• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, September 10, 2003

Over the last few weeks I have given much more thought than ever before to the concept of an Online Upfront season and more than in any year past I am starting to think this would be a good idea.

An Upfront season is certainly something that makes sense for established online advertisers and especially for brand advertisers as it locks in premium inventory and ensures their presence in the areas they most covet. For DR advertisers, it is not as important but the concept of an Upfront does not mean that all premium inventory would be purchased. In fact, it is possible that an Upfront would have no more impact on inventory avails than the current month-to-month planning that many advertisers still undertake.

Month-to-month planning is not going to go away, but an Upfront season would force advertisers to start thinking ahead for Online the way they do for other forms of advertising. As our piece of the ad-budget pie continues to increase, it becomes ever more important for us to layer in more forethought. As more people incorporate Online into their daily lives, our reach continues to expand and the effective frequency that can be built up becomes more significant in the overall media mix.

So why not an Upfront?

The fear of commitment is one argument you will hear, but I think it is safe to say that Online is here to stay and is becoming ever more important. This needs to be a portion of the media mix for most advertisers, so the argument against an Upfront that starts with a fear of the long-term feasibility of Online advertising doesn't hold much weight anymore.

Another argument you will hear is that advertisers don't think in annual terms for Online. This also does not hold any weight in my mind, as the reason they do not think this way is that we don't ask them to do so. If our schedule was set-up in a way that forced the advertisers to think in annual terms, than I am sure they would.

Some people will argue that Online is not a pure broadcast medium, that an Upfront is not applicable. Our inventory is too dynamic and there are no appointment positions where users are congregating at a single time to provide high reach. As Cable TV becomes more fragmented, you can make the argument that TV does not offer as much appointment viewing as it once did either, and it is beginning to mirror the usage patterns of the Internet. Additionally, you can argue that Online is dynamic and fresh, hence that our inventory is more valuable for a longer period of time than are re-runs and other filler on TV.

So if an Upfront makes sense, how do we initiate it?

The publishers are actually in the best position to make this happen. I think it's possible that an Online Upfront may not be an annual occurrence. Maybe the Upfront is a 6-month process that occurs twice a year rather than once a year? If they are on an annual basis, then we may have to find more flexibility in the inventory commitments to recognize that we are a more dynamic medium and that things can change. I also think it's possible that the publishers only designate a portion of their inventory be made available for Upfronts. This leaves more than enough inventory open for the DR advertisers and the "Spot" buys to be placed on a month-to-month cycle. From the Agency perspective I know that organizing for an Upfront in the short term would be murder, but in the long term I think it would be very beneficial and also would be a good barometer for our growth over the course of the year. They should not be based on a purely supply/demand model or they would mimic the Search Engine Bid Process too much, which either you love or you hate. I would also suggest that they not coincide exactly with the TV upfronts, but maybe are staggered slightly so that those agencies participating in both will not be overwhelmed. After all, the goal of an Upfront is not to create more problems than it fixes.

What do you think?