THIS MONTH, CARTT.CA INVESTIGATES is analyzing the myriad changes underway in television advertising. Two weeks ago, we found the appetite for new ways to reach consumers via the TV platform is growing rapidly. Last week we dove into the progress addressable ads are making (or not).
This week we look at interactive, mobile and an ol’ standby and find that while new technology is changing consumer habits, neat content integration and other tech is ready to capitalize on it.
THE IDEA BEHIND INTERACTIVE television advertisements is that interactive options will not only improve brand recall, but through richer content, enhance the consumer relationship and ultimately drive positive brand action and sales.
On cable, the rollout of such advertising on a mass scale was made possible with the development of cable’s EBIF (Enhanced Binary Interchange Format) standard. EBIF allows the cable set-top box (of virtually any vintage) to run the interactive ad program. Unlike addressable advertising, which requires some knowledge of the audience, interactive relies on viewer engagement for its impact.
And using the “double-opt” with the “yes” button avoids privacy concerns.
Do viewers want this? To some it might feel like having a permanent telemarketer in their home. That was the gist of some of the comments surrounding a Rogers Cable pilot during the Tour de France last summer, said vice-president of video and entertainment products, David Purdy.
Some subscribers were annoyed that the interactive reminder kept popping up, forcing them to pick up the remote and press exit to remove it. Wrote one: “If big boxes obscuring my TV content is the future of broadcasting Rogers has in mind, count me out. At least give me a way to opt out, or better yet give those who want it a way to opt in.”
The goal was to test the technology and viewer reaction, says Purdy, and customer usage was higher than anticipated. Not only does the same EBIF technology allow people to request information, but deployed on an infomercial or shopping channel (such as Rogers’ The Shopping Channel), it can be used to create real-time transactions, he says.
Rogers is going to test the response not just on content but on advertising, too. Although Purdy wouldn’t divulge details, he did concede: “You would assume we own a shopping channel and sports network, as well as over the air assets, so it’s easy for us to trial. We’re also one of Canada’s largest advertisers (with brands like Rogers Wireless, Fido, Chatr, Blue Jays, Flare, Chatelaine, Maclean’s) so we want to experiment with it before rolling it out.”
Other Rogers Cable customer comments proved that the right content would be welcomed. “Is there ever going to be the same kind of interactive layer features as the U.K. gets with their “red button” service?” wrote one. “That stuff is unbelievable (think tennis, where I’m looking at one channel, but can watch any game being played at that moment via one button without changing channel (sic)).”
Before there was Canoe Ventures in the States, there was Canadian-based etc.tv, founded by Mark Sherman, executive chairman of Montreal-based Media Experts. However, while it was tested extensively by Videotron in Montreal, etc.tv wasn’t able to gain widespread support of the cable industry and media buyers.
“In 2001, I believed we could be the ones to set the model,” says Sherman. “And in 2006 we set about to do it. We were received with lukewarm enthusiasm.” Etc.tv ran a successful Super Bowl trial with Budweiser in 2009 where Quebec viewers could use their remotes to click on links embedded in the ads, which they could view then or bookmark for later. Interaction levels with the spots were five times higher than campaigns over the two years previous. Advertisers paid for their unique views.
Perhaps the time is ripe now. Ian Oliver (pictured), the Toronto-based vice-president of engineering deployment at Canoe Ventures (a consortium of the United States’ top cable operators which created a platform for incorporating interactive features into programming and advertising), said the company is testing polling and trivia – and planning a market trial in the next few months. So, instead of a 30-second spot, for example, programmers can engage viewers with multiple-choice trivia questions, like “how tall is Tom Cruise,” which would work during an awards’ show. It would run in conjunction with the program and the game would feature the sponsor’s logo.
“The ongoing operational costs are very, very low,” he says. “The work is upfront. After that it’s hands off. We have an ad/op group and their role is to work with ad folk through the network. We bring the application to reality, what it will look like.”
According to Canoe Ventures’ latest white paper study: “Data… show that sponsored or branded interactivity in program has a positive impact on reported purchase intent. When exposed to an interactive Poll associated with an ad in the third pod position during a commercial break, brand purchase intent scores rose 40%,” says its report.
“Other data shows that of those who viewed an interactive RFI, 42% agreed the ad made them want to buy the product. Once again, viewers did not have to click on the ad in order to be positively affected. Just noticing the interactive ad raised purchase intent to 75%. Moreover, 82% of those who accepted the offer agreed that the ad was more memorable.”
Product Placement, an Oldie But a Goodie
Speaking of memorable, product placement has been around since the beginning of TV, those sponsored segments for detergent, soap, or hairspray, as fictionally immortalized in the film of the same name.
It exploded during the past decade because of reality TV and docu-soaps (not to mention ad-skipping DVRs), said Walter Levitt, Comedy Central’s chief marketing officer. Because products can be seamlessly integrated and are usually subconsciously noted, it’s hard to measure its efficacy. Some products won’t work, he says, like, socks, for example. Others, like the Coca-Cola drunk by all the well-known judges on American Idol, are ideal.
At Shaw Media, product integration is growing, especially on the specialty side, with programs that it produces, says SVP sales Errol Da-Ré. “Clients want to see the brand as part of the storyline rather than being forced into a scene. We don’t want to throw viewers off. It’s a fine line to please both clients and the audience.”
Recently, GE Monogram and Loblaws became official sponsors of Top Chef Canada, which airs on Food Network Canada. Monogram supplied more than $200,000 worth of kitchen appliances to outfit the kitchen while Loblaws is the official grocer – and where competitors will shop for ingredients. In exchange, they gain exposure on-air through tagged promos, billboards and bumpers.
The premiere season of Wipeout Canada offers a slew of brand integrations, encompassing everything from Motrin, which includes weekly segments that feature the best wipeout from each episode, to Sponge Towels, which is featured in a section of the course where contestants have to grab hold of a Sponge Towels roll, Carstars and Arby’s.
“Wipeout Canada offers a seamless and organic integration of clients. It makes sense so it’s not a turn off,” says Da-Ré.
TV Ads Going Mobile (but not yet)
“Everyone’s waiting for the mobile revolution,” says Ken Wong, associate professor at Queen’s University School of Business. “It’s the power of TV with the efficiency of sending to a broadcast audience. Specialty channels allowed us to tailor ads more. The thing with mobile, addressable and interactive, they allow us to customize the message.”
Mobile video ads are still in their infancy. Advertising is still text focused since mobile bandwidth is still pretty costly and network performance is often too poor for video. But marketers must target technology that people have with them all the time. Estimates are there are 15-billion mobile phones in the world (with shipments of smartphones expected to climb north of a billion soon) compared to five-billion regular TV screens.
Mobile will change everything, Wong says, if we can whittle down the number of platforms. There are about 20, with three or four main ones, he says.
“We’re going to see integrated media companies, see some consortiums and alliances to underwrite the infrastructure costs to make it happen ( like this one). The cost of developing the infrastructure is so enormous. I don’t see anyone taking it on the chin to be the first.”
QR codes (QR = quick response, those square 2D bar codes) are a hot topic, as well, according to Da-Ré. “There are a number of different companies involved with that. We’re doing a test, something we’re adding to the portfolio for mobile. We’ll see if coupons are downloaded and, if they are, measure response rate. Again, it’s one of the many things we’re going to test.”
And, although it’s such a small percentage of ad sales — single digits — Shaw is investing in digital and launching its own digital sales team to sell to an iPad app with Globaltv.com and for the iPhone and iPod this year, says Da-Ré. Shaw is offering sponsorships of particular segments or various pages on those platforms, much as it did with Schick razors over Christmas.
“Take a look at the past few years when online started. It’s still small, but it has grown at a higher percentage than on air, and it’s going to grow and get better and better,” he says. “We have to make sure viewers won’t turn off. There are different habits in terms of usage of different platforms and the creative has to be ideal.
“We’re talking about format and commercial load. How do we keep and grow our viewers online? Are fives (seconds) better than tens? Are thirties ridiculous to put online? Is there enough research that can tell us what length or number of commercials in that load is optimum or not good enough? You can measure that by measuring the traffic to that site and if there’s a big dip when you’re testing certain creative’s, you can get a good indication of what the right number is.”
Consumers have asked for TV content on VOD, online, and the iPad and iPhone, added Bruce Neve, CEO of Stardom Media Vest Group Canada. “TV owners purchased rights for them across platforms but they haven’t measured it so haven’t been able yet to effectively monetize.”
NEXT WEEK FROM CARTT.CA INVESTIGATES, WE WRAP UP OUR UNPRECENDENTED, MONTH-LONG LOOK AT TELEVISION ADVERTISING WITH WHAT WE THINK OF THIS ONGOING EVOLUTION, OR REVOLUTION.
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