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A three-part ADOTAT analysis of how calendars, conferences, and narratives quietly shape where media money goes.
This Is the Preview.
No, You’re Not in Trouble.
Let’s get this out of the way first.
This series is not an attack on CES.
It’s not a hit piece on AdExchanger.
It’s not a conspiracy theory about shadowy cabals planning your media calendar in a candlelit suite at the Venetian.
This is learning.
Specifically, learning how the advertising industry actually moves now, once you stop taking the calendar at face value.
Over three parts, ADOTAT looks at a simple idea that suddenly got very loud: CES is now the start of the upfronts.
Sounds harmless. Even logical. Maybe even helpful.
It’s also doing a lot of work.
What We’re Doing Here
We’re not asking whether CES can be the start of upfront conversations. That’s already true.
We’re asking:
Why this framing is being pushed now
Who benefits from moving the start line earlier
How events quietly get assigned “jobs” in the sales pipeline
Why AI demos show up before budgets, not after
And how narratives harden before finance ever enters the room
In other words, we’re looking at how the sausage calendar is made, not yelling about the sausage.
ADOTAT+ doesn’t analyze industries by vibes. We analyze them by incentives. Calendars, conferences, and narratives are just incentives wearing comfortable shoes.
Why This Isn’t an Attack
Attacks assume bad actors.
This series assumes something more boring and more true: people respond to incentives.
Sellers want earlier visibility into demand.
Buyers want reassurance they’re not falling behind.
Trade bodies want relevance.
Trade press wants to reflect the conversation people are already having.
None of that is sinister. It’s just… how markets behave when they grow up.
Calling this out isn’t moralizing. It’s literacy.
You don’t get mad at gravity for pulling things down. You learn how not to trip.
What You’re Actually Being Sold (Gently, Politely)
If you’re not paying attention, it can feel like:
CES is about innovation
NewFronts is about content
Possible is about the future
All of which is partly true.
This series adds the missing layer:
CES shapes intent
NewFronts sells inventory
Possible launders decisions into board-safe language
Once you see that, the events don’t become cynical. They become legible.
And legibility is power.
Why You Benefit From Knowing This
If you plan, buy, sell, approve, or defend media budgets, this isn’t academic.
Understanding this helps you:
Recognize pressure before it works on you
Separate signaling from substance
Know when a conversation is about alignment vs commitment
Walk into CES without letting CES walk all over your calendar
Most people in this industry feel the pressure.
Very few can name where it comes from.
That’s how smart people end up agreeing to things they can’t quite explain later.
The paid version of this series goes past the polite layer.
It breaks down:
CES as a commercial zone without saying “marketplace”
How “optional” attendance becomes professional risk
How AI theater works as credentialing, not proof
How narratives get locked before budgets do
And how buyers can read the cycle without becoming reactive
This isn’t about being cynical.
It’s about being fluent.
This Is the ADOTAT Contract, Applied
ADOTAT exists to make the industry understandable while it’s happening, not years later in a panel titled “Lessons Learned.”
We don’t yell.
We don’t posture.
We explain the system clearly enough that you can decide how you want to move inside it.
If that sounds useful, the rest of the series is on the other side of the paywall.
Stay Bold, Stay Curious, and Know More than You Did Yesterday
The Rabbi of ROAS
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