Traditional television advertising is losing its charm as more and more viewers get better at skipping commercials, while advertisers shift to the Internet to save money and target specific audiences.
Cable providers have helped undermine the 30-second commercial by supplying DVRs to their customers and offering ad-free video-on-demand services.
Now, the cable providers are promising to help advertisers reach television viewers with new interactive television advertising that seeks to engage viewers and borrows techniques from the Internet.
Cablevision plans to roll out an interactive service next month that will allow viewers to respond to a banner or pop-up on their screen during a commercial break. By simply pressing a button on the remote control, the viewer can order a coupon or product sample from the business for which they are watching the commercial.
Cablevision said it expects to have several major brands involved in the new interactive cable advertising this fall including Benjamin Moore, which will send coupons for free paint samples to viewers.
Other major cable operators, like Comcast and Time Warner Cable have also added interactive cable advertising to their systems. While traditional television advertising is typically sold based on audience size, many of these new advertisements are sold on a pay-for-performance basis, much like the pay-per-click model on the Internet.
This new interactive style of television advertising allows the marketer to engage the viewer/consumer for much more than just the 30 seconds allotted by traditional television advertising.
The new ads have a great response rate because they can precision target a specific customer base based on demographics and viewing habits. They also don't interrupt the viewers' television experience.
