The fast-moving and highly fractious events surrounding the death of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests have plunged advertisers and publisher back into crisis mode.
June 03, 2020

The murder of George Floyd has sparked protests across the country, many of which have flared into violence between police and demonstrators. Several cities have imposed curfews and President Trump has threatened to deploy the military to suppress disorder. The fast-moving and highly fractious situation has again thrown advertiser and publishers into a state of uncertainty and fear. For marketers, the instinct is to go quiet and reassess how the situation unfolds, much as the approach was in the first month of coronavirus. Read more below.

  • “This is different than Covid-19 where the advice to clients was closer to ‘Keep calm and carry on’ -- right now, there are bigger and deeper societal issues to address when the country is in trauma,” said Joshua Lowcock, chief digital and global brand safety officer at UM.
  • For Digiday+ members, TV advertising’s supply-demand dynamic has flipped to the point that it has become cheaper for advertisers to buy some TV inventory outside of the upfront.
  • Also for Digiday+ members, companies are feeling the pressure to respond publicly to the George Floyd protests, but beyond that they have a duty to their employees to know how to better serve them, not just in a time of crisis, but all the time.
  • U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 is looking for its in-house content shop to expand beyond linear programming.
Other things to know about
  • On this week’s The New Normal, Digiday editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey will be joined by Vox Media Studios svp of entertainment Chad Mumm to discuss how they’re approaching remote video production and the future of live-streaming. Register here to join us on Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
  • In the age of connected TV and OTT, marketers are looking beyond standard televison demographics, analyzing factors such as first-party customer data, interest segments and past purchases. Sponsored by Moat by Oracle Data Cloud.
Top Stories
Managing Through Crisis
The fast-moving and highly fractious events surrounding the death of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests have plunged advertisers and publisher back into crisis mode.
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Business of TV
For decades, TV’s annual upfront marketplace has been organized around a bargain. In exchange for locking themselves into long-term commitments, advertisers receive lower rates than if they were to spend their money in TV’s so-called scatter market, where networks sell ad space left unsold by the upfront sales process. Now, driven by advertisers canceling portions […]
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DIGIDAY+ MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Companies are feeling the pressure to respond publicly to the George Floyd protests, but beyond that they have a duty to their employees to know how to better serve them, not just in a time of crisis, but all the time.
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Beyond Ads
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Marketing on TikTok
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