Now you can click ads on TV

A Bengaluru-based company, Lukup Media, will enable advertisers to create and serve clickable-ads on TV channels.

DTH and IPTV have been touted as interactive platforms in the TV space for quite some time. So far, the interactivity has been limited to content such as video on demand and 'Active' services, offered by most of the digital TV service providers. However, advertisements on the DTH and IPTV platforms are not interactive as yet in India. But, this could see a change in the near future, with Lukup Media introducing interactive advertisements on these platforms for the first time in India.

The company, based in Bengaluru, has developed an interesting technology which will enable advertisers to create and serve clickable ads (called interactive ads) on TV screens powered by digital (DTH/IPTV) technology. Unlike traditional TV commercials, interactive ads will allow TV viewers to click through, browse and interact with the ad.

For instance, a clickable banner ad can be served by a multiplex/theatre on an entertainment television channel. The ad will appear as an overlay at the bottom of the television screen. There will be a prominent 'green' dot in the banner, which will prompt the TV user to click on the 'green' button on his DTH TV remote control. Once the 'green' button is clicked, the multiplex banner ad will open up as a full-screen page/ad. On the full page, the multiplex can choose to display either a list of movies, post a video trailer of a movie or place a clickable audio file of a movie song. Apart from this, it can also provide the show timings and contact details for booking tickets.

Interactive ads will be made available in three formats - banner, box and full screen. Each ad will be showcased for 10 seconds as a static spot on the TV channel/screen. If the viewer clicks on the 'green' button on the TV remote control (DTH) during these 10 seconds, the ad will expand. The user can interact with the content ad for a maximum of five minutes.

Kallol Borah, founder and director, Lukup Media, tells afaqs!, "In the initial phase, advertisers will be offered to serve ads only when the TV shows/programmes are being streamed by the broadcasters and not during the commercial breaks.In the future, if the TV channels agree, we could offer interactive ads during the commercial breaks as well. Thus, advertisers can replace their ad films with interactive ad campaigns."

Like traditional TV advertising, the advertiser will be allowed to schedule and serve the interactive ads based on the time, location, TV channel and programme. To begin with, Lukup Media has started offering interactive TV advertising service on UTV Bindass channel.

It has partnered with Airtel digital TV (DTH), which has more than 4.5 million subscribers, for the same.

Borah claims that Lukup Media is tying up with other TV channels and is on the verge of finalising a partnership deal with three prominent DTH players. Approval from the TV channels is necessary to run such ads as they overlay the TV programmes being shown.

Lukup Media will charge advertisers based on the number of ad impressions/spots bought, number of pages and interactive elements added to the interactive ads. Like TV advertising, the pricing will be different for different TV channel and time bands.

With a significant number of consumers - 40 million DTH subscribers in India - now being accessible via the DTH platform, the chances of adoption of interactive TV advertising is quite high.

Globally, various advertisers such as Nike and Disney have experimented with interactive advertising on TV in the US.