What to Expect at DBG’s Digital Upfront

The online video industry’s answer to television’s yearly dog and pony show for the advertising community is underway in New York City. The Digital Content NewFronts debuted late last week with a stellar presentation party from Hulu where the premium on-demand streaming video service announced a handful of upcoming original series.

Online video distributors and new media studios’ courtship of brands continues this week, starting with Digital Broadcasting Group’s (aka DBG) NewFront this Monday evening. The studio that’s responsible for such successful online video programs as Kiefer Sutherland’s The Confession and Dentyne Gum’s The Single Life is set to show off a handful of its upcoming digital properties. Those include, but are not limited to:

• SPACES – A home a design channel launching May 7 that’s part of the $100 million YouTube Originals Initiative and “serves up the inspiration of top designers, eager celebrities and hands-on pros with fresh, advice-driven programming” under the banner of such series as Your Place is a Dealbreaker with Liz Lemon Vanessa Deleon, Offbeat Spaces, and Profiles in Design.

• Expecting – “A documentary style series in association with People.com that follows three women from different walks of life throughout their pregnancies.”

DBG will also highlight a number of ways in which it successfully incorporated brands into previous online video campaigns, like it did with McDonalds on the Hispanic-focused Latinos Are One and Pier One on Design and Conquer.

So, the audience at tonight’s DBG NewFront should expect some sexy sizzle reels and quotable analytics of how well previously produced DBG content has performed. But what are the people at DBG expecting?

“We’re looking forward to putting on a fun event and introducing our guests to some of the upcoming projects from across the company that we’re excited about,” DBG CMO Joseph Epstein told me over email.

With all the buzz about how 2012 will be a breakout year for online video and online video advertising, you would think an executive at one of the industry’s major players would be looking forward to new business as a result of his company’s NewFronts event, but Epstein explained how his expectations are more concerned with getting DBG’s content in front of  the right people. 

“We don’t believe that success of our event will be defined strictly by closing some amount of business. Success will be a function of being able to engage folks with what we’re planning from an original content, content channel and syndicated distribution perspective,” Epstein said.

Check out the Tubefilter Calendar for a complete schedule of the Digital Content NewFronts, and be sure to consult Tubefilter’s Complete Guide to DCNF 2012 for all the latest news.

Monday, April 23, 2012

• POPSUGAR Media Digital NewFront
• DBG (Digital Broadcasting Group) NewFront