Sky has announced two major enhancements to its new advertising service, Sky AdSmart, in a bid to give advertisers more control over their TV campaigns.
From November, advertisers using the service will be able to deliver TV ads to Sky homes by area postcodes, as well as using their own customer data to help them reach their preferred audiences.
The latter will let advertisers create “bespoke customer segments,” alongside the choice of 90 attributes already offered by Sky AdSmart.
Available in a fifth of UK households, Sky AdSmart tailors what’s shown in TV ad breaks according to a household’s profile and location. Originally launched across Sky’s wholly-owned entertainment, movies and sports channels, it has since been extended across a range of Sky’s partner channels, including Nat Geo, Fox and History.
Since launching earlier this year, 224 brands have run 640 individual campaigns, leading to a total of 577 million Sky Adsmart ads being viewed in Sky homes.
Commenting on the latest developments, Sky Media’s deputy managing director, Jamie West, said: “We’ve seen a huge and growing demand for Sky AdSmart, opening up the UK’s most-loved medium to scores of advertisers who previously thought it was not relevant or out of reach.
“Building on our successful launch, we’re further strengthening the product to give advertisers additional ways of reaching their desired audiences on TV. We look forward to continuing to develop Sky AdSmart to give advertisers even more control over their TV campaigns.”
In a Newsline article, the7stars’ Gary Caranay described AdSmart as a “potential game changer“.
“Where AdSmart comes into its own is in optimising campaigns that feature multiple ad executions because its level of targeting makes it possible to take different executions and serve the most relevant ad in the most appropriate slot,” said Caranay.
“Another benefit of the AdSmart platform lies in campaign evaluation. The platform allows the use of self-serve reporting portals to gain insight into the definition of audience segments.”
Sky’s service was awarded both Best Technology and Best Innovation at this year’s Connected Consumer Awards after the judges described it as “extremely clever and innovative.”
