Targeted New Ad Campaign Frames Upfronts In New York As "Week-Long Metaphor For DirecTV"

"Through a combination of outdoor placements, promotional teams on the streets and airline seatbacks, the distributor's advertising unit is plugging the company's multi-channel packages. (Watch a 30-second ad above.) The new campaign kicked off Sunday on flights to New York. Along with out-of-home presence on flights and screens around the city, it spans experiential activations, digital video, and ads across trade publications and social media."

"Trucks equipped with LED screens and digital billboards will also carry the message, and vehicles will offer advertisers free rides around Manhattan. The initiative will wrap with seat-back content on flights leaving New York after the three packed days of upfront presentations. This year's Monday-to-Wednesday upfronts corridor looks a lot like the 2025 edition, with tech giants Amazon, YouTube and Netflix joining media giants in pitching ad buyers."

""For one week, every major programmer and streamer comes together in one place," DirecTV Advertising Chief Advertising Officer Amy Leifer said in a statement. "The Upfronts have always been about showcasing the best of TV, and when we stepped back and looked at the week as a whole, we realized that's exactly what we do at DirecTV every day..""

""When we looked at Upfronts week, it started to feel like a perfect, if slightly unintentional, demonstration of what DirecTV does," said TBWA\Chiat\Day LA Group Creative Director Mark Peters. "So, we just had fun with pointing that out." Creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day LA and media agency Starcom US worked with DirecTV on the campaign."

DirecTV ran a targeted New York campaign tied to the upfronts week, framing it as a metaphor for pay-TV. The effort used outdoor placements, promotional teams, and airline seatbacks, beginning on flights to New York. It included out-of-home screens across the city, experiential activations, digital video, and ads in trade publications and social media. LED-equipped trucks and digital billboards carried the message, and vehicles provided free rides around Manhattan for advertisers. The campaign concluded with seat-back content on flights leaving New York after the upfront presentations. The week featured major tech and media companies pitching ad buyers, and DirecTV’s creative partners supported the initiative.

Read at Deadline