BlogsLiving in a box
Two-way interaction is the key to grabbing audiences attention
By Adam Bates | Published 15:15, 09 August 12
For me, watching the Olympic Games opening event was one of the most exciting TV experiences of my adult life. As the Queen turned to James Bond to say hello I was clapping and cheering. As Beckham smirked as he steered the boat down the Thames I was whopping and laughing. It was a real experience for me. Not just a night in watching TV.
What made it even more special is that I had my iPad on my lap watching people’s tweets about the games and indeed tweeting myself. The ironic humour and sharp comments really made me laugh. At the same time Natalie, my secretary, was following Facebook on her iPhone catching up with what her friends were doing; indeed one of them was backstage posting photos.
When I was a boy I watched TV programmes such as Dr Who, Mission Impossible and Z-cars with complete focus on a flickering low resolution black and white screen. Today, we are quickly moving in an age when many people are not satisfied with watching just one screen, but demand a dual- or multi-screen experience.
This autumn the BBC is experimenting with the Antiques Roadshow offering viewers the chance to guess the value of items on their device and to find out more about the antiques shown on the programme.
Channel 4 is experimenting with a “noisy” Heat4 experience (which offers viewers a second-screen experience with bespoke content) with Hollyoaks. ITV already has proven success with Britain’s Got Talent, which had 250,000 people using its companion app.
Shazam (that wonderful music recognition app) earlier this year extended its features to recognise when an advert is playing and launch a made-for-second-screen advert. So it really is taking off in the year of the Olympics.
What will happen in the future? I think there will be several themes.
First, advertisers will have to find new ways of getting people to interact with their brands in compelling ways so that viewers do not simply pause or fast forward through the adverts using features on advanced boxes.
I believe that “interact” is the key; whether this is voting for an outcome, chatting to a character, entering a competition or giving an opinion. It is the two way interaction that will create the intimacy and connection.
Secondly, programming and advertising will become personalised to the individual viewer. TVs will be able to locate and filter content for the individual producing personalised TV channels [no Hollyoaks for me please]. In addition, the outcome of programmes you are watching may depend on your personal preferences.
Finally, as we move from 2D screens to 3D and into holograms imagine watching Britain’s Got Talent with Simon Cowell sitting on the sofa beside you!
I have one question for you: are you happy your marketing department is absolutely on top of this enormous change in human behaviour?
What made it even more special is that I had my iPad on my lap watching people’s tweets about the games and indeed tweeting myself. The ironic humour and sharp comments really made me laugh. At the same time Natalie, my secretary, was following Facebook on her iPhone catching up with what her friends were doing; indeed one of them was backstage posting photos.
When I was a boy I watched TV programmes such as Dr Who, Mission Impossible and Z-cars with complete focus on a flickering low resolution black and white screen. Today, we are quickly moving in an age when many people are not satisfied with watching just one screen, but demand a dual- or multi-screen experience.
This autumn the BBC is experimenting with the Antiques Roadshow offering viewers the chance to guess the value of items on their device and to find out more about the antiques shown on the programme.
Channel 4 is experimenting with a “noisy” Heat4 experience (which offers viewers a second-screen experience with bespoke content) with Hollyoaks. ITV already has proven success with Britain’s Got Talent, which had 250,000 people using its companion app.
Shazam (that wonderful music recognition app) earlier this year extended its features to recognise when an advert is playing and launch a made-for-second-screen advert. So it really is taking off in the year of the Olympics.
What will happen in the future? I think there will be several themes.
First, advertisers will have to find new ways of getting people to interact with their brands in compelling ways so that viewers do not simply pause or fast forward through the adverts using features on advanced boxes.
I believe that “interact” is the key; whether this is voting for an outcome, chatting to a character, entering a competition or giving an opinion. It is the two way interaction that will create the intimacy and connection.
Secondly, programming and advertising will become personalised to the individual viewer. TVs will be able to locate and filter content for the individual producing personalised TV channels [no Hollyoaks for me please]. In addition, the outcome of programmes you are watching may depend on your personal preferences.
Finally, as we move from 2D screens to 3D and into holograms imagine watching Britain’s Got Talent with Simon Cowell sitting on the sofa beside you!
I have one question for you: are you happy your marketing department is absolutely on top of this enormous change in human behaviour?
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