iSpot.tv has introduced an enhanced ad-tracking system that uses data culled from millions of smart TVs to determine the effectiveness of TV ads akin to the way the performance of digital advertising can be monitored and measured.
Tracking how much attention consumers give to those ads all the way to a “conversion” – an action such as visiting a web site or registering or making a purchase – “is a journey that the TV networks are going through,” Sean Muller, iSpot.tv’s CEO, explained.
That same system, he added, also tells advertisers the optimal number of times a TV ad must be seen before a conversion takes place, and gives a good sense of which ads are the most effective, as well as how they are performing on specific channels and networks, specific shows and genres, and at different parts of the day.
Clients, he said, can remove some of the guess-work from the equation by using this data when they launch their campaigns, determine what's working, adjust, “and then step on the gas.”
Using this data to determine the conversion rate and overall effectiveness of TV advertising, “fills a major void in the marketplace” and represents a “leap beyond…audience targeting,” Muller said, noting that nearly 30 brands are already adopting iSpot.tv’s new offering, including two large wireless carriers, major automakers, and a mix of banks, financial services firms and insurance carriers. He hopes to expand that number to 60 to 80 by year-end.
For the ad-impression data gathering, iSpot.tv has a partnership/integration agreement with TV giant Vizio. Muller said that relationship started about three years ago with his company’s ad catalog.
“We are assessing and talking to others,” he said. “It’s a very complex integration.”
Experian, the credit monitoring service, is one client that iSpot.tv is allowed to identify.
In a campaign in January, it found 123,175 “conversion events” from 15.52 million impressions from the smart TV population tracked by iSpot.tv’s system, giving the company a conversion rate of 0.790%. Experian used that data to test out different creative and was able to hone in on two 30-second spots that were the most effective.
