Second screen app specialist Viggle has introduced an advertising platform that, it says, will offer an initial reach of nearly 10 million thanks to a group of launch partners that includes Boxfish, BuddyTV, and Dijit Media’s NextGuide.
A goal of the new Viggle Audience Network is to provide an advertising aggregation point across a growing variety of TV companion and social networking applications, said Viggle chief revenue officer Kevin Arrix.
"When you look at what we’ve been told in the market place over the last twelve to 18 months, we’re told that there’s a lot of fragmentation,” Arrix said, noting that Viggle’s clients are looking for ways to achieve more scale with how they are reaching reach consumers via second screen apps as an extension of their traditional TV buys.
With its new ad network, Viggle aims to provide a centralized way for clients and media buyers to deliver their ads to multiple second screen apps.
Viggle, Arrix said, is pitching the idea to clients and already has a “handful of brand advertisers that will be participating” in the Viggle Audience Network. Viggle says it has worked with more than 50 brands so far, including Hyundai, YouTube, McDonald’s, Kraft, Lexus, and Kimberly Clark.
While phase I of the project centers on aggregation, phase II will aim to tap into Viggle’s tune-in data to reach TV fans across multiple devices outside the traditional Viggle universe. The company says it has signed on more than 3 million registered users for its reward-based TV “check-in” platform.
Viggle said it will announce additional partners later this year.
