Ahead of its virtual upfront presentation on Monday, NBCUniversal has unveiled a set of advertising innovations ranging from new formats to augmented-reality shopping.
Interactivity is the central objective of the various rollouts, which are housed on the company’s One Platform.
The new offerings include e-commerce initiative @homeShopping, personalization tool Choose Your Destiny, rapid production setup Look Live, audience retention vehicle Stay in Show and talent-featuring Take:15. There is also the Interactive Scripted Commercial Launch, which uses 2D and 3D technology to smooth the transition between programming and commercial breaks.
“Our content and commercial innovations are an ongoing opportunity for NBCUniversal to completely reimagine the viewer experience, while creating new ways for our marketing partners to propel their business forward,” said Josh Feldman, Chief Marketing Officer, NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships. “These new ad formats are a glimpse into the future of video.”
NBCU has already been pursuing e-commerce, and @homeShopping extends the effort by enabling viewers to scan an on-screen code with their phone in order to enter a shopping experience.
On a similar interactive note, Choose Your Destiny lets viewers determine their advertising experience. They can pick the installment of a creative campaign in a linear pod as well as digital-first advertising.
Look Live enables advertisers to go from shooting a spot to having it air in fewer than 36 hours. Stay in Show offers geo-targeting capability, which allows passive placements to be layered into what appears on screen.
Take:15 provides an “opening act” centered on NBCU talent ahead of commercials, which the company says will amplify brand messages. The positioning could take the form of a joke leading into a 30-second spot, a talent tip about the product viewers are about to see or graphic-based creative.
NBCUniversal said its innovations make a difference to audiences. It cited research that 93% of viewers appreciate commercial innovations compared with standard ad formats and said 79% are less likely to change the channel, with 88% retaining strong brand memorability.