After a slow start, digital interactive television (DiTV) is starting to realise its potential and many broadcasters now appreciate the unique opportunities offered by the medium. This is the tenor of Beyond the Red Button, a new report published this week by the IPA.
The findings show that television companies are taking steps to introduce programming that has interactivity as the fulcrum rather than as an added on feature. Advertisers are duly encouraged to follow suit.
Jane Asscher, managing partner of 23red writes in her foreward to the report: “It is now up to our industry to take up the challenge and get to grips with the genuine interactivity. Broadcasters are forging ahead and changing the landscape and, as this report shows, viewers’ expectations are changing with it. The advertising community must not only keep up with this pace but also look to innovate in its own ways.”
It is claimed that consumers are becoming progressively more self-assured in their use of interactive services and expectations are mounting. Advertisers should be encouraged by the fact that children and young adults are largely responsible for the increasing levels of DiTV consumption.
Interactivity is becoming more prominent in the strategies of digital broadcasters, such as BSkyB, NTL and Telewest, but advertising is just one element in the formula and there are other methods of reaching out to the viewing public. These include sponsored games and branded interactive content.
“Interactivity is now a key differentiating factor in much of the advertising, sponsorship and programming that we’re seeing on our screens,” said Bill Gash, author of the report. “True interactive TV has moved into peak time and with more than 8 million households connected, broadcasters and advertisers are innovating with smart ways to engage and involve viewers and generate new revenues.”
The report concludes that it is the responsibility of advertisers and their agencies to become immersed in the new technology and decide how best to utilize interactivity for the mutual good.
Hamish Pringle, Director General of the IPA, is bullish about the future and commented: “We’re getting ever closer to the holy grail of branding and response in one, and this means agencies are on the threshold of a really exciting new era in creative communications.”
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