Richmond Hill-based software developer Intertainment Media has just completed an agreement with Toronto-based Highway Entertainment that will have its desktop app represented to all Omnicom Media Group (OMG) companies by Highway, a unit of OMG that specializes in content creation, distribution, acquisition and media sales.
‘This formalizes the casual relationship that we’ve been working under for the past little while,’ says Intertainment Media CEO David Lucatch. ‘Highway will represent us to the Omnicom companies, which in turn will represent us to their clients.’ OMG’s companies include OMD, PHD Network, BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide and TWBAWorldwide. ‘Before we were working with Highway and some of their clients, now we’re working with all of the Omnicom Group,’ Lucatch tells MiC.
In March, Intertainment Media announced a partnership with NBC, negotiated in part by Highway Entertainment, that allows the broadcaster to distribute content via the ItiBiti app. ItiBiti now has 16 clients, some of which came through OMG.
The app provides users with free VOIP, which allows not only free peer-to-peer calls, but also free calls to land and cell lines. It was developed by Intertainment Media’s subsidiary ItiBiti Systems specifically with brand sponsorship in mind, and can include a variety of features which are dependent on the brand that sponsors it. The app can feature selectable content based on individual or geographic preferences, and can include third-party content. The app can also integrate third-party social media applications (like Facebook and Twitter), and will also feature a full suite of Microsoft services, including Bing, MSN, Hotmail and Calendar.
Companies can advertise via traditional big box, banner and video inlay ads, or via the app’s skin. Brands can create surveys, promotions and contests based on database information. ‘This is a different way of thinking. Traditionally we’ve been thinking of the web space as reaching an anonymous user based on the general profile of the web offering. Today we’re not only taking the profile of the offering, but we’re combining it with the data of the user,’ says Lacatch.
