• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, April 5, 2013

Define irrelevance. Mike Bloxham, Executive Director of Marketing at the Media Behavior Institute, defines it as “talk about the upfront without talk about the Newfront.”

The Digital Content NewFronts originated as new media’s version of the traditional upfronts, but, as content increasingly transcends platforms, everyone's getting in on the Newfront fun.    

As such, Bloxham is asking a panel at MediaPost’s Video Insider Summit whether media companies should hold separate and distinct presentations.  

Adam Potashnick, Senior Partner and Group Account Director at Mediacom, said it comes down to the company, and how they want to present themselves to the market. That said, Potashnick does think content publishers should be increasingly speaking “holistically” through single presentations.

Meanwhile, Brad Bernard, Vice President of Online Media & Analytics at Harmelin Media, says the pfronts and Newfronts should remain separate -- “at least for the time being.” Why? At the CMO level,  video is video, he said. As you get further down the line, however, it becomes clear that different video formats still require very different skill sets and execution strategies.