This article was originally published by Beet.TV

At the Digital Content NewFronts, which began on April 30, big digital publishers are pitching ad agencies on how their upcoming content rosters can provide a space for advanced-booked advertising.

But which space that is, exactly, and how big it might be, is now open to question.

For PHD Media chief operating officer Stacy DeRiso, 2018’s NewFronts are happening at a time when the menu of available ad opportunities has exploded – and, suddenly, all bets are off.

“It’s a pretty exciting time actually,” she says. “There’s new formats. There’s new ways to integrate in and around content. There’s pressure on brands to probably think about how they can activate power and maybe enable some of the content that they play in and around.

“We have an opportunity to rethink the 30-second spot whether we think about it in terms of unit length and the format or whether we think about it in terms of how the brands actually play in the content themselves. That can be integrations. That can be experiences that brands are creating on behalf of some of the partners and publishers. Lots of new things.”

DeRiso is particularly excited about the ongoing search to redefine the nature of ads in linear TV, citing the emergence of six-second ad spots and the prospect of integrating brands directly in content.

She says that brands are pushing agencies to smartly use data to more precisely target specific audience segments in a digital age. But DeRiso also says reaching a scaled mass audience can be just as important.

How? “At a time when there’s more content that people love watching than ever, there is more pressure on us as agency partners to think about new ways for brands to play in and around that content,” DeRiso adds.