We find more and more examples of TV shows with a ‘second screen’ element (for instance, you can quiz along with het Spiegelpaleis on www.een.be/nu. But you can also have as a Channel a mobile app to let the customers interact with your programs, like vier/vijf has it’s ‘Tweede Scherm’.

In France at Orange, they go the same way with ‘RendezVousTV’. It is an app for Smartphones and Tablets that gives the TV viewer the following extras compared to ‘normal TV’:

• an interactive TV guide with some extra background info
• the possibility to interact on social media (Facebook & Twitter) about the TV show (it can even be shown on the TV screen)
• access to extra off-screen info (example: the recipe of the food that is cooked in the TV show)
• watching live TV
• participating in games or quizzes about the TV show

(More about this app can be found here: http://www.orange-innovation.tv/rendezvoustvm6)

But another interesting feature for us marketers is: It brings also an advertising component in the app that is synchronized with the ad on the TV screen. Now that’s what made me thinking…

Since it is the period of the Belgian Motor Show, let’s look at it from a car brand perspective. The following situation would apply to ‘normal TV advertising’: On the TV screen you have a TV commercial about your newest car type. As a marketer of that car, you hope that as many people as possible have seen the ad, will remember your brand when thinking of a new car and then also really purchase it. 

With this kind of app, it can dramatically change towards one-on-one and experience marketing: On the TV screen you have a TV commercial about your newest car. On the app, you have at the same time also a commercial message about the same car, but there it will be one with one (or more) call(s) to action, for instance “technical details” or “request a brochure” or “want a test drive?”. The customer can click it and request for instance the brochure. For that, he needs to give his address. Or for the test drive example, if you get real-time confirmation of the date and time, you could post immediately on social media “will be driving car xyz on this date”. That can attract others through social media.

This new approach makes a big difference for you as a marketer: instead of having statistics about ‘views’, you will get the request of the customer to contact him/her with the contact details of this customer interested in your product. Sounds like an Opt-In, doesn’t it? And with this info, you can start to interact with the customer: after sending the info, you can request him for feedback on the product, send her personalized offers or discounts, etc. And with the integration of social media, you get as well more reach.

So it seems that the number 1 advertising channel, TV (with still over 40% of spent), will undergo some major changes in the near future. And you have as a marketer the chance now to be on the forefront of this. Do you want to brainstorm about new types of marketing tactics with one of our consultants, just drop us a message.