The NewFronts show TV makers are innovating the ad experience. Telly is using its second screen to deliver synchronized ads. And if you hesitate when using your Vizio TV, you are liable to be hit with an ad.
The ultra-invasive 15 and 30-second ads dominate connected TV. However, TV maker ad innovations are taking advantage of the unique properties of the connected TV to allow brands to break out of traditional ad models. Here’s what Telly and Vizio announced at the NewFronts to break the traditional ad mold.
Telly: Taking full advantage of the second screen
Telly’s integration of a second screen below the main screen gives the free TV company more freedom than any company dependent upon the main TV screen. At NewFronts, the company showed how brands can use the second screen to provide a unique, more engaging, and less intrusive experience.
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One new option is what the company is calling “Dual Screen Take Over.” An advertiser can combine a traditional TV ad with a synchronized extension of the ad on the second screen. In its NewFronts presentation, Telly showed an example of a Cherry Pepsi can pouring its contents into the second screen.
It also demonstrated what it calls Telly T-Commerce. Using the second screen for T-Commerce solves two big problems with single-screen interactivity:
- Viewing the interactive content on the main screen interrupts the viewing experience.
- Viewers need to be cued on the main screen that there are interactive experiences available.
Using the second screen for the T-Commerce opportunity does not interrupt what is being watched on the main screen. No cue is required; the interactive content can play on the second screen with no action required by the viewer.
To illustrate, Telly showed how the old interactive TV ordering-pizza-during-the-game trope works with Telly. The ad appears on the second screen, and the viewer uses the remote to complete the order without missing a moment of the action on the main screen. Telly can also run tune-in ads for shows on the second screen that give direct access to the show on the main screen when selected.
Vizio: Pause ads in FAST content
By now, we are all familiar with running an ad when a viewer pauses a video they are watching. The idea is a great way of delivering an ad message in a minimally invasive way. Providers such as Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock already support the format. Vizio announced it is bringing pause ads to its WatchFree+ FAST services. Dunkin Donuts, Sonic, Baskin-Robbins, and Warner Bros. Pictures have all signed up to use the format when it becomes available later this year. It looks like the pause ads will only appear in on-demand content. WatchFree+ users can’t pause the linear channels provided.
Vizio has also added a new ad format called Vizio Recommends, which is particularly appropriate for content providers. If a Vizio SmartWatch user pauses while browsing for content on the Home Screen, a “timely sponsored suggestion” pops up that deep links to the show, episode, or movie in an app on the TV.
Vizio is taking a leaf from Roku’s playbook by creating the Vizio Sports Hub. The feature will launch later this year on all Vizio TVs and allow users to come to one place to find the game they are looking for: no more hunting through apps to figure out how to watch. Sports Hub will include ad opportunities for brands looking to reach sports fans.
Interactivity is also coming to Vizio users. The Pantry is a cooking show produced by and featuring Tom Colicchio. While he is cooking up a storm, viewers will see pop-ups on the screen alerting them to the opportunity to purchase the products he uses. Cooking shows are good candidates for interactivity, though I think the second approach used by Telly could be more effective and less intrusive.
