Whats the problem with iTV?

Imagine someone came to you and said they'd found a way of making the most effective ad medium even more effective. And that it wasn't very expensive. With clear evidence that it works. And that over half the population can be reached this way.

You'd bite their hand off. Right? Well apparently not. Interactive TV is still woefully underused.

Despite an increased brand count - with over 200 campaigns running in the first months of 2005 - its still not used by most brands. And where it is used, its potential to engage viewers is often ignored in favour of simple data capture.

The true killer app for iTV is to offer a part 2 to a commercial - where the viewer has chosen to watch and will spend 3,4,5 minutes or more interacting with your brand - if the content is good enough. True permission marketing - at a fraction of the cost of part 1 of the ad.

Things are changing - new work from Honda and Orange show what can be done, and Sky have launched a new website to help sell the medium. Its possibly a bit Janet and John but that is what is needed. Most creative agencies don't seem interested in the medium (whilst running DLKW Dialogue, we did more iTV that any other creative agency in London - some branding for ATC and the first iTV ad that jumped from broadcast to an interactive service for Teletext plus a lot that were data capture focused) and media agencies often add iTV to a campaign as an afterthought. Its time for agencies to take this fantastic medium seriously.

There are some interesting new opportunities. The possibilities for combining mobile marketing with iTV are now being tested, and we expect that to grow rapidly. And the original iTV application (driving viewers to a Teletext page for more information) now has some interesting  added functionality.

We'll be covering this topic in a Viewpoint in the near future, but if you'd like to know more get in touch.

Comments

[Andrew Canter]

As a staunch believer in the power of Branded Content, I launched a specialist agency focusing on Branded Content back in November 2004. I am convinced that the marketing and agency community will seize upon the idea of Branded Content and how it will benefit their brands now and in the future, indeed some already have.
We recently commissioned a wide ranging survey to gain an insight into the area of ‘ad-avoidance’ and ‘on-demand’ services, viewer migration away from the traditional TV set and attitudes towards content funded by advertisersw hich shows that viewers are migrating away from traditional TV in their droves, but are turned on to the idea of advertiser funded content.
Our study looked at the delivery of TV programmes and shows the fundamental changes that have taken place in where TV programmes are increasingly being viewed and how long is spent consuming them on a daily basis.
We also wanted to establish whether the consumer would be willing to pay to avoid advertising in the future and if so, how much they would be prepared to pay for the privilege.
The telephone survey of 1,000 adults demographically weighted to represent the GB population was conducted by ICM Direct, one of the leading specialists in the field of market research.
The key points:
 Around 2.5 million people watch TV via broadband as their main source of broadcast
 Skipping through the “ad-break” at “30 times normal speed” was deemed to be the best feature of PVR, such as Sky+
 Almost one-third of viewing TV programmes takes place away from the TV set, amongst certain age groups
 Majority of those who watched TV via broadband, spent “over 30 minutes” per day
 Of those viewing via a mobile phone, most spent “up to 10 mins” per day
 Amongst younger groups, over half are willing to watch content funded by advertisers
 Almost a quarter are prepared to pay to avoid watching ‘ads’ in the future
This study gives us a real insight into how people are fundamentally changing their viewing habits. It also shows that consumers are willing to accept advertisers funding content but expect it to be entertaining and relevant to them.
There is a minority that are prepared to pay to avoid ‘ads’ in the future, but this rises to potentially worrying levels amongst the key younger consumer target groups.
We are convinced that this work will help us make a real difference to our clients business in the future