• Advertising Age, Monday, May 11, 2009 9:34 AM

For a possible glimpse of the ad-buying future, take a look at Unilever. The company, which spends about $499 million on TV, wants to rewrite the rules of the TV upfront and is increasingly setting the agenda with its "reverse upfront."

Last year, Unilever presented brand plans to media companies and asked them to develop media plans and content deals around them. This year it hopes to expand the process to even more of its media outlay. An early example is Hellman's integration with CBS's "The New Adventures of Old Christine" in which extensive footage and references to Hellman's mayonnaise in an April episode were followed immediately by Hellman's ads featuring Bobby Flay.

By design, the reverse upfront encompasses far more than TV and tends to keep rates low. With Mindshare's help, Unilever has briefed media companies on its brand plans prior to creative development or after a creative idea is in place. As upfront negotiations begin in earnest this month, Unilever expects networks to come back with branding programs that go well beyond TV, including digital, mobile, interactive TV and -- increasingly important -- talent and content deals.

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