Group Nine announces brand showcase to woo advertisers
Group Nine is launching a series of regional showcases in April to sell its online reach to advertisers.
Group Nine at last year's NewFronts
Calling it 'Nine-Fronts', the multi-city tour will highlight the mobile publisher's four brands – NowThis, The Dodo, Thrillist and Seeker – as Group Nine seeks to position itself as a thought leader among advertisers looking to be more relevant in a mobile-first environment.
Christa Carone, president of Group Nine, said the company will forego Digital Content NewFront, instead opting for its showcase because the company is "maniacally an audience-first brand".
"We always put our audience above every other interest that we have in the company, so why are we asking stakeholders to come to us? Why don't we go to them and take our story on the road? Instead of doing an annual NewFront, we're going to be kicking off Nine-Front, which is essentially a roadshow where we can be meeting with advertisers and marketers to collaborate with them on ways that they can bring their storytelling into our storytelling," Carone told The Drum.
Carone added that the showcase will highlight the company's ramp-up of original content, including more mid-form content and multi-platform content as Group Nine taps into new platforms.
Group Nine, whose brands operate mostly on social media, recently partnered with Vice, BuzzFeed and Tubular Labs on a video measurement alliance. Carone said that measuring total engagement includes considering completion rates and watch times.
She added that, as the company crystallizes its core set of measurements, Nine-Fronts will ideally give "confidence to advertisers that they're putting money in the right place".
Nine-Fronts will continue throughout the year and hit cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas and Boston.