Letter: Brand advertisers: ignore IPTV (for now)...

...and follow the real market

The promise of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is very exciting. For the user it promises high definition, personalised and interactive TV with new and advanced services. For the brand advertiser it promises compelling ways to target, and engage with, consumers. But it is just that: a promise.

According to the latest Datamonitor report, an established UK IPTV service with mass reach is at least 5 years away. In the meantime consumers continue to migrate from traditional media to the Internet in large numbers. But opportunities to combine the power of motion pictures with interactivity, and to precisely target individuals and vertical consumer sectors within this fast expanding UK Internet audience, are already available to brand advertisers.

The current reality of UK IPTV is HomeChoice and the forthcoming BT Vision. But HomeChoice boasts only 45,000 subscribers in and around London and Stevenage. Tiscali, its new owner, promises a national rollout but is hedging its bets by offering the HomeChoice video catalogue via its own web portal. As for BT you will be forgiven for a degree of scepticism at their ambition, as a telco searching for new revenue streams, to become an “entertainment facilitator” in this new TV market.

Of course, the “internet” in IPTV is misleading. IPTV will simply use Internet Protocol technology to deliver a closed proprietary TV system with content determined by the service provider, e.g. BT. It will be a walled garden with a tollgate and designated user footpaths. It is a “vision” far removed from the “free-to-roam” culture of the user-centric Internet which continues to produce original and compelling content that is financed, overwhelmingly, by online advertising.

So put IPTV to one side and focus on bringing your brand to today’s Internet consumer market. Follow the real market but don’t be a lemming. Avoid over-complicated creative solutions which try too hard to integrate branding with online content, e.g. animated characters wandering around an editorial page. Be cautious with those that try to position direct response mechanisms, e.g. search marketing, as branding solutions.

Investigate, instead, existing online networks that can deliver Internet versions of your TV adverts, e.g. interactive with call-to-actions, to a mass online audience whilst offering targeting and performance tracking unique to the online medium. Let IPTV sort itself out: exciting opportunities for online motion picture advertising exist today.

David Michael
Strategic Business Development Manager
Utarget plc