CBS Interactive today announced a new partnership with Unity, the game engine behind Pokemon Go, to build augmented reality (AR) advertising campaigns.
At first, the AR advertising will be focused on CBS Interactive’s mobile apps including CBS Sports, CBS News, CNET, GameSpot and TV Guide.
“Through the introduction of new ad formats like AR, we are continuing to create meaningful moments for CBS advertisers to connect with audiences in innovative ways,” said David Lawenda, executive vice president of digital sales and sales strategy at CBS, in a statement. “Together with Unity, we look forward to leveraging augmented reality to create more engaging branded content and ad experiences for our advertisers.”
“CBS Interactive’s commitment to creating premium digital experiences has made them one of the leading innovators in media today,” said Julie Shumaker, vice president of advertiser solutions at Unity Technologies, in a statement. “With this partnership, CBS Interactive will be able to bring another innovative solution to their advertising partners. At Unity, we’re seeing brands use mobile augmented reality ads as a way to achieve high consumer engagement, positive brand association, and direct response from users.”
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For CBS, the Unity deal is about growing its mobile advertising foothold. According to a news release, augmented reality technology is currently enabled on one million mobile devices, and is expected to grow to more than 3.4 billion in 2020. With the help of Unity, CBS Interactive is hoping to give brands an opportunity to reach global audiences with immersive new ad formats and branded content.
For Unity, the deal is another in a string of recent advertising agreements. Last year, Unity reached an agreement with Google to allow advertisers to buy mobile ads on Unity games through Google’s mobile ad platform. In 2017, Unity signed a deal with game developer Zynga to provide advertising across its mobile game portfolio.