Executive Summary What a difference a year makes. In 2012, the Newfronts were a mish mosh of original series announcements that included the likes of top-name talent like Anthony Zuker and Jay-Z, lots of talk of device and technology and a significant amount of “we’re better than TV”. Well, a year has gone by and it’s safe to say that Yahoo!’s “Burning Love” (proven by the fact that it’s now being aired on E!) was the only true success from 2012. Given the significant changes in direction, we can assume that most of the digital networks figured out that they got it all wrong last year.

1. Digital
Upfronts
2013

2. Havas Media : 2013 Digital Upfronts POV 2
Executive Summary
What a difference a year makes. In 2012, the newfronts were a mish mosh of original series announce-
ments that included the likes of top-name talent like Anthony Zuker and Jay-Z, lots of talk of device and
technology and a significant amount of “we’re better than TV”. Well, a year has gone by and it’s safe to
say that Yahoo!’s “Burning Love” (proven by the fact that it’s now being aired on E!) was the only true
success from 2012. Given the significant changes in direction, we can assume that most of the digital
networks figured out that they got it all wrong last year.
So before we talk about this year, let’s quickly recap what we learned from 2012.
• Big names do not equal big ratings. All of the portals trotted out big talent (and big dollars) last year
and nothing was a hit. Curating a slate of winning content is not easy. Just ask NBC.
• Packaging up the deals. Currently, the models of buying content are still running the gamut from 100%
SOV buyouts to a la carte. The former has a huge implication on creative wear out (unless you have a
suite of brands with a similar target, e.g., P&G) and the latter requires significant effort to ensure relevance
and brand safety. The buyouts were successful for portfolio advertisers, but that was limited at best.
• Metrics and performance. On the client side, we are all still learning that digital does not always mean
lower funnel and certainly does not always mean focusing on metrics like CPC and ROI. Video is video
and should mostly be used to achieve brand goals, and therefore measured against brand metrics.
So on to 2013…
Greater Focus with a More Narrow Offering
Overall, we believe the media industry has made respectable progress from the 2012 offering. We saw
many publishers make necessary course corrections. While the corrections themselves are very different,
they all achieve a singular goal: greater focus with a more narrow offering. Here’s a synopsis of the moves
that the major players made:
• Yahoo! making daily routines better and more enjoyable. Marissa Mayer is taking charge and making
big changes with a single focus of making the daily online routines (email, weather, stocks, etc.) more
beautiful and enjoyable. Nothing is more evident of this direction than the new Yahoo! Weather
app — download it now if you haven’t already. Taking this further, they have simplified their new content
strategy to focus solely on comedy, such as “Losing Your Virginity with John Stamos” and pick-ups of
both ‘Burning Love” and “ The Yo Show”, among others. The focus on comedy is the right way to go
for a more enjoyable, light-hearted experience on Yahoo!
• Google acknowledges its core success and its core audience. The 2012 Brandcast was far from a
success; “Wigs” was touted as their front runner in 2012 and only garnered 30MM+ views with over
100+ pieces of content. Clearly the model of hiring great talent to build content and just hope the
eyeballs come, wasn’t working. This year, they made a significant number of right moves — they made
no bones that they key demo is 18-34 and that their success rides on the organic YouTube content
creators. Let the democracy of YouTube create the stars — the traffic will follow. Pricing is also very
different from last year’s structure and more straightforward.
• Hulu just loves TV. The alien brainwashing story line may have disappeared, but the core holds true —
Hulu just loves TV. Nothing could be more emblematic of that than their pick-up of “All My Children”
and “One Life to Live”. While you may not be targeting the soap opera set, this has the potential to be
a watershed moment for online tv, er, we mean online video.
• GOOOOAL! Univision knows their audience and they know who they want — younger and accultur-
ated — without alienating their base. So, take 750 hours of exclusive soccer coverage, add a slate of
new comedies and docuseries, with a touch of telenovelas — and Univision may have the right recipe
for growing their online audience.

3. Havas Media : 2013 Digital Upfronts POV 3
The big glaring omission from the week was the lack of discussion surrounding ratings. We know that
Nielsen is getting a significant amount of pressure to standardize ratings for online video, but we feel
the industry cannot show up with just glitz and expect the dollars to come flying at them.
One theme that became clear was that Digital Video is being compared to traditional TV. However, the
way we currently assess the two is very different.
One of the biggest questions/debates that marketers have is what measurement standards should Digital
Video be held to versus TV. How can we compare the two?
• Possible answers and solutions are being crafted. Some properties have taken steps to bridge the
gap between TV and Digital Video measurement. This includes AOL, who will be combining forces
with Nielsen online campaign ratings; this will allow for TV to be compared to digital video on an
apples-to-apples basis of reach and frequency, rather than web metrics like views or time spent.
• Shift to measuring audiences instead of just streams is something new to the digital space. As
consumer behavior moves to multiscreen, screen-agnostic viewing; marketers are looking to do the
same. Ability to have one form of measurement and hold all screens to the same metrics will make the
integration far more seamless for brand marketers.
• Streamline of measurement may make it easier to compare. But it remains to be seen if markets can
shift their mind and stop looking at the current metrics that Digital Video is measured against.
Show Us the Money
We were extremely happy to hear that Conde Nast made a point to say that all original content will be
supported with an equal amount of promotion dollars as production dollars. If online original programming
is going to take off in any scale or manner, the other players are going to have to follow suit.
Sure, there are online video success stories like Michelle Phan, but for every Michelle, there are millions of
creators with fewer than 100 views. Consumer-generated video can become successful without promotion
because of great content and a little bit of luck. There is so little at stake when you are simply posting
beauty to-do videos. Produced original content needs more than just “if you build it, they will come”
traffic strategies. We would posit that part of the success of “Burning Love” is attributed to great content
but also a very large cast of stand-up comics who all are very active twitter posters and general social
sharers with built-in followings.
Online Video is Still Coming
Any of these publishers can tout eye-popping statistics about how many billions of minutes were viewed
and on how many devices content has been watched. The general public is still not at the point where
they feel the urge to consume original content and the first instinct is “Go Online.” Yes, there will be some
demographics that do so, but it is not at mass yet. There needs to be a couple pop culture moments
where people watch online video together or talk about it; then will it become more habitual. The Red
Bull free fall was clearly one of those moments, but here are a few more that we see on the horizon:
• Erica Kane’s wedding, divorce, alien abduction, missing child…something! Hulu’s pick up of “All My
Children” and “One Life to Live” will bring an entire contingent of soap fans. With the final episodes
pulling a 1.85 rating, we will have a new segment of online video watchers.
• Reconnecting with Attorney at Law, Bob Loblaw (say it out loud). The kitschy, quirky and extremely
viral cult favorite “Arrested Development” is back on Netflix with an entire new season. While there
may not be true advertising opportunities, the return of this ensemble comedy will surely get online
video into the hearts and habits of viewers.
• Other possible breakouts with viral appeal. One breakout meme from “Losing Your Virginity with
John Stamos” or maybe a cultural aha moment a la Kony 2012 from the producers of “Years of Living
Dangerously” from Microsoft; and more attention will be paid by the American public.

4. Havas Media : 2013 Digital Upfronts POV 4
Revealing a New You
Thought you knew everything there is to know about the Wall Street Journal and Weather Channel…
guess again. Both properties treated their upfront presentations more like launch events, showcasing
some great new content and advertising options. First up, Weather:
• Triple threat reach. With over 100MM visitors across TV, Desktop, and Mobile — you cannot deny their
reach and when you consider the fact that the vast majority of their content is hyper-local — your
targeting options are endless.
• More than your 5-day forecast. A slate of new originals from the inspiration “I Am Unstoppable,”
featuring athletes who have overcome major adversity to “Virus Hunters,” not for the fainthearted!
Weather will be able to increase their viewership hours both on TV and online.
• Weather patterns meets big data. Everyone knows the weather impacts our business, but truly
advanced campaigns can now be achieved through a partnership with WeatherFX, where advertisers
can merge their data with Weather’s data to create forecasting algorithms at a hyper geo level.
And for WSJ,
• Not your grandfather’s journal. WSJ wins the prize for saying “Grandfather” the most often…taking a
page out of their Weekend Journal success, WSJ is looking to broaden and strengthen their
content beyond financial news — but all with that business lens.
• Video content. WSJ Live will serve as a broader platform to distribute both live news and current
events, as well as new original content including “Start Up of the Year” with MC Hammer as a judge.
Family imagination is at the core — Walt Disney’s legacy was family and imagination. That mission
continues today as Disney prepares to be your One Stop digital media solution. Disney Infinity will mark
their largest gaming initiative to date: All Pixar and Disney characters available to mix and match to meet
your story telling/gaming imagination.
• Coolest app debut: Story App STORY. Many of us have a seemingly endless amount of random videos
and photos locked in our phone — this app allows you to put them all together to tell a story and then
share it.
• Mom-approved YouTube. Disney has partnered with YouTube to promote family safe (and Disney-
approved) videos across both platforms. TheDisney/Vevo partnership works the same way, but with
family friendly music and content. A nice touch was the addition of “that’s fresh” bilingual cooking
content, one of the few Hispanic offerings seen over the week.
In Conclusion
So all in all, “Steal TV Dollars Week,” aka the Newfronts, definitely showed a significant amount of growth
from 2012 — here’s our final rundown:
• Big winners? Yahoo & Weather. Yahoo clearly showed up with the most cohesive, thought-out strategy
that made sense to advertisers while being entirely on brand. The Weather Network presentation
definitely won big for best re-brand. We’re excited about things to come from them.
• Splitting buys. When looking at the opportunities, make sure your thoughts about user-generated
content (e.g., YouTube) is distinct from original produced content (e.g., “Losing Your Virginity with
John Stamos”) — there are very different consumption patterns and therefore will need to play different
roles in your communication plan.
• Push for ratings. The entire advertising community needs to continue asking all of the players to reach
consensus on standardization across all channels.
• Plan A and plan B. All of these networks need to have promotion plans for all this original content,
the lack of them from 2012 is a key driver to the lack of success. Beyond that, brands that commit big
dollars need to have a very clear understanding of what the make-good strategies will be.

5. Havas Media : 2013 Digital Upfronts POV 5
About the Authors
Armin Molavi, SVP, Strategic Planning, @amolavi
Armin is one of our valued strategy leads at Havas Media. Armin’s career has spanned
over 14 years across a number of global agencies both digital and traditional. Most
recently, he was the Director of digital media and planning for the independent One to
One Interactive. His clients have crossed many categories, with Insurance and Financial
Services being one of his focal points, having worked for Progressive Insurance and Liberty Mutual,
where he was the lead for all digital acquisition efforts. His Business to Business experience has spanned
a number of categories from American Electric Power, Oral-B and Clorox Professional. Earlier in his career
at Publicis Groupe’s, Digitas, Armin was the global strategic lead for Procter & Gamble’s B2C/B2B Oral
Care business, including Crest Toothpaste, Oral-B Toothbrushes and Crest Whitestrips. While working
with Crest Whitestrips, Armin and his team launched the first Consumer Packaged Goods Website shot
entirely in 3-D.
Melissa Keller, EVP, Channel Investments
Melissa is responsible for Television (GM and Hispanic) online video and integrated channel
investments at Havas Media. Her expertise is concentrated in facilitating the collaboration
between creative agencies, PR, marketing and traditional channels to ensure that
marketing objectives are realized. Melissa’s engaging style and astute organization enable
her to expertly serve the needs of our clients while also managing the flow of communications and service.
Melissa’s previous experience includes ESPN, Y&R Bozell and MediaVest where she worked on accounts
such as AT&T, Merrill Lynch, Office Depot and Procter & Gamble. While at MediaVest, as VP Account
Director on P&G, Melissa won both the “Grand Prix”and “Best in Class”awards her first year for significantly
increasing productivity for both P&G and MediaVest. Melissa lives in Westchester with husband C.Jay
and son Wyatt.
Alexandra Butmi, Account Director, @abutmi
Alexandra oversees the Panasonic and Remy Martin accounts. She joined Havas Media
in 2006 as a Digital Assistant Media Planner/Buyer. In her seven years with the agency
she gained her digital expertise across multiple accounts, such as Vonage and Royal
Caribbean. However, she spent the majority of her time here working on Fidelity Invest-
ments, and rose through the ranks to become an Account Director. Prior to Havas Media, Alexandra earned
her bachelor degree in 2005 from Franklin Pierce College where she majored in Business Marketing.
Ian Mullin
Ian began his career at Initiative Media on the SC Johnson Business, working with the
company for three years before making the move over to Havas in 2010 to work on the
Sears Holdings Account. Outside of work he enjoys swimming, golf, and going to the
movies. Ian originally comes from White Plains NY, however he currently resides in Man-
hattan. Ian is a 2007 graduate of the University of Scranton, where he majored in Communications and
minored in English.