Internet Ads Strong in 1Q25, TV's Upfront Rationale, Dentsu, Globant, S4 and Stagwell Results and More
Madison and Wall: Saturday Summary for May 17, 2025
Will you be in Cannes for the Lions? Are you returning via Paris? If so, on Sunday June 22 (the Sunday following the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity) we will be organizing another “chocolate marathon,” a nearly 26-mile path around Paris, France over the course of the day. To see a past route and get a sense of what it looks like, visit www.chocolatemarathon.com. If you would like to join in for some or all of the day please reach out and let us know.
On this week’s M&W Podcast we review the latest retail sales data and its read-throughs for the economy, Walmart’s advertising business, our take on the Upfronts, Netflix’s latest data point on ad-supported subscribers, the latest results from Dentsu and Globant and more.
Separately, on Agency Business, we interview Reid Carr, CEO and executive creative director of Red Door Interactive. In a wide-ranging interview, Reid shares the history of his agency, its focus on integrated services and the choices he has made as the business has grown. For students of businesses – and agency businesses in particular – it’s well worth the listen!
Weekly Work:
2025-26 US TV Upfront Considerations and Expectations
Stagwell, S4 1Q25 Results And Observations of Growth Trends
Netflix, Walmart, Dentsu, Globant, ITV, Pro7Sat1: New Advertising Data Points
More Context:
We have received many inquiries recently about the annual negotiations between agencies and large TV-focused media companies who own national (US) TV-focused advertising properties, which typically take place following announcements of programming schedules (primarily covering October to May of the following year) during celebrity-laden presentations that occur in New York (with this year’s happening next week).
Despite the growing role of automation in the advertising industry and the diminishing importance of individual TV properties, the “Upfronts,” as they are colloquially known, have never been an anachronism for many reasons:
The largest marketers who continue to believe that television is an important element of their media mixes will always want to secure commitments to much of their annual advertising needs so long as there is some degree of scarcity of ad inventory
There are real advantages to humans working on behalf of media companies and marketers in negotiations, at least when there is an identifiable universe of generally large, qualitatively-driven buyers, as sellers are better able to identify the buyers most likely to pay the most for a given amount of inventory. Meanwhile, buyers working on behalf of those sellers are generally better able to identify opportunities for value enhancement with the aforementioned buyers or otherwise find alternative ways to make commitments that produce superior overall pricing relative to automated approaches.
Sellers of television inventory, much like sellers of houses or many other goods, know they will realize optimal pricing when they maximize – and preferably concentrate – demand. As they recognize that buyers can’t form clear views on what audience deliveries will be until they see what networks’ schedules or programming choices are, the announcement of an upcoming year’s plans serves an important role for both parties.
Speaking of parties, so long as qualitative factors are at play in decision-making – because it’s fundamentally difficult to distinguish many of the offerings that different sellers have – anything that a seller can do to deepen a relationship with a buyer, whether that means hosting small dinners or large events where celebrities are a primary draw – post-presentation events continue to serve an important role.
And because buyers and clients who are not based in New York (arguably the majority of the industry) have habitually scheduled time in New York during a specific week in May, attendance at presentations and parties will be maximized if held at the same time as it has been historically.