Molson Breweries and General Motors are just two of the major national advertisers looking to explore the potential of on-demand advertising by signing on for the trial run of Montreal-based etc.tv in August. Ian MacLean expects to release the full roster of participating big brands in early July once all the final arrangements have been completed.
MacLean, who is VP of Media Experts’ iTV Lab division as well as VP/GM of etc.tv, says the test of the ad-on-demand network will begin in August following a software upgrade of Videotron set-top boxes in July. The full rollout to Videotron’s interactive cable subscribers is slated for September.
etc.tv has been enthusiastically received by media buyers and their clients, MacLean says, but it has also drawn a lot of international interest. He expects results of the test to have a very broad audience because the consumer behaviour demonstrated will provide a glimpse into how consumers will use this platform in the future, something that is of primary importance to advertisers.
‘There’s an enormous amount of pressure from procurement officers on media decisions and suppliers. Return on advertising investment and accountability are foremost on everyone’s mind. This model affords accountability as a platform that gives marketers a better handle on measuring response and zeroing in on prospects. That’s what they’re attracted to.’
iTV Lab spent three years developing the new TV ad concept prior to unveiling etc.tv last November along with its co-operative partnership with Videotron, the Quebec cableco that is delivering the on-demand network through its Illico interactive system.
With etc.tv, viewers will be able to get more information about a product or service using their remote control. Commercials featuring an etc.tv icon on the screen can be clicked on to show a menu of available extended content, which could be a long-form commercial, infomercial or a branded half-hour show. They can choose to return to the live program, watch the content right away, or bookmark the program to view later. Because it is an interactive system, they can stop, pause, rewind or fast-forward the content as they would a program they’d downloaded to their PVR.
MacLean says: ‘Some people are concerned that the ad-supported TV model is in trouble. What we think it needs is an evolution in order to make it even more powerful than it has been. That’s what etc.tv is and what advertisers are recognizing – having that extended conversation with someone who is self-selected, who opts in, raises their hand and says I want to know more about that GM car or that truck, that product.’
Videotron has 1,455,000 cable customers in Quebec; 356,000 of them subscribe to the Illico interactive system.
