Five To Offer Advertisers Interactive Elements
Five has become the latest broadcaster to offer advertisers the option of launching interactive television campaigns in a move that paves the way for enhanced commercials for those viewing the channel via digital satellite.
The move comes ahead of Five providing interactive programme support for its latest reality-TV programme The Farm and opens its airspace for advertisers to screen interactive ads to more than seven million satellite households from this month.
The announcement has already attracted major advertisers to Five, including Tesco, Sony Ericsson, Expedia and the Central Office Of Information. The broadcaster will allow the full range of interactive commercials to be broadcast, from simple information request adverts, to fully bespoke DAL offerings, giving flexibility to advertisers and providing scope for creativity.
Five will employ Sky Interactive’s standard technical solutions, already being used by Sky, Flextech/IDS and ITV, meaning that advertisers can create a single campaign for broadcast across any combination of the four television operators.
Commenting on the expansion of Five’s services, Damon Letzer, the broadcaster’s interactive business controller, said: “Following an extensive consultation period, we are now moving on to the next phase of our interactive advertising strategy. We will be working closely with our agencies and with other broadcasters to raise awareness of interactive advertising. Five can now offer our advertisers a fully integrated service which will sit within the sales team and offer a simple interactive advertising solution.”
Will Harding, commercial director of partnerships at Sky Interactive added: “We are delighted to be working with Five to increase the reach and effectiveness of iTV advertising. The ability to run campaigns across multiple channels is key to the growth of iTV, so Five’s entry is an important step forward for this exciting new medium.”
Five’s latest move mirrors that of Sky, which expanded its portfolio of interactive channels earlier this year to allow advertisers to screen interactive campaigns on The History Channel and The Biography Channel. The broadcaster also attempted to foster growth in the fledgling medium by offering a £250,000 jackpot to the creators of the most innovative and imaginative interactive advertisements (see Sky Boosts iTV Advertising With £250k Prize).
Five: 020 7550 5555 www.five.tv
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