to longtime advertising executive Rishad Tobaccowala. They are reigniting growth, engaging with consumers and finding the right organizational structure that can facilitate the first two. “For most countries, the number one thing that clients are looking for is how do they grow again. So […]

While the term “premium digital video” has become quite commonplace at the Digital Content NewFronts, when the event debuted 10 years ago was on few peoples’ radar screen. Now premium video can be considered a table stake for content creators who hope to get marketers’ attention. One of the most interesting things that Jill Kelly, CMO […]

What do cave men and astronauts have in common? More than either one could ever imagine, if you’re DigitasLBi, which decided to help the advertising industry broaden its view of digital media a decade ago by birthing the Digital Content NewFronts. The theme of last year’s NewFronts was ad skipping, recalls Scott Donaton, Chief Content […]

Creating a daily digital habit beyond just checking one’s smartphone every few seconds isn’t easy, given the deluge of content at one’s fingertips. But Hearst says its Cosmopolitan brand done just that about two years after being a launch partner for Snapchat Discover. Lee Sosin, SVP, Hearst Digital Media, calls it “a perfect marriage of […]

The Digital Content NewFronts has moved from conference to marketplace, with more emphasis on selling amid record attendance. Major themes emerging this year thus far range from OTT to mobile video, brand safety to Gen Z and how content gets distributed to audiences. According to Anna Bager, “lots of deals” have taken place since the […]

Given a multitude of digital content, some authentic some less so, POPSUGAR has hitched the credibility of its enterprise to emotion. “We believe that consumers can tell the difference between a Facebook growth-hacking, click-baity type of experience from of what is in POPSUGAR premium emotional storytelling,” says Global Chief Revenue Officer Geoff Schiller. While emotional […]

If there’s ever a time to build strong program brands that people trust, it would be before technology makes the concept of traditional television channels irrelevant. Keith Richman is already thinking ahead to a time when “the notion of channels” will go away. The prognostications of the President of Defy Media will come as no […]

If any TV networks still wonder where some of their younger viewers have migrated, they needn’t look farther than Condé Nast. The publisher provided a fresh reminder of this reality during the Digital Content NewFronts by announcing 65 series renewals plus more than 40 new series. Best known for 22 brands ranging from Bon Appétit […]

With so many consumers engaging with content from big living room screens to mobile devices, it’s hard to visualize how to target them individually much less in a coordinated fashion. This is why AT&T AdWorks has just unveiled its new AT&T AdWorks Lab in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center. The new AT&T AdWorks Lab is designed to […]

Conagra Brands is looking to partner on more content integrations this year. It’s one of the reasons why Media Manager Erica Hughes is at the Digital Content NewFronts and why the food giant has attended for the last four years. “We come here because we like to learn what the partners are doing in the […]

Not quite a decade old, the Digital Content NewFronts “have matured quite a bit” in the past few years, providing a bigger platform for the raft of digital content and tech providers to mingle with agencies and brands. It’s a gathering where agencies and their clients size up trends in consumer technology, content consumption and […]

Brand safety up, virtual reality down. To Ben Winkler, these are the two biggest changes year-over-year in the magnitude of discourse at the Digital Content NewFronts. “I haven’t seen a single presentation that didn’t begin, have a middle and end with brand safety,” says the Chief Investment Officer at OMD. “I’ve seen the biggest rise […]

What do you get when you combine the “beauty of TV with the brains of digital?” Endless amounts of great content and the data with which to measure consumer engagement with it. Along with the continued explosion of live content streamed online, these are noteworthy trends to Emma Witkowski, Managing Director of global media and […]

By purchasing traditional ads across a variety of media, GEICO typically tells us how to save money on car insurance. In a new, video-first sponsorship with Time Inc., the insurer aligns itself with consumer financial advice in one of the publisher’s largest video initiatives to date. It comes as Time Inc. continues to roll out […]