One of the most important guests in the history of NBC’s “Tonight’s Show” is not a film or TV star, and probably won’t play the game on set with the host.
Ford Motor Co. will play a difficult role in the Monday evening program. This shows an episode recorded on tape at the Detroit Opera House, filled with audiences of Ford employees and partners. Lisa Matezzo, Ford’s chief marketing director, says the Homeviewers are likely to be watching a new campaign, with video segments that were sent to the episode.
“What we want to do is tell stories. Jimmy is the same,” says the marketing executive. “He does that in a creative way.
Advertisers have been asking late-night hosts for years to do live commercials at popular shows or create sketches that will highlight specific products. However, the host’s desire to do such a bit may become more important as viewers are becoming more interested in watching the program in an era of their choice, not when the network says they have to do so. Many younger viewers tend to see Fallon and his late-night contemporaries on YouTube and other social media outlets.
This has spurred a cut in how much advertisers spend on late-night television. This has long been a media agency for US advertisers, committed around $439 million to five late-night shows on broadcast television in 2018, prompting “Late Shows” and “Late Late Shows” on CBS. NBC’s “Tonight” and “Late Night.” According to ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” – guidelines, an ad spending tracker. By 2024, these dollars had fallen 49.8% to $220.6 million.
CBS said earlier this year that it would be completely out of business as viewers migrating from linear television concluded so strongly the finances of the late-night program. After host Taylor Tomlinson decided to stand up, the Paramount Backed Network for “After Midnight,” a 12:30am show, chose to fill an hour with entrepreneur Byron Allen’s syndicated comedy round table, where people accustomed to the issue will be paid to broadcast the show. CBS raised even more brows in July by announcing it would cancel the long-running “Late Show” launched by David Letterman and now hosted by Stephen Colbert in May.
NBC may be seeing millions of dollars of ads, but it can win on that side. According to data from ad tracker ISPOT TV, it won over $57 million in 2024 and over $61 million in 2023. Fallon’s “Tonight” usually brings more advertising money than Colbert or ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
NBC is more tied to late-night television than its rivals. The Comcast Backed Network created the format, launching “Tonight” in 1954, “Tomorrow” with host Tom Snyder in 1973, and “Late Night” with David Retterman in 1982. NBC has also appeared in the Saturday Night Live showcase for late-night weekends for the half century.
“We are pleased to announce that we are committed to providing a range of services to our customers,” said Mark Marshall, chairman of NBCuniversal’s Global Advertising and Partnerships. When late-night hosts team up with advertisers, the results will also be shown outside the show, and can also appeal to various social media followers. “Everything they can travel with personality is what they’re looking for,” he says of the marketer.
NBC collaborated with a group of advertisers, who celebrated the 50th anniversary of “SNL” last season. This was requested by executive producer Lorne Michaels, cast members and writers to create commercials with sponsors, including Allstate and T-Mobile. “We will definitely continue to find new ways to partner with every show late at night,” Marshall says. “We’re having conversations with Seth Myers and a few different advertisers.”
Ford has been working with NBC for five years “Tonight,” and Fallon is increasingly interested in the type of work his staff does for the automotive giant. He maintains his relationship with Ford CEO Jim Farley and meets with Ford executives regularly to see which products and initiatives are the best. In the past, Fallon’s team created a video in which the hosts raised “Baby Bronco.” He also completed the song and music video with Electric F-150 lighting and its “front trunk” or “frank.”
“When you have a partner who is really interested in collaborating with you,” says Materazzo. The result was, “It’s not a cookie cutter. It doesn’t fit all programs.
Such alliances must be carefully formed, Marshall said. Fallon works with State Farm and Walmart, among other things, and may create new concepts for Ford every quarter, but NBC can’t overwhelm “Tonight” with ads, no matter how much work the host does on the idea. “Consumers see it every day and start adjusting them,” he says.
Fallon’s interest in advertising is poised to get more notifications. The host is at the heart of the new NBC Reality Conter show, “On Brand with Jimmy Fallon.” This will take an hour’s episode of new marketing challenges for clients such as Dunkin’ and Captain Morgan.
How did he get a bug on Madison Avenue? Unknown, the host must have noticed the interest of marketers when he first began his tenure in 2014 with “Tonight.” In Fallon’s earliest week, he spoke with interest in purchasing a new truck. Nissan, General Motors and Dodge Ram Trucks have all published tweets to try to sell. Lamb parked one of the cars outside the “Tonight” studio at NBC’s venerable 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters, and a sign asking the cartoon if the truck had met with his approval. Among the people who make the pitch? Ford Motor Co.
