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Paramount will be the only major media company on the outside looking in during advertising’s annual upfront week, which begins May 15—but ad sales president John Halley insists he and his colleagues won’t be suffering from any FOMO next week.
Rather than hold its traditional big Carnegie Hall presentation followed by a lavish reception, the company announced late last year that it would hold more intimate upfront dinners with clients and partners instead. And after wrapping those New York upfront events in New York in late April, with additional Chicago and Los Angeles dinners coming in the weeks ahead, Paramount is more certain than ever that it made the right call. “We’re not going to go back to the old way of doing things,” Haley told Adweek.
“There’s no question it was the right decision,” Halley, who is overseeing his first upfront after his predecessor Jo Ann Ross stepped down last fall, said of the company’s decision to exit upfront week. “There’s no question that it’s more effective than the status quo event.”
For its upfront dinners, Paramount filled an exhibit space at Chelsea Factory to showcase its “Popular is Paramount” brand campaign. The space was adorned with iconic props from the company’s IP, including The Price Is Right wheel, Star Trek costumes and even the Lombardi Trophy to represent CBS’ upcoming broadcast of Super Bowl 58. In addition, Paramount talent were on hand for appearances, including Gayle King, Drew Barrymore and Stephen Colbert.
“Our agency partners and clients felt close to what it was that we were doing. And we reflected a unified entity, and it was successful in giving people a feel for what we’re trying to achieve through our content investment, all the way through to our huge audience footprint,” Halley said. “We’re very happy with the presentation, the representation of who we are. And combined with a format that is more expanded, it was very effective in helping frame and facilitate our upfront discussions.”
The ad sales president said the positive feedback was “unanimous” from attendees, who also expressed “a lot of gratitude” for a different take on upfront events.
“It’s interesting. I don’t think in all these years people have really asked clients and agency partners what they actually think about the upfront week itself, and it turns out, a lot of them don’t like it,” Halley said. “It’s too loud. It’s too compressed. It’s confusing. It’s chaotic.”
Halley said the events led to a larger share of voice ahead of a crowded upfront week, facilitating “substantial” and “in-depth conversations.” The ad sales president estimated that the company spent 36 hours total with its biggest partners, far eclipsing the usual five hours or so from one upfront week presentation and party.
