To extend the range of creative opportunities available to brands through TV advertising, Sky is launching Green Button ‘Bookable’ advertising, a service which allows viewers to easily watch and access extended - or ‘long form’ – advertising. Built upon the same underlying technology as the successful Green Button programme reminder service, advertisers will be able to encourage viewers to press the Green Button on their Sky remote to book longer-form content into their Sky Guide or to record content onto their Sky or Sky+HD set-top box.
Through the Green Button, viewers will be offered the opportunity of watching extended versions of ads, finding out more about particular products or services, or accessing related behind-the-scenes or exclusive footage. This could include, for example:
- an extended edit of an existing linear TV ad - where original footage was cut in order to work within the confines of traditional linear ad breaks
- a behind the scenes ‘making of’ documentary, outlining how a particularly innovative ad was created
- access to exclusive content, performances or extras that relates to an advertisers’ products or services - particularly well suited to record companies, movie studios and other media or gaming companies with access to content and talent, or
- advertiser mini-sodes - in the tradition of the Nescafe couple and Oxo family
Green Button content can potentially range from 2 minutes to 2 hours and the service even allows for the series-linking of advertising content, for those brands wishing to create episodic advertising.
Each piece of advertiser created programming will be made available to Sky homes with standard digi boxes twice a day - viewers will be prompted with an on-screen reminder to watch a selected ad when it becomes available . However, in 4.6 million Sky+ homes, viewers will have the opportunity to have the ad stored on their Sky+ planner for playback at a time of their choosing.
The first campaigns to take advantage of Green Button advertising include Warner Brothers for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (PHD), McMillan Cancer Support (PHD), T-Mobile (Mediacom) and Fox’s Ice Age 3 (Vizeum). Final testing of the service is currently underway in readiness for an expected June 2009 launch. It is anticipated that the service will initially roll-out across 50 channels in the Sky Media portfolio, including all of Sky’s wholly owned channels.
Bookable advertising further extends the long-from advertising opportunities offered to advertisers, complimenting ‘red button’ interactive advertising and pre-roll/post-roll advertising via Sky Anytime ‘push’ video-on-demand service.
Chloe Smith, Head of Interactive Advertising at Sky Media, comments: “Throughout its history Sky has continually sought to innovate for advertisers and provide them with more choice and greater opportunities in reaching audiences in new and engaging ways. Green Button provides brands with the opportunity to develop high-quality long-form content catering to those audiences who want a closer relationship with particular brands, or who would value access to exclusive content which has been developed or funded by an advertiser. And with the added functionality of Sky+, they can interact with those brands at a time of their choosing.”
Rupert Britton, Strategy Director, Content, PHD, adds: “Increasingly we are recommending that our clients invest in the creation of content to stand out in a cluttered media landscape, particularly in an on-demand context. However, if content is king then distribution is the kingmaker and careful consideration must be paid towards how ‘push’ and ‘pull’ advertising work together. As a result PHD & Drum have worked very closely with Sky to ensure we maximise the opportunities around green button advertising, which we feel has the potential to be a great content delivery system for some of our clients.”
Rob Cootes, TV Manager at Vizeum, adds: “Green button technology offers advertisers a cost effective solution to showing and developing long-form content. Great long-form content is often confined to online, but with this technology, advertisers now have the opportunity to drive longer brand engagement which viewers chose to download to their PVR.”
For an online demonstration of how Green Button Bookable Advertising works, please visit: www.skymedia.co.uk/greenbutton
