Initiative is launching its own showcase for smaller, sometimes overlooked, publishers, the Forgotten Upfronts.
The upfront season, when brands and media agencies line up to see the latest offerings from major publishers, is about to start in Australia.
This time there will be the Forgotten Upfronts, a platform for publishers catering to niche audiences to showcase their unique offering to brancs and industry executives.
Forgotten Upfronts, open to everyone in the industry (RSVP), will highlight the significant opportunities many brands miss out on due to a lack of understanding, awareness or just exposure to what is available in the market.
“I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve read over the years that cry for more inclusive planning, but the numbers show this isn’t translating into action,” says Initiative chief strategy officer Chris Colter.
“As an industry we can be so blinded by our biases, albeit unconscious, that we neglect to properly understand the opportunities that exist to reach new audiences, many with significant spending power and influence.
“Forgotten Upfronts is taking the first step to change this. It will be a bi-annual event that gives publishers who target neglected audiences a similar spotlight as major broadcasters to showcase the unique benefits, opportunities and solutions they provide,” said Colter.
Initiative is already receiving strong interest in the September 28 event which will feature publishers inclkuding NITV (First Nations), Boomtown (regional/rural), S&J (culturally and linguistically diverse) and Starts at 60 (+50s).
Initiative will launch the Diversity Directory, an opensource website for the industry to search for and contact any publishers catering to smaller or niche communities.
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