Guests feasted on a buffet of bagels, frittatas, fruit, granola, yogurt, scrambled eggs and french toast in a separate dining room that overlooked 42nd Street, but DDN was quick to get the ball rolling. First up was Test Tube’s enthusiastic and captivating Jason Silva, host of series Shots of Awe. He gracefully motivated the audience to embrace the day’s theme, Discover the Awe. “The emotion of awe and astonishment is my favorite feeling,” he said. “It pulls you out of your world, creates a cognitive ecstasy, increases our overall wellbeing…being in awe is therapeutic. We live in a sharing, engaging community, and it’s the emotion that’s most likely to inspire a viewer to want to literally pay it forward, and share that content.”

The program followed with appearances from Laura Ling, YouTuber and adventurer Louis Cole, TLC’s Robert Verdi and Gretta Monahan and Phil DeFranco with the SourceFed gang.

Harold Morgenstern, SVP Digital Ad Sales, Discovery Digital Networks shared his company’s Newfronts plan.

What’s The Pitch?
It’s about up close and personal this year, not super-large presentations. The digital pitch is all about premium video and conversation. The biggest differentiation between us and other networks is that we own all our content.

What will drive success for you?
We recently launched some new sites, which will help us break into new categories. SEEKER is a video network connecting adventurers and storytellers. We also felt that there was space in the travel category and that was a great chance to reach millennials. In addition, technology is always big, and TestTube fits directly in the DNA of Discovery. Last, we are going into the gaming category, which is new to us; the first will be Super Panic Frenzy, an entertaining gaming site.

What are clients saying?
Flexibility and fluidity. Clients are looking for flexibility to move dollars around so they can find and secure the best ROI, and fluidity to put content across all screens.

Collective Digital Studio’s (CDS) fourth annual Digital Content NewFront at the SVA Theater was all about YouTube’s biggest creators. Comedy duo Rhett + Link (hosts of Good Mythical Morning) kept the crowd laughing while poking fun. “We chose to work with CDS because they knew how to maximize the relationship between brands and us,” Link said. “So to continue to butter you up to get all of your money, let’s get this show started.”

The Pitch
The MCN introduced CDS Connect, a new ad network to align top influencers and content with advertisers and brands through Google’s TrueView Ad Product (a benefit for brands already in the Google ad network). “At Collective Digital Studio, content is everything, and we have proven that premium content drives results and that our creators deliver eyeballs for brands,” CEO Reza Izad said. “Our network has 1.5 billion views per month, with viewers ages 18-34. With this slate, we’re offering brands the opportunity to engage with this audience by being a part of hit series from YouTube’s top creators and the EDM community. With CDS Connect, we’re making it even easier to re-target engaged consumers by creating custom content that will exponentially extend a campaign’s reach.”

SnapChaters, Viners and YouTube Vloggers
CDS wanted to show the audience exactly how powerful their social influencers were by bringing in 5 SnapChat and Vine celebrities and beauty vloggers. They discussed how they created the hashtag #waterballoonfight just 24 hours prior, which resulted in 13 million Vine loops, 20,000 re-Vines and Snapchats that were opened more than three million times.

“Our audience is our friend, and they trust us,” social media vlogger Alexa Losey said. “They don’t want to subscribe to TV anymore. They want to watch online creators and stream their content. When you advertise with a friend, you relate to me more because I’m your friend; not someone you just admire.”

“Brands do an incredible job creating beautiful designs and emotions,” fashion vlogger Wendy Nguyen said. “I bridge the approachable with the aspirational. I look at brand imagery and core values, and I translate that to what my fans like and engage with.”

The Afterparty
Directly following the event, attendees were enticed with kabobs, shrimp quesadillas and even a bacon cupcake, a favorite combination from Epic Meal Time, although star Harley Morenstein didn’t sample it. “I don’t eat bacon when I’m not working,” he told Cynopsis.

Quotes of the day
Link has advice for brands looking to gain views: “You should try shaving your face in a sushi restaurant. It’s weird…but it gets views.”

On why Rhett + Link are not on Vine: “We’re from the southern part of the U.S., so we find it hard to tell a joke in less than six seconds”  Rhett.

–Reported by Jessica Reese

Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP, Sales | 203-218-6480

Copyright Cynopsis 2015