Live From New York, It’s T-Mobile
If you’re going to get a Saturday Night Live cast member out of bed before nine on a Tuesday, at least put on a show worth their time. SNL star Marcello Hernández joined his mom and fellow T-Mobile spokesperson Isabel Cancela for T-Mobile Advertising’s NewFronts presentation largely to be funny in sunglasses, note that he’s typically not up at a time that ends in “a.m.,” and was there “to talk about ad solutions”—which got a laugh from the buyers—before the T-Ads team broke into its pitch about data and connections.
After purchasing out-of-home platform Vistar Media and geography-based, privacy-focused ad targeting firm Blis earlier this year, T-Mobile partnered with IPG Mediabrands as it sells brands on T-Ads data that’s flowing through Vistar’s out-of-home signage, billboards, and retail media screens. Part of the end game, as chief T-Ads officer JP Colaco noted, is to sell brands outdoor ads and full retail-media infrastructure that targets consumers based on regional data and app use at various hours of the day… whether Marcello’s awake or not. — Jason Notte
Yahoo is Unlimited With Russell Wilson
During Yahoo’s NewFronts presentation hosted 101 floors above the ground at The Edge in Manhattan, attendees were treated to a surprise visit from New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson and former NBA player (and ADWEEK cover star) Carmelo Anthony. The two joined Rich Kleiman, co-founder of Boardroom, to tease Kleinman’s upcoming web series Network with Rich Kleiman. Anthony bonded with Wilson about the fact that they both have played for New York teams (Anthony previously played with the Knicks from 2011-2017). “Embrace New York and New York will embrace you,” Anthony said to Wilson at one point. — S.B.
YouTube Gets Creative With Creators
YouTube is making a big play for brand dollars with a slate of new features designed to help marketers connect with creators and source insights on creator content. To add some levity to its pitch, it paraded a group of popular YouTubers out onto its NewFront stage in Manhattan on Thursday. Fashion and lifestyle influencer Ashley Alexander, playground interviewer Julian Shapiro-Barnum, and college prep educator Gohar Khan joined Google’s John Battaglia, who heads the company’s social video and influencer business, in a chipper conversation about their journeys as creators, how they leverage the platform’s various tools, and their approach to working with brands.
Then, to add to the creator love, YouTube welcomed the hosts of the Pretty Basic podcast, Alisha Marie and Remi Cruz, who recorded a special live episode in which they unpacked case studies detailing how Fabletics, Louis Vuitton, and Sephora each worked with creators to execute YouTube ad campaigns. — Kendra Barnett
