This morning, April 8th, the ANA and AAAA announced the formation of the Network Upfront Discussion Group (NUDG). The purpose of NUDG is to take a pragmatic, realistic look at the Upfront process and determine if it can become more efficient and productive. The ANA and AAAA have invited executives from the media, agencies, association, legal and advertiser communities to participate in this discussion. Our first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 29 in New York City.
Why are we doing this? The answer is clear -- there is a substantial level of dissatisfaction with the process. This was affirmed by a survey of 165 member companies of the ANA - released at the ANA's Television Advertising Forum on March 10. Accordingly, we felt it necessary to take a "lean-forward" stance to see if there was anything we could do to alleviate areas of dissatisfaction. That's it - plain and simple.
My guess is that there is going to be a lot of nervousness and emotion about this discussion group. There shouldn't be. The Upfront has been around for decades and will likely exist for more to come. But that longevity doesn't mean that the process can't be improved. We all know it can - so why not try. If we bury our heads in the sand to preserve the status quo, then we will ignore what the marketplace is suggesting and we will never realize the progress that the marketplace is demanding.
So, why not take the time and have a thorough vetting of some things that plague the current Upfront process. Let everyone put their thoughts on the table and simply see if there are some reasonable, rational changes that should be made. If we can do that, we will have accomplished quite a bit. We will have also established a working platform that will hopefully allow all players in the marketing spectrum to have productive conversations about the future of our industry - something the ANA would be pleased to facilitate, as appropriate.
Let's not over think this. Let's not let speculation run wild. Let's keep our expectations in check. You know what. Let's just get everybody together to talk and see what happens.
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