A Grammy Premiere: Advertising Goes Interactive
24 February 2000
A Grammy Premiere: Advertising Goes Interactive
RespondTV and J. Walter Thompson Team Up to Deliver First Enhanced Ford Ad
During Nationally Televised Event
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23 -- Creating television history,
RespondTV(R) (http://www.respondtv.com), the first provider of real-time enhanced TV
services, is teaming up with the Detroit office of marketing icon
J. Walter Thompson (http://www.jwt.com) and top national advertiser Ford Motor
Company (http://www.ford.com). Today, five local CBS affiliated stations will air an
enhanced 2000 Ford Focus spot during the Grammy Awards program. This is the
first time an enhanced advertising spot will run during the local market
airing of the nationally televised Grammy Awards, placing Ford and
J. Walter Thompson at the forefront of the interactive revolution sweeping the
TV industry.
Ford, an official sponsor of the Grammy Awards, will enhance an ad for its
2000 Ford Focus, North America's Car of the Year. The spot was developed by
J. Walter Thompson USA/ Detroit with enhancements produced by interactive TV
pioneer RespondTV. The enhanced ad features an interactive trigger that
allows viewers with interactive internet-based settop boxes to simply click
their TV remote controls to receive additional information about the 2000 Ford
Focus.
"With enhanced advertising, we deliver a message that combines the
emotional power of television with the interactive capabilities of the
Internet," explained Jan Klug, Ford division marketing communications manager.
"We have developed an advertising experience that will appeal to young
consumers who have grown up with the Internet."
Interactive Ad Can Be Seen on Any Internet Settop
The enhanced commercial will be aired in five major markets with a
combined total viewing audience of over six million: KFMB in San Diego, WUSA
in Washington DC, WGNX in Atlanta, WRAL in Raleigh and WKMG in Orlando. Any
viewer with an interactive internet-based settop box can click with their
remote control to receive the interactive enhancement. RespondTV technology
works on any settop box that runs Liberate(TM), PowerTV(TM) or Microsoft
TVPAC(TM)software. Simply by inputting their email address, TV viewers will
receive more detailed information on the 2000 Ford Focus. RespondTV will be
responsible for serving the interactive triggers and enhancements, collecting
responses and automatically reporting them to J. Walter Thompson and Ford.
"Enhanced TV is the next big step for advertisers. It enables a real-time
exchange of valuable information between our clients and their consumers, and
it creates new opportunities to communicate in an interactive, one-to-one way
with the TV audience," said Andy Prakken, executive director, communication
services for J. Walter Thompson. "RespondTV has built the infrastructure that
supports both real-time synchronous interactive advertising and high
viewership response rates of television-sized audiences, and that is
critically important during a major televised event. We know that there will
soon be an explosion in the number of homes capable of receiving interactive
advertising. This is one example of how we are pushing the envelope with new
technologies that truly engage consumers."
J. Walter Thompson and Ford Motor Pioneer Innovative Marketing Strategies
The 2000 Ford Focus ad will be the latest in a series of efforts by
J. Walter Thompson to embrace the future of interactivity and convergence.
Both companies have a tradition of innovative advertising that solicits an
emotional response from consumers, converting awareness into action. Today's
announcement is part of Ford's commitment to new marketing approaches.
"J. Walter Thompson and Ford have moved to quickly exploit the
opportunities offered by mass-market interactivity. Grammy fans across the
country will experience a new way to communicate with Ford on
February 23 -- advertising will never be quite the same again," said RespondTV
founder and CEO David Kaiser.
About J. Walter Thompson
J. Walter Thompson, the world's original advertising/communications
company, recently celebrated its 135th anniversary. The Detroit office is the
largest of its 250-plus facilities in 87 countries, and the company ranks near
the top among world ad agencies. The organization's philosophy of
"Total Branding" helps develop clients' sales and long-term value. That
mission continues to enhance the growth of both J. Walter Thompson and its
clients as they move into the year 2000.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Division is the largest automotive marketing and sales division in
the world, and has been the top-selling U.S. car and truck brand for the past
thirteen years. In calendar year 1999, Ford Division sold a record
3.4 million vehicles. Ford Division is home to thirteen product lines,
including: the Ford F-Series pickup truck, the number-one selling pickup in
the world, the Ford Explorer, the best-selling sport utility vehicle in the
world, and the all-new Ford Focus small car.
About RespondTV
San Francisco-based, privately owned RespondTV, formerly B3TV, is the
first provider of real-time, end-to-end enhanced TV services. RespondTV
enables advertisers, programmers and cable and satellite operators the power
to deliver a new level of interactivity in their commercials or programming
for direct response, ecommerce and audience participation.
The company offers a suite of hosting, reporting and developer services or
advertisers, programmers and cable and satellite providers to strengthen the
television experience through real-time interactivity. RespondTV enriches the
viewer experience while introducing new revenue streams for its clients and
their partners. RespondTV is compatible with industry standard
ATVEF-compliant enhanced TV systems and settop boxes and has built a robust,
state-of-the-art server network that can handle television-sized audiences.
For more information, visit the Web site, http://www.respondtv.com.