Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Ad Sales has unveiled NEO and DemoDirect, two new solutions, with NEO to be launched later this year, that will accelerate the effectiveness and efficiency of brands across WBD’s premium portfolio.
NEO, a new ad platform, will provide buyers direct access to WBD’s entire premium video inventory across streaming, linear, FAST, and syndication, through one simplified and intuitive user interface. Designed to enhance transparency and impact, NEO will empower advertisers to match their messages with WBD’s best-in-class content that drives can’t-miss cultural moments and unparalleled consumer engagement. For the first time, buyers will have greater control and direct access to WBD’s entire supply across all owned and operated properties, as well as distributed endpoints in the portfolio, streamlining their transaction process and capitalising on deeper reporting and advanced insights.
“We’re excited to introduce NEO, a dynamic platform that redefines how partners can access our iconic content portfolio by ensuring the value of WBD’s supply — and the data behind it — flows directly to clients,” said Jill Steinhauser, Group Senior Vice President, Platform Monetisation and Partnerships, at Warner Bros. Discovery. “With this unique tool, advertisers can maximise the full potential of their advertising spend, analyse data more clearly, and buy on their own terms to scale campaigns faster and smarter.”
Equipped with this innovative technology, NEO will provide advertisers and brands:
- Full Control: NEO puts the brand in charge, with an intuitive platform that customises all aspects of their campaigns, including budgets, pacing, and optimisation goals in one simplified platform.
- Increased Transparency: Brands gain full visibility across every WBD screen in a comprehensive dashboard, paired with the ability to operate where and when their ads are running, and backed by rich content-level data and robust performance insights.
- Comprehensive Activation: Advertisers will gain the ability to activate their own data while leveraging WBD’s enhanced first-party audience data, enabling smarter targeting, real-time video omnichannel reporting capabilities, measurement, and stronger ROI capabilities.
WBD is partnering with FreeWheel and Magnite to develop NEO, providing greater solutions and system efficiencies to meet the demands of buyers in an increasingly complex and fragmented ecosystem.
“FreeWheel has been a long-time, proud partner of Warner Bros. Discovery in their efforts to seamlessly connect advertisers with their desired audiences, including their new buying platform, NEO,” said Mark McKee, Executive Vice President, General Manager at FreeWheel. “By enabling direct access to WBD’s premium video content, FreeWheel is helping them to streamline the ad buying process across all screens. This allows WBD to increase efficiency and transparency throughout the ad buying process, while making it simple for new advertisers to participate in the TV ecosystem.”
“We’re excited to continue our longstanding partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery by supporting the deployment of NEO, which is revolutionising automated transactions across their premium video inventory,” said Sean Buckley, President, Revenue at Magnite. “At Magnite, we understand the industry’s growing need for smarter tools and greater operational efficiency. This represents yet another important step toward streamlining the advertising ecosystem and delivering the transparency, performance, and innovation that buyers expect in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.”
With the launch of DemoDirect, Warner Bros. Discovery says it is delivering an innovative linear advertising solution designed to simplify and streamline demographic-based buying across WBD’s premium network portfolio. Created to reduce the complexity of traditional demo-based buying, DemoDirect offers advertisers a single, optimised path to reach key audiences with one plan, one CPM, and one invoice.
“DemoDirect is crafted for how brands choose to buy today — streamlined, scalable, and simplified,” said Allie Carr, Group Senior Vice President, Platform Monetisation, at Warner Bros. Discovery. “We are excited to debut this dynamic tool that directly addresses the friction associated with linear buying, and creates a smarter, more unified path for our clients at Warner Bros. Discovery.”
Key Features of DemoDirect include:
- Unified Scale: Brands can reach audiences across WBD’s iconic linear catalogue of entertainment networks in a single, seamless buy, consolidating their media strategy while maximising exposure.
- Quality Content & Trusted Delivery: Campaigns are curated and aligned with WBD’s award-winning, brand-safe content to ensure messages are engaged with high-level audiences, directly managed and optimised by WBD’s best-in-class team of experts.
- Flexibility and Custom-Tailored Campaigns: Advertisers can leverage precision targeting capabilities with full support for Do Not Air (DNA) lists, preferred daypart mixes, frequency capping requirements, and network group limits. ADUs are designed to reflect original eCPM goals, giving brands greater confidence in their campaign’s execution and delivery.
- Future Cross-Platform Extensions: Buyers can extend their demo-based strategies across digital inventory via StreamX, WBD’s flagship converged media product, ensuring optimal audience reach across both traditional linear and digital environments.
According to the company, “Today’s advertising industry demands smarter tools and system efficiencies to meet the requirements of buyers in an increasingly complex and fragmented ecosystem. With these two new solutions, WBD is delivering on its commitment to better serve the industry and empower our partners and clients to achieve their goals and maximise their investments.”
Visit https://adsales.wbd.com
