i-ads now on tv sets

Have you ever thought of interacting with advertisements with the help of your TV remote? This could well become possible, thanks to an initiative taken by Bangalore-based Lukeup Media.

The company provides a software platform which is integrated to multiple DTH services; it creates the interactive content and delivers them to consumers.

Lukeup has developed a software for making the content and the applications interactive. When viewers watch a particular show, clickable ads will appear as small hot spots or bug formats. The user will be able to interact with the advertisements using the colour and the navigation buttons on the DTH remote. For example, when an interactive ad, or i-ads, of a food joint appears, the user can open it using the specified button. This opens an overlay on the TV screen, where the user can browse through the different items on the menu and other details using the navigation button.

Asked whether such advertisements will distract viewers, Kallol Bohra, founder of the company says,” They are like a 100/100 pixel small image and only on clicking the ads, an overlay will open. The applications are of light weight and do not take time to load. One can also exit from the page any moment.”

Advertisers will be allowed to schedule and serve the interactive ads based on the time, location, channel and the programme. If an advertiser wants to promote a particular product in Mumbai and not in other cities, he can do that.

Advertisers will be charged on the number of ad impressions bought, number of pages and interactive elements of the ads. It will also be dependent on the channel the ad is featured in and the time frame.

Borah points out that initially the interactive ads or the i-ads will be shown only when TV programmes are being streamed and not during commercial breaks. In future, that can be done with the consent of the TV channels. For instance, when an ICICI Bank commercial is on air, an interactive advertisement of ICICI Bank can be shown simultaneously.

Lukup has already partnered with TV channels like UTV Bindass and operators like Airtel Digital TV. UTV Bindass has started experimenting with this format by running an interactive game promoting their show Emotional Athyachar. It’s like their first sample campaign and negotiations are on with 10 more companies.The revenue sharing module is also still at a discussion stage. In the initial days, Lukup mainly plans to target FMCG and retail players.

Borah says the prospects are bright as there are more than 35 million DTH subscribers in India.

Harish Bijoor, brand analyst, however says large-scale adoption of interactive advertising will take time as the market will consider it to be just another gimmick. Besides, the players will face many challenges — mainly technology-related which have not been sorted out in India.

Besides, the global picture is also not quite attractive as things are still stuck at a very niche segment.

But others think i-ads have a good potential. Group marketing sites like snapdeal.com, for example, is interested. Sandeep Komaravelly, head of marketing, snapdeal.com, says, “We will definitely be keen to advertise our products through this medium as i-ads will help in impulsive buying.”