InteracTiVoty: Is Cablevision Reinventing the TiVo Wheel? Mark Risis - MediaBizBloggers

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Cover image for  article: InteracTiVoty: Is Cablevision Reinventing the TiVo Wheel? Mark Risis - MediaBizBloggers

This is a TiVo blog and our perspective is therefore TiVo-centric. But in light of this month's trade press coverage of Cablevision's "new" interactive TV ads, some clarity around the topic is appropriate.

Any movement forward benefits all those looking to move Interactive TV advertising out of the test-and-learn camp and into the much coveted land of the standard budget line item. So thank you Cablevision for both starting the conversation and grounding it with client examples and performance data. But the press coverage suggests that Cablevision discovered something new: that viewers like to click on TV ads! TiVo has been in market with Interactive TV ads for half a decade, and the nearly thousand campaigns for our hundreds of clients all support that yes, if a viewer knows they can get something by clicking on an ad they will do so. Cablevision's experience over the last four months confirms what TiVo clients have known for years.

Next, let's talk about performance. Cablevision also cites the exceptional performance – a 50% (in one case even 70%) conversion rate from those who clicked once to those who clicked to confirm their request to receive a sample or coupon. That's excellent, but what was the initial response rate? Of all Cablevision viewers, how many were exposed to the "clickable" ads? How many times were they exposed; how many impressions were delivered? And of those delivered impressions, how many viewers actually clicked on the spots? What's the click through rate and how much linear inventory did your advertisers have to buy to make all this happen?

What we at TiVo know is that performance is a factor of 1) inventory load, 2) targeting, and 3) perceived value offer. We can't comment on #1 or #2 since we do not have access to that information. But we can tell you that when a viewer is offered a FREE SAMPLE, the response rate goes through the roof. So Cablevision's response rate deck was a bit stacked, which is fine. But what will the response rate be when a client wants to push a $0.30 OFF coupon for a $10 product, or to send someone a free brochure on a new hair removal treatment? And then there's the whole fulfillment and redemption quagmire, an issue about which we'll write in a future post. These are issues we've been studying at TiVo, and collecting relevant knowledge to guide marketers' interactive TV planning.

Another interesting issue around inventory and targeting is how many of the interactivity-enabled spots were time-shifted and, in turn, fast-forwarded. And what happens to the response mechanism when a Cablevision viewer is zapping through the ad? Again, we're studying these issues at TiVo and have insights that we share regularly in this blog.

We are diligent in our efforts to make sure that our advertisers' messages have the best chance of being seen by viewers. We place ad messages outside of the linear spot itself throughout our interface, in places our viewers tell us are ok… on our homepage, on the keep it/delete it screen, and when viewers pause. These placements work wonders to offset the impressions (and clicks) lost to fast forwarding, and reduce the inventory load requisite to maintain target performance. We don't make advertisers buy more TV inventory to get the same results.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for us, since we're working now to expand the breadth and depth of our guide-based ad units and to more effectively marry the linear TV experience with the non-linear interactive video experience that's rapidly growing in share of overall time-spent with video on the big screen.

Cablevision's work and support for the interactive TV category is a very encouraging sign that the data needed to answer important questions will soon be shared in a collaborative and cooperative environment. We are all actively seeking to make this space a true interactive marketplace for advertisers. We encourage Cablevision to keep up the good work and urge Dish and DirecTV to jump into this conversation and share their insights and data.

Mark Risis is Director of Interactive Advertising Sales for TiVo, Inc.

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