MAGNA Hosts 3rd Annual Equity Upfront™ Focused on Maximizing for Optimal Outcomes

Industry-Leading initiative continues to provide opportunities for clients and agencies to engage with diversely-owned media partners

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MAGNA, the investment and intelligence company of IPG Mediabrands, today announced its third annual Equity Upfront™ will be taking place February 7 –9, 2023. The theme of this year’s event is Maximizing for Optimal Outcomes, with a deepened focus on spotlighting opportunities for clients and agencies that support diversely-owned and targeted media partners.

The 2023 Equity Upfront™ will be a hybrid event, with days one and two taking place in-person at New World Stages in New York City, and day 3 being virtual-only. MAGNA is proud to be the first player in the media industry to put action behind the desire to raise visibility for diversely-owned and targeted media businesses. The first of kind, the Equity Upfront™ was born in 2021 to identify gaps in how our industry engages and collaborates with Black-owned and targeted media and has since expanded to include presentations from Asian American Pacific Islander, Hispanic and LGBTQIA+ media companies. Participating partners in this year’s event include Urban One, Cxmmunity, Group Black, Culture Brands, REVOLT, Canela Media and more, with talent including the actress Sherri Shepherd, rapper Ice Cube, basketball player Nancy Lieberman, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz & Entrepreneur Darlingtina Tucker slated to take the stage.

“The Equity Upfront™ is an initiative we are extremely proud of at MAGNA. Not only does it bring a wealth of opportunity to our clients, it’s also a huge step in the right direction as we seek to address the equity gap across the media landscape,” said Dani Benowitz, U.S. President, MAGNA.

“I am thrilled that MAGNA is supporting this critical mission to create a more equitable media landscape and give diverse media partners direct access to clients and agency leads,” said Cavel Khan, Chief Commerce Officer at Group Black. “I am confident this event will allow us all to be more tactically aligned moving into 2023.”

“At IPG Mediabrands we are focused on instituting practices that drive equity and move the industry forward,” said Eileen Kiernan, Global Chief Executive Officer, IPG Mediabrands. “To accomplish this, we must ensure we are creating spaces that both enable equal access for our media partners and help our clients reach more diverse audiences. We take immense pride in owning this major industry moment each year.”

About MAGNA

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers.

We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

ABOUT IPG MEDIABRANDS:

IPG Mediabrands is the media and marketing solutions division of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). IPG Mediabrands manages over $47 billion in marketing investment globally on behalf of its clients across its full-service agency networks UM, Initiative and Mediahub and through its award-winning specialty business units Healix, Kinesso, MAGNA, Matterkind, Mediabrands Content Studio, Orion Holdings, Rapport, Reprise, and the IPG Media Lab. IPG Mediabrands clients include many of the world’s most recognizable and iconic brands from a broad portfolio of industry sectors including automotive, personal finance, consumer product goods (CPG), pharma, health and wellness, entertainment, financial services, energy, toys and gaming, direct to consumer and e-commerce, retail, hospitality, food and beverage, fashion and beauty. The company employs more than 18,000 diverse marketing communication professionals in more than 130 countries. Learn more at www.ipgmediabrands.com.