Advanced Television

Watchwith touts contextual advertising for TV

September 24, 2015

Data-driven advertising platform Watchwith plans to enable TV networks to deliver in-programme advertising relevant to the context of their shows. It says that for the first time ever, networks will be able to automate the deployment of in-programme ads against metadata within shows, at scale.

Watchwith says that its ability to identify details within a programme with single frame accuracy, now allows television networks to sell and deliver contextually relevant interactive advertising that is both precisely targeted and highly effective. Using machine-vision technologies, the company creates new ad inventory beyond traditional pre-roll and interstitial commercials, and delivers advertising experiences in a variety of formats that are both embedded within the programme content and available across all points of web-connected distribution.

Watchwith is currently being tested by networks and advertisers for deployment in the Fall TV season. “We are giving TV network advertising executives the ability to sell what was once elusive and near impossible to define inventory – ad exposures that are contextually relevant to the scenes of a programme,” said company CEO and founder Zane Vella. “This is a net new revenue opportunity that better serves both the advertiser and audience.”

Watchwith enables networks to deliver interactive overlay graphics at perfectly timed moments within the show. These in-programme ads can be IAB standard creative formats or Watchwith native formats – including highly interactive promos, tune-in reminders, e-commerce events, and branded bonus content. Watchwith can also be used to enhance traditional TV advertising, enabling marketers to activate their commercials when viewed on phones, tablets, computers and Smart TVs.

Networks can chose to manage the sale and delivery of this new advertising inventory or automate the process, allowing programmatic exchanges to generate revenue from TV programming with little to no effort. Moreover, networks can now extend traditional advertiser integration deals into digital properties activating new in-programme inventory across devices and platforms. In addition, both networks and advertisers can optionally leverage first-party audience data in conjunction with advertiser audience segments to bring precision targeting to their in-programme campaigns.

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