NBCUniversal’s chairman of advertising sales, Linda Yaccarino, went straight for Google’s jugular at the network’s Monday upfront presentation.
“At NBCUniversal, you never have to worry about showing up next to something objectionable,” Yaccarino said at the New York City event, alluding to the online giant’s brand safety struggles. “But, let’s be honest: Brand safety is a low bar [to set] and some companies can’t even get that right.”
Yaccarino emphasized NBCU’s scale, its “trusted and verified measurement” and its array of digital inventory from NBC’s O&O properties as well as Apple News, Vox and Snapchat.
“Television is the most effective advertising means there is,” she said. “You know it and our friends in Silicon Valley know it.”
Yaccarino also claimed the network knows how to drive sales.
“The upfronts are about one thing – selling your stuff,” Yaccarino said. “We sell the cars you drive and the movies you watch at theaters on the weekends. Toothpaste, and your favorite snacks. Viewers buy products and that’s why TV works. Has a view ever walked into a store?”
NBC spent north of two hours parading programming talent and pitching popular shows like “This Is Us” and coveted tentpoles like the Winter Olympics.
Its newest anchor, Megyn Kelly, joined Lester Holt and the cast of “The Today Show” to hype up Kelly’s new weekday morning show.
NBC’s real-time sizzle reel frequently nodded to its traditional media roots and why broadcast plus digital drives better results.
“Even though Snaps disappear, your audiences won’t,” flashed one screen heralding NBC’s Snapchat partnership.
Moreover, Yaccarino reminded advertisers “we are the only company that can reach every single smartphone across the country.”
Late-night host Seth Meyers helped close the show – before it snowed confetti in Radio City Music Hall in a tribute to the Winter games – with a comedic nod to the upfront’s place in broadcast history.
“This is the week TV executives talk about new shows the way Trump talks about health care,” he said. “We’re consuming media in a way we’ve never consumed it before, and what better place to discuss technological platforms than a place called Radio City?”
