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 Consultant's Corner By Stacey Mokotoff Are You Ready to be Interactive? Welcome to the future. Most of us are somewhat computer literate, surfing the net or at least using e-mail. Even if you haven’t shopped from a web site you are probably aware of all of the opportunities that exist and that are increasing every day. I’m one of those people who spend most of my day at the computer and want to leave my desk in the evening. The question that was put to me when I queried friends about all of the time they spend surfing is “Do you want to sit up or do you want to sit back?” In other words, do you want to continue to “sit up” at your desk working on your computer, or do you want to “sit back” on your sofa looking at your TV - which can now offer most of the same functions as your PC? My answer was “I want to sit back.” Once I understood the concept of “convergence” (or the power of the PC combined with the convenience of the TV) I sparked to Interactive TV or iTV. iTV refers to the convergence of computing, communications, and entertainment on a Television set. Examples of services that would be offered by interactive TV include shopping, e-mail, gaming, video-on-demand, access to local community information and electronic programming guides. The only piece missing is a set-top box, which is needed to be interactive. iTV offers fascinating opportunities for advertisers. These include the ability to reach precisely targeted audiences, as well as receive the equivalent of instantaneous test results. We all know how costly and time-consuming the testing process can be. Here’s an opportunity to know who has expressed an interest in your shampoo (you can send her a free sample or a coupon and create a really devoted consumer) or speak to the consumer who has a concern about your product or service (information can appear on the screen or be sent). And all of this is done electronically. Networks with interactive ability include NBC, The Weather Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, PBS, E! Entertainment and Bloomberg News iTV involves creating an overlay or “enhancement” that is only seen when the viewer clicks on an icon on the screen. Thus, the viewer controls whether or not he or she leaves the present programming or commercial to visit the enhancement or remains with what is presently on the screen. As advertisers, we are primarily interested in enhanced commercials. When the viewer clicks on the icon he will see an enhancement to the commercial that’s playing. Now the viewer wants something from you, the advertiser, and you can deliver that coupon or free sample or information the viewer requested! BBS sees the future in this type of two-way communication as a potential less costly substitute for direct mail – one that lets you reach a targeted audience to boot. It will be a valuable testing tool, if not the ONLY testing tool…and it may become the preferred television commercial form for you AND the viewers. Right now, 3-6 million US subscribers have iTV set-top boxes (the number varies according to the source). Over 20 different platforms (or delivery systems) are available for your use. Jupiter and Forrester both predict huge jumps in these numbers in the next two years. But there are details you need to know before venturing into this new world. Despite my efforts to describe iTV, we all know “A picture is worth a 1,000 words.” To see a demonstration, and for information that may be pertinent to your company’s future involvement with iTV, contact me at BBS. We will be happy to come to you with an interesting one-hour presentation that will inform you about this new way to reach and involve your consumers. Get back to Stacey Mokotoff |
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 Bird Bonette Stauderman Inc. 49 Riverside Avenue Westport, CT 06880 T 203.454.8781 F 203.454.947 BBS Europe Rua Ten. Gomes Ribeiro, 57/116 Sao Paulo, SP 04038-040 Brazil T 55.11.5083.1838 F 55.11.5083.4402 BBS Australasia Pty Ltd. 1804, 70# of Mei Lin Street Mayland Garden,Yuan Cun Si Heng Road Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, P.R.C. 510655 T 86.13.632356168 |
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