RELEVANT ADVERTISING

Broadcast TV has been constantly supplying entertainment at regular schedules to a wide audience, so there was no better chance to address a large number of people with commercials at the same time.

The sheer number of channels available on digital TV is redirecting the attention of the viewer, waiting for the next program to start we’re more likely to zap up and down to escape from unwanted commercials.

In addition to that entertainment is moving out of the living room to the place and time we find suitable to watch our favorite soap or documentary.

If the whole world of media consumption is changing – what is happening to advertising?

Product placement has now moved forward in the media production process. Product placement and possible advertising is planned already long before the actual production takes place. In feature films advertising is moving to stealth mode, a sublime way of getting the message across to the consumer.

The internet – being able to count clicks has raised the appetite for more information on the customer, on his behavior, his social status. Knowing the potential buyer for a product however faces distinct barriers: legal availability of data on consumers and their willingness to actually receive advertising in any form.

Lean Forward – Lean Back

The Internet is a one-to-one medium, and relying on the activity of the user retrieving information. The term “lean-forward” is characterizing this activity quite well. TV on the other hand is regarded as passive, consuming from the comfort of the living room sofa with scarce interaction through the remote control. “Lean back” and relax…

With advertising the same classification can be applied – TV commercials are consumed and the information needs to be considered as relevant to be remembered later on.

Advertising Channels

The only way advertising is directly receiving feedback is through dedicated advertising channels, where the purchase is done over the phone while the program is still on.

IPTV offers a wider variety of options: a shared advertising channel, dedicated advertising channels, switching from regular short advertisements on a regular channel to extended information on the advertising channel.

Turning interest into action

We are now able to connect any video content with additional information which is available at the press of a button on the remote. This is particularly useful in advertising – getting direct feedback from the consumer and instantly knowing which product he is interested in.  In this way all parties are satisfied: the consumer with additional information and the advertiser with exact feedback that his message has been received.

Collecting Information

Building profiles out of the data collected by set-top boxes is one way to collect information and to create user profiles.  A user profile could also be established by the consumer, indicating his or her preferences.

Data can then be used to deliver advertising deemed relevant to selected household set-top boxes by dynamic ad-insertion.

Targeting at the right group of people in linear programming is following the pattern of the program schedule. But what happens if this schedule is broken up in chunks of formats available on demand? How is it charged? Is prime time linked to prime content?

Patterns of usage are evolving but at the same time we are given a wide variety of new possibilities to promote products with IPTV.

Concepts at large has been the winner of the “Interactive TV Award 2008” by Deutsche Telekom.  For more information on the “Personal Instant Information” concept please contact us.