Something’s New, Something’s Old At The Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront

Upfront City, New York—There was a distinct sense of déjà vu at the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront Wednesday.

WBD ad sales heads Ryan Gould and Robert Voltaggio introduce Neo (LMG Photo)

The event was again at the theater at Madison Square Garden. Giants Conan O’Brien and Shaquille O’Neal were on stage. A big Superman movie is being released. CNN is launching a streaming service, but the company’s primary streaming service is being called HBO Max.

It’s not a good season for brand-naming experts. Comcast’s spinoff was named Versant, prompting people to talk about how cool SpinCo might have been. ESPN is calling its direct-to-consumer product ESPN (duh). And WBD’s Max is going back to its old name HBO Max. (I was waiting for a “just kidding” that never came.)

What was new was WBD new heads of ad sales Ryan Gould and Robert Voltaggio. They talked about The White Lotus effect and how destinations and products featured in the HBO series saw boosts in searches and sales, showing how much influence WBD content has.

“But enough about us. Let's talk about you. We understand that your definition of premium really means transparency. We recognize how you value client service and your expectation around full campaign delivery,” Gould said.

They said that WBD was following up on the new ad product launched last year with additional ones designed to maximize impact, reduce waste and improve transparency.

“First, we're simplifying and unifying traditional demo buy with the launch of DemoDirect. You can now leverage our entire portfolio of linear networks on one plan with one CPM, one seamless execution,” said Voltaggio.

They also announced Neo, which gives brands direct access to the full WBD portfolio of premium video and connects brands with the company’s most coveted content.

Simple right? A video featuring Conan O’Brien explained it better. “Neo gives you direct access to all of WBD premium video with no middlemen and no hidden fees. It gives you real time transparency, so you see exactly where your ads are running and how they're performing, and it gives you full control over your buys with flexible tools to align budgets, pacing and results,” said O’Brien, who was exasperated after getting through a fictitious pitch deck.

The company also introduced WBD Storybooks, to create campaigns based on WBD IP.

State Farm, Unilever and Wayfair have built campaigns featuring WBD content and the campaigns have been embraced by Gen Z and millennials, Gould said, showing off another recent campaign by BMW that features a character from HBO’s Hacks.

WBD is also looking for marketers who want to get involved with the company’s movies.

The Minecraft Movie was a big hit at the box office and numerous brands decided to “Blockify” their brands. And Toyota, Progressive and Dairy Queen have signed up to take part in what WBD expects to be the summer of Superman.

Even CNN was getting into the action.

“Today, we're announcing the next phase of CNN evolution with our new all access subscription launching this fall,” said CNN President Mark Thompson.

“And I'm also excited to announce today the launch, later this year, of our first lifestyle app. CNN Weather,” Thompson said. The app will pack info about school closings, climate and weather coverage into one easy-to-use experience with new graphics features, he said.

“We're racing to find new ways to connect with our audiences across today and around the world, it's an exciting new journey, and we want to work with all of you to bring your clients and their customers along for the ride,” Thompson said.

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Later on in the day, Netflix said that its ad business continues to scale up.

Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard said there are now more than 94 million global monthly users on Netflix’s ad plan, up from 40 million a year ago. That number is based on profile, and translates into about 170 million monthly active users, she said.

“You’ll reach more 18- to 34-year-olds than any broadcast or cable network,” Reinhard said.

Viewers on the ad tier spend about 41 hours a month with Netflix, “or about the same amount of time we spend eating and drinking,” she noted. It’s also about the same amount of time spent as viewers on Netflix’s ad-free plans.

More importantly, members pay as much attention to ads as they do to the shows and the movies themselves,” Reinhard said. “So what happens when you place an ad in front of an audience like ours? Well if you advertise on Netflix, your target audience is more likely to favor and search your brand and more likely to buy what you’re selling, compared to ads on other streamers.”

She said advertisers can’t find many of those Netflix viewers elsewhere. Rinehard said 40% of the 18- to 30-year-olds who saw an ad on Netflix never saw the same one on linear TV.

Bottom line, $1 spent on Netflix is more valuable than $1 spent anywhere else, she said.

Netflix has been building an in-house ad tech platform that is live in the U.S. and Canada.

“We’re getting up to speed,” she said.

“By controlling our own ad tech we will be able to deliver newer tools, better measurement and more creative formats,” said Reinhard, before calling on Emily Cooper from Emily in Paris, to explain further.

“The ads suite makes it easier to reach super attentive, super engaged audiences,” Emily said. “The ads suite also has lots of new ways to use data. For example, if you already know who your customers are, you can BYOD, bring your own data, either through partners or directly through Netflix. And Netflix is launching its own clean room solution, which it does not mean that they will clean your apartment for you, but I'm told it will be super easy to use and scale with your business.”

By next month, Netflix Ads Suite will be up and running in every market where Netflix sells ads.

Reinhard said the ads suite helps advertisers in four ways.

First, there's data. “Historically, we've mostly used our viewing data to power recommendations. Now we'll use that same information to make sure your ads reach the right people while protecting the privacy of our members. You can now target four times as many Netflix first-party audiences as you could at launch, which drives better results. We're also incorporating advertiser first-party data into Netflix, either through LiveRamp or directly with us, which unlocks even more of our behavioral intel. We're creating our own clean room strategy where we can collaborate in a private, secure environment,” she said. “On everything from planning and activation to measurement, and we've opened up third-party data, trusting data, partner targeting to trusted partners like Experian and Acxiom, so you can create more tailored campaigns using your customer data.”

The suite also makes buying easier and lets buyers transact in the way they’re most comfortable.

On the measurement front, Netflix is adding more third-party providers around the world. “Today we're developing new first-party measurement solutions, starting with a brand lift capability,” Reinhard said. “We've always listened to our members, and now we'll bring that same feedback to ads measurement. It will tie viewing behaviors to customer brand perceptions, making it seamless and easy to evaluate your campaigns.”

Finally the Netflix ad suite will make it easier for the company to design new creative formats and roll them out quickly.

“We've created a modular framework that makes it easy to bring in your existing assets and use them to build great ads for Netflix,” she said.

Reinhard said the biggest benefit for advertisers will be the kind of personalization Netflix viewers already get.

“Now we're going to do the same thing with ads, so you can present the right creative to the right person at the right time. This will come to life for the first time with our new interactive mid roll and pause ad formats. We can add overlays, calls to action, second screen, buttons and product info, all in one ad,” she said.

“And with Gen AI, we can instantly marry your ads with the worlds of our shows. It's going to create a better, more relevant experience for our members, and it's going to help you drive results,” Reinhard added.