Donna Speciale Reveals Strategy Behind WarnerMedia's Upfront

This year there39ll be a couple of differences when they talk about the future of the companyamp8217s content and sales strategies First as you probably noticed gone is the quotTurnerquot label under a reorganization that puts Bob Greenblatt and Jeff Zucker at the top of the new WarnerMedia org chart that also includes divisions like HBO Second alongside Greenblatt and Zucker is Specialeamp8217s new boss Gerhard Zeiler who will be heading up ad sales for all WarnerMedia divisions as the companyamp8217s new CRO For Speciale after more than two years in the making the changes are welcome quotIt finally happened we39re finally moving forwardquot she said in an interview amp160Despite all of that change at the corporate level and a new boss many things about the ad sales team have remained constant quotYes we are now 39WarnerMedia39 instead of 39Turner39 but our advertising mission and the team that our clients have come to know and trust are the samequot Speciale notedAnd similar to previous years at the company39s Upfront presentation to advertisers on May 15 Speciale will still take the stage at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden and press her audience to break beyond historical norms in how they value and buy media today While there is a lot of interest in the companyamp8217s soontobelaunched directtoconsumer product Speciale will mostly hit on the what is available to advertisers in this Upfront and the importance of WarnerMedia39s ability to offer premium video in whatever format its audience wants it be that on a 52inch screen or smart phone quotThis year is a pivotal point for our company and industryquot Speciale explained amp8220We need to shift more advertising spend into a plan that correctly captures the full funnel experience and encourages real connections with our audiencesquot Speciale said amp8220At the same time we need to prepare them for where we are quickly headed Communication collaboration and connectivity will all be keyamp8221Even before the reorganization that more tightly integrated the Turner channels and other properties with each other and with newish parent company ATampampT Speciale had begun working with her ATampampT counterparts quotWe can39t be siloed it just doesn39t make any sensequot she said So she Brian Lesser CEO of ATampampT39s advertising and analytics unit Xandr and the teams at both companies cooked up a way for data to power Turneramp8217s ad productsamp160The first fruits of WarnerMedia39s partnership with Xandr were revealed at CES in January One of those test cases was with ATampampT Mobility which reached 30 more of its defined audience segments than a regular TV buy with a superchargedbyXandr buyamp160 Speciale looks forward to revealing more cases at the Upfront presentation in May and sheamp8217ll have a lot to choose from all advanced ad deals the team is doing with advertisers quotscatterquot or nonUpfront deals are in fact already being completed using Xandr insights powered by ATampampT dataPushing clients and buyers toward a more holistic fullfunnel strategy is valuable when you can simultaneously guarantee brand safety and premium video contentquotClients have always wanted to talk business outcomes With Xandr we now have these proof points that TV advertising worksquot Speciale said quotWith the issues that some digital companies have had lately you see clients having to take dollars out of that space Now when you look at all of those strengths under one roof we will talk to clients about investing more in a company like WarnerMediaamp8221quotThe momentum has just been getting stronger and strongerquot Speciale concludedClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Donna Speciale Reveals Strategy Behind WarnerMedia's Upfront

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Donna Speciale Reveals Strategy Behind WarnerMedia's Upfront

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Oriana Schwindt

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