TORONTO – Trevor Doerksen believes that he has found a way to unite broadcasting with new media in a way that all stakeholders – including advertisers and consumers – truly want.
The CEO of Calgary-based technology company MoboVivo was recently in Toronto shopping around a new product called preViiw. Part of the company’s myScreens technology, which delivers and monetizes video across various screens, preViiw takes the process a step further by allowing video content creators such as TV networks to seamlessly combine the active engagement of social media with the more passive experience of traditional television viewing.
Specifically, preViiw allows on-line and mobile audiences to select, share and comment on content from their favourite TV shows via Facebook, Twitter and blogs, while at the same time connecting them with advertising and related information from sources like Wikipedia or a show’s web site. Viewers can either post content to those streams, or, access them for information and on-going conversations about the shows that they are watching.
“There’s a massive trend in second-screen viewing where we bring a hand-held device like an iPad or a BlackBerry along when we watch TV”, Doerksen told Cartt.ca during a demonstration of preViiw. “But using (another device) as we watch broadcast television is fairly disconnected, and not something that either a broadcaster or advertiser can currently take advantage of. Unifying that is something that we proposed to do with this preViiw project.”
The benefits of preViiw are many, Doerksen continued. Converting consumers into promoters of their favourite shows helps to not only deepen audience engagement and encourage interaction between fans, but also to drive up tune-ins and ratings. At the same time, advertisers can use preViiw’s “administrative dashboard” to track metrics such as the actions users take while watching a show, which moments within a show generate the most user interaction, and at what frequency user-generated clips are created and shared.
Doerksen describes preViiw as “product placement that’s synched and linked to TV programs”, albeit also part of a real time conversation.
“We’re building an experience for users, but at the same time there’s this analytics and advertising engine in there for the broadcaster and advertiser”, he said. “As we bring experiences to the second screen or to a split screen, advertising is going to slide in there very nicely. Let’s take the example of a national ad campaign (for a car company) on the broadcast – unlike television, this device knows where you are, and an app developer will be able to deliver a hyper local app, such as booking a test drive at the dealership closest to you.”
Available as a website module or as a standalone mobile application for smart phones, tablets, and smart TVs, MoboVivo “white labels” its products allowing customers to brand them as their own, differentiate them from a competitor’s offering, and maintain a direct relationship with the user.
MoboVivo received a $430,000 grant from the Canada Media Fund to support the commercialization of preViiw. While currently in its "second alpha" stage, Doerksen said that he is planning to launch it in beta phase next month at the Banff World Media Festival.
So is preViiw really a game changer?
“We really do see it as a bit of a paradigm shift because right now we have a TV industry that really seems to fear new media. But we’re giving a person a reason to sit down a bit longer and engage more with (a broadcaster’s) content and tell all their friends about it”, Doerksen added. “The experiences we have in the living room are still important and more powerful than any other. If some new media technology can drive people back to the couch to watch a broadcast and interact on the secondary screen, I think that should remove some of the fear. And if the new media industry is no longer a threat, then this simultaneous activity becomes an opportunity to take advantage of.”
