"Upfront" offers media buyers and ad planners a firsthand look at what will be featured on TV this coming Fall and TV season. Networks will do their best sales work unveiling their new programming and projected audience delivery to persuade buyers into claiming their ad spots months in advance. Networks would love agencies to commit early and commit their clients' budgets prior to another new show or network grabbing it. Below is a schedule providing the dates and locations of every network's presentation. While these presentations originate in New York, the networks will also offer local presentations in some of their major markets. Marketing Keys will be present at select presentations in the Chicagoland Market.

 Monday, May 16:

 NBC - Morning

 FOX - Afternoon

 

 Tuesday, May 17:

 ESPN - Morning

 ABC - Afternoon

 

Wednesday, May 18:

 Turner - Morning

 CBS-TV - Afternoon

 

Thursday, May 19:

The CW - Morning

It was a campaign which caused a resignation by a CMO; additionally,  2 ad agencies responsible will be giving back over a hundred thousand dollars to the state. Rhode Island launched a 5 million dollar campaign to promote tourism, create jobs and help boost the state's economy. The tagline that was created? "Cooler & Warmer."  The meaning behind the statement was to promote the idea that Rhode Island residents are much friendlier than the stereotypical New Englander, and that the state also has many fun and interesting things to do. Reaction by the locals?  Anger! While they may have had only good intentions, this was not how Rhode Islanders wanted to represent their state.

   

To avoid such complication, brand marketers should follow the lead of the Swedes. In recent years, brand managers have embraced communication between advertiser and consumer. Rather than using the brand manager act as a single representative for all of the country's consumers, the Swedish Tourism agency implemented a unique experiment to develop a new slogan for their country that was developed entirely from the consumers. The agency created an international call center in which inquiring international travelers could verbally connect with Swedish residents so that they may hear firsthand stories from the Swedes themselves. This project was very successful among callers, providing Sweden with an influx of visitors. With that being said, they very easily trademarked their new country slogan: "Calling Sweden". It represents a number of positive attributes of the country, but is also a statement to all brand ambassadors. It is more important to speak with the consumer, rather than speaking at the consumer.

Has Netflix - whose had major growth spurts since 2012 - stopped growing? Currently, Netflix has over 45 million users in the U.S. Predictions for this coming quarter were highly optimistic with an increase in subscribers from anywhere between 60 to 90 million. Unfortunately for Netflix, researchers claim that they are expecting the online company to reveal their weakest increase with only 1.75 million new users in the U.S. Investors are concerned that the company has neglected to straighten out their deficit within the U.S. market, their largest market, as the company instead has prioritized international market expansion. To add to that, the company has been losing money overseas as they continue to pursue these new opportunities.

   

   So far, to address the current problems in the U.S. market, Netflix has begun to offer shows that are exclusive to the company. This emphasizes their unique niche, reminding customers why they should always prefer Netflix. These additions were a response to the ever-changing demands from their massive audience.