Channel 4 signs up O2 and Vauxhall for ‘industry first’ video ad launch
O2 and Vauxhall are the first brands to sign up to Channel 4’s new ad product, which offers advertisers the opportunity to re-target viewers sequentially in real time.
‘Ad Journey’ uses Channel 4’s viewer data to allow advertisers to serve different creative messages based on what a consumer has previously seen or interacted with to avoid repetition.
It also allows advertisers to serve different creative based on whether a user is an existing customer, using data already held by the brand.
“It’s essentially a re-targeting product. In the display world it’s quite old hat, but what we’ve been able to do is bring it to video,” Channel 4’s digital and creative leader David Amodio told Marketing Week.
O2 is using the service to engage viewers with its Rugby World Cup campaign ‘Make Them Giants’. When shown on Channel 4’s online service All 4, the ad will encourage viewers to click through to O2’s website and create their own animated avatar.
They will consequently be served a different message the next time they view an O2 ad, depending on their previous level of interactivity. For example, viewers could be encouraged to finish creating their avatar.
Vauxhall will be using Ad Journey next month as part of a UK launch campaign.
Amodio says the technology offers brands an opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with audiences instead of blind targeting.
“If an advertiser buys a demographic audience and targets 16 to 34 year-old men, the message should be bespoke to how they have previously interacted with the brand and how engaged they’ve been,” he explained.
The technology is initially launching online, but will in time rolled out across mobile.
“This is a problem with a lot of innovations, as it’s easier to build them on .com. But the digital landscape is rapidly changing and so we’ll be working hard to launch the product on different platforms,” Amodio added.
The initiative is part of Channel 4’s broader data strategy, which started collecting data back in 2011.
“We initially launched demographic and interest targeting, and then brought out a programmatic platform. Throughout all of that we created interactive ways of using advertisers’ data. This product is a continuation of the segment in a different way,” he said.
Meanwhile, ITV today announced that it will be relocating all of its online services and programmes to The ITV Hub.
The ITV Hub will replace ITV Player and itv.com and will launch later this year across mobile, PC and connected TV.
Live streaming of ITV’s TV channels, which now accounts for over 30% of usage on PC and mobile, will be at the heart of the new service and is aimed at offering audiences a more TV-like experience across all devices.
