It's Time to be Upfront about Transparency
Joe Mandese
Assemble a roomful of the biggest American advertisers to discuss the current and future state of television and the conversation will inevitably turn to the upfront TV buying process.
The upfront, for those unfamiliar with customs of the US advertising marketplace, is an annual media-buying bazaar in which big advertisers pledge big advertising commitments far in advance of the next television season and, more significantly, well ahead of their own fiscal planning process.
It has been likened to everything from Wall Street's commodities futures marketplace to a Las Vegas casino, and...