• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 6, 2013

A group of agency executives held a gathering in Manhattan on Thursday with Topic A the ongoing upfront market. It was remarkable how much they opened up. They offered details on specific deals being made. They talked in depth about the prices networks are seeking and how they're cutting them in half. It seemed as if each of them was thinking: “I’m retiring, so I’ll just lay it all out there.” And, it's all posted on YouTube!

Well, no.

The agency executives – two of whom are steeped in current upfront buying – hardly went that far as expected. But at the IRTS event, there was still compelling conversation covering the upfront and other topics.

Some observations:

--Digital video is playing a critical role in the upfront negotiations. So much so, it may be slowing the pace of the market down. With changing consumer behavior, online streaming is increasingly front and center. But networks also want to use it to give them more inventory to sell after lackluster ratings last season.

“They have supply they need to add back into the market, so that’s become a bigger part of the conversations,” said Maureen Bosetti, an executive vice president in national broadcast at Optimedia.  

OMD’s Chris Geraci, president of national broadcast, said that both buyers and sellers did a solid job prepping for negotiations around digital video. Which would suggest similar factors to TV may be holding things up.

--Why is programmatic buying moving so slow in the TV space? Ask the sellers because you need something to buy first.

“I think we need some programmatic selling … I don’t think it’s any secret that there is not a lot out there,” Geraci said.

OMD has dabbled in the largely barren space.

--Questions around the effectiveness of branded content continue. “It’s a lot of work and we’re not really sure what the outcome is,” Optimedia's Bosetti said.

She said her agency has opted to focus on select big plays, allowing more opportunity to measure results such as impact on brand awareness.

“Sometimes, it’s like lightning in a bottle,” she said. But she’s hardly an unabashed proponent.

Part and parcel, Geraci hinted clients are exercising more discretion with the tactic. “Thankfully, we’ve moved past the point where things are being done just to say they’re being done,” he said.

--Measurement continues to be a source of frustration in local TV buying and hope remains that set-top-box (STB) data will be a healer. “Everyone would hope that would be the case,” said Nancy Larkin, a senior vice president in local buying at Horizon.

She pointed to negatives such as the lack of demographic information outside large markets and the continued use of diaries in small ones. But she expressed some hope Nielsen’s new hybrid system will improve data. The system uses a code reader, STB data and traditional panels.

Larkin also suggested reliable measurement is needed to spur advertiser interest in stations’ digital platforms.

--Based on comments from Optimedia's Bosetti, sellers looking to get more money from her agency should:

1) Share more data, including on the relationship between social media and TV. (Bosetti said her agency has interest in deals where social could serve as a basis for “secondary currencies.”)

2) Turn sales executives into category experts. (She said she’d like to see more networks follow a Univision model, where sales executives know particular business sectors and their challenges well. In other words, cereal companies have different needs than wireless providers.)

--As for emerging technologies that could offer breakthrough ad opportunities, Vine could bear fruit. The much-buzzed-about Twitter app allows users to create six-second videos that are tailor-made for sharing.

“Vine’s going to be transformative,” said Gayle Troberman, the Chief Marketing & Ideas Officer at IPG Mediabrands.

But she wondered how advertisers can get a message across successfully in six seconds when they’re still struggling mightily to do it in 30?