Huddle 2012: Second screen implications for TV industry
One of the sessions at last week’s Huddle event at Mindshare was looking at second screens and their implications on the broadcast industry, chaired by Lindsey Clay, managing director, Thinkbox.
Simon Daglish, group commercial director at ITV, said that second screen activity started from the sofa and then TV companies reacted. Second screen activity has always happened but it is just increasingly becoming related to TV content.
He added that any second screen activity has to bring a real benefit to the consumer, as any commercial element that does not is just an interruption. With social so strong it could backfire for the brand.
A huge success story for ITV has been its Britain’s Got Talent app, which had 400,000 downloads in 2011 and 900,000 downloads in 2012, with 44 million interactions with the app.
Simon Cox, vice president and head of media innovations EMEA, Turner Broadcasting, commented that if you get the advertising message right it will go viral. If it goes to the wrong people, it will be ignored.
David Fisher, head of futures at BSkyB, commented that it is not just about a second screen, it’s a multiscreen environment and that the iPad shouldn’t just be considered as “second”. For the person who is using it to watch content, it is the first screen.
Daglish stated how Shazam is going to play an increasingly important role at ITV over 2013, with the intention of programme information being available if you press Shazam on your companion device.
They even hope to have TOWIE as a completely Shazam-enabled programme where viewers can find out what the actors are wearing and even purchase. This follows a very successful social experience from the previous series where a TOWIE character mentioned that Sudocream would get rid of a spot. Sales of Sudocream went through the roof.
Shazam-enabled adverts are also proving successful for clients, with one example being Cadbury who ran an Olympic advert during the summer inviting viewers to press Shazam for a chance to win tickets to the Olympics – and 50,000 people did.
However was there was a degree of caution from the panel, stating that things do not always work and can cost a lot of money.
Increasingly the second screen’s content will relate to the TV. Ad Sync software is being used by both Sky via Zeebox and ITV, for example the recent Cravendale advert where a game will pop up on your second screen for you to play along. David Fisher stated that on Zeebox demand for ads is outstripping supply.
There was some concern over “wrecker ads”, for example Tesco having an advert playing out on the main screen, with Sainsbury’s on the second screen. However Simon Cox explained that you have got to have transparency. Clients are obviously vitally important so they are always up front with everyone.
The current measurement models do not tell the full story as engagement on the second screen is way ahead of the rest of the market. Cox suggested that in the next 18 months to 2 years the industry may need to reconsider trading and questioned whether it may be the end of the station price.