Digital entertainment technology provider Rovi (Nasdaq: ROVI) says it is expanding its three-month-long "Smart TV Field Trial," which enables companies to test click-through ad campaigns across a wide variety of platforms including TVs, Blu-Ray Players and other devices, to Canada following success in the U.S.
The Smart TV Field Trial Advertising program is based on the production, delivery and measurement of campaigns on connected devices and represents a subset of the reach of the Rovi Advertising Network, an interactive TV platform reaching more than 40 million households globally through ad delivery on Rovi guides.
For the Canadian trial, Rovi will work with BMO Bank of Montreal to deploy, manage and evaluate BMO campaigns focusing on BMO SmartSteps for Parents, an online, interactive program to help parents educate children on money management. Interactive banners on ‘Home Screens' or within Rovi-powered entertainment guides on a connected device are designed to build awareness for the ongoing BMO SmartSteps for Parents program and act as an entry point to a dedicated BMO microsite featuring age-relevant articles, videos and expert blogs.
Rovi in April launched its U.S. trial, which now delivers millions of impressions per month for participating brands like Carnival, BrightLine and BrightLine's clients.
In the U.S., tracking reports from 24/7 Real Media showed overall advertising impressions grew 41 percent month-to-month in June and that ads now garner consumer interaction rates of 13 percent.
"The Smart TV Field Trial allows companies to gain early insights into connected-device advertising and interact with an entertainment audience that's becoming increasingly fragmented," said Heather Way, research analyst at Parks Associates. "Based on its strong position in entertainment search and recommendation, Rovi's Smart TV Field Trial and broader Ad Network are already delivering tangible results for participating brands from a range of industries, as well as beginning to drive viable new streams of revenue for consumer electronics manufacturers."
The connected device market is poised to expand rapidly. In-Stat predicts that by 2015, there will be 1 billion web-enabled, stationary CE devices in operation worldwide, and that Smart TVs and Blu-ray players will constitute more than 50 percent of all web-enabled CE device shipments worldwide.
In addition to Canada, Rovi said it expects to launch in the U.K. this year.
For more:
- see this release
- see this MultiChannelNews article
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