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NBCUniversal has a great presentation pre-scheduled for May 15 (assuming the Writers Guild strike doesn’t get in the way), one that will feature all of its brands and networks, including the Peacock streaming service.
But that hasn’t stopped the company from giving Peacock its own event, with the streamer hosting an event Tuesday afternoon in New York as part of the IAB Newfronts.
While the main upfront paints a bigger picture of the company’s efforts, the Newfront will focus on more detailed details, including a handful of new ad formats, and a focus on movies, including Universal Pictures projects that will make their way to Peacock, and Peacock original films.
On the movie front, the company will highlight that two out of three Peacock subscribers have watched at least one Universal pay-one window movie, with a positive response from users thanks to the limited ad sizes used in the movies.
Peacock has an extensive pre-roll that mimics cinema previews, and has no commercial breaks during the films themselves. The only exception is if a user pauses the movie (more on that later).
The company will also highlight its original Peacock films, starting with Falling starsdetailing LeBron James’ journey as a high school player, with Google, Capital One and State Farm as sponsors.
“Prior to the movie, we have a very compact, trailer-like environment where brands can come in and get involved in the launch of that movie. We also have, as part of that package, the ability to target fans of that movie or genre across the entire ecosystem,” said Peter Blacker, executive VP of streaming and data products for NBCU ad sales, adding that even the Super Marios Bros. movie“when it comes to Peacock, there will be sponsorship and advertising opportunities around it.”
“When many other streamers have movies, advertising isn’t really part of the experience,” he adds. “And we actually involve our sponsors in the mix from the very beginning.”
In terms of ad formats, Peacock will be highlighting four new options on its new front: Spotlight+, Marquee, Power Break and Must Shop TV.
The Power Break (pictured above) is a new take on the “pause” ad, which fires when a user pauses a movie or TV show. Blacker says the new product was inspired by feedback from Peacock advertisers who are part of the company’s “streaming council.”
“We heard from our streaming councilors that they loved the intermission ad, but they wanted to see how we could combine it with the NBCUnified products,” says Blacker. “They said: why do we have to offer everyone the same break? Can you provide some data overlays and help us enable different colors, ads and even language in our posts so that a very powerful break ad for my house will be different than yours?’”
The Spotlight+ ad completely branded a show that spans streaming, linear, and even some third-party platforms.
Blacker says it was “a direct response from one of our partners who challenged us and said, ‘I want to find a way to launch a new product and touch literally every single person who is within the NBCUniversal family at some point. ‘, and we didn’t have that product at the time.”
And the Marquee ad puts a sponsor at the center of the action when streaming sports by integrating the sponsor into the leaderboard or other placement within matches.
The company also plans to announce an expansion of its retail product Must ShopTV, allowing viewers to purchase directly from the programming.
Blacker also says the company will “lean” into the holiday season, starting with Halloween and continuing through New Year’s Eve.
“We’re really going to double down on our relationship with the holiday season and these culture-defining moments that we have, including the (Rockefeller Center) tree lighting ceremony, including how we’ve really taken ownership of the Halloween season, both in virtual and digital manifestations, but also with Halloween Horror Nights (at Universal theme parks),” he says. “So imagine, you’re a brand and you’re physically in our theme parks as we launch the Halloween season there. And that is then amplified on the Peacock streaming platform.”
Peacock’s Newfront Pitch: New Ad Formats, and Movies Too