TV has come a long way since its black and white beginnings. Suzanne Bearne takes a look at the latest developments and the impact interactive TV could have on retail.
Imagine you’re watching an episode of The Killing. Sarah Lund appears, sporting yet another piece of fetching knitwear. You feel a momentary inkling of jealousy.
But instead of idly commenting on the strength of her jumper collection before forgetting about it until the next episode, you turn on your iPad, google something similar and buy it.
Dual screening is the ideal interaction between TV and mobile devices for retailers - products made popular by TV shows and pop culture trends are made instantly accessible by tablets and smartphones.
As John Lewis head of brand marketing Rachel Swift says: “With the booming tablet sales we’ve seen over the past few years, we think this will continue to be the key trend. We’re continuing to innovate in the social space to ensure we’re interacting with customers in the way they’re asking us to.”
While tablet ownership grows, so has use of internet-enabled TV, and its possibilities are myriad - one idea, for instance, is that shoppers could click on a specific product during a programme or ad and be taken to the website to buy it. But, while retailers should explore the medium and its potential, some experts say it’s the dual screening trend that’s important as shoppers are more likely to buy on a tablet than they are via a TV.
Tom Cornell, business director at media agency Mindshare UK, says: “We need to remember that viewers are watching TV for the programmes. Interactive TV on the main screen interrupts that viewing experience whereas the second screen sits alongside and augments it. Plus mobile and tablets are streets ahead of any interactive TV shopping application in terms of general usability.”
Littlewoods’ experiment
Earlier this year, etailer Littlewoods launched an interactive TV advert featuring audio recognition technology.
When viewers saw the Shazam prompt during the advert and activated the app on their smartphone or tablet, they were directed to a campaign site.
But, while the use of dual screens is likely to be the most important trend for retailers, interactive or smart TV needs to be considered at the same time because it gives consumers the chance to shop directly from their TVs.
Shopping via the TV, whether that’s purchasing an item shown on a programme or an ad, could be the next big shopping phenomenon, according to a joint study by eBay and retail analyst Conlumino.
They hailed interactive TV (iTV) - a TV that enables viewers to interact with content via the web - as an important new channel, and forecast that more than a quarter of UK consumers will regularly use the medium by the end of 2014, generating sales of an estimated £747.3m that year.
Neil Saunders, managing director of Conlumino, says the key opportunity for retailers from iTV will be capitalising on product placement.
“ITV will potentially allow consumers to find products or similar products to the ones they see on films or programmes in a seamless way which quickly and easily links through to purchasing. In short, it makes the TV a permanent showcase for product.”
It’s an area that’s attracted the attention of some big retailers. Marks & Spencer, for instance, last year became the first UK retail partner to create an app for Samsung’s smart TV platform.
The app lets viewers browse product ranges and offers tips on lifestyle, food, fashion and technology - all by pressing the remote. Marks & Spencer declined to comment on the service, but at the time of the launch then director for new channels Susan Aubrey-Cound said: “The app enables customers to discover more about our products and innovations from the comfort of their living rooms, while supporting our broader marketing channels”.
Most retailers have shied away from this style of innovation so far. Interactive TV is viewed as an emerging space and smart TVs, while growing in numbers, are still yet to become a common feature across most British households.
And, of course, TV is still hugely important in a more traditional sense. Christmas TV adverts have become an annual talking point - John Lewis’ festive campaign has topped Twitter’s list of trending topics, for instance. Last year the department store group’s ad, which featured a snowman shopping for the perfect present for his snow woman, racked up more than 3.3 million views (and counting) on YouTube and helped drive a 15% rise in overall festive sales.
Swift says TV ads are at the core of how the retailer communicates as a brand. “TV remains one of the most effective ways to reach large audiences and drive talkability,” she observes. “We’re fortunate that our customers have responded in such an incredible way to our TV ads, and we’re glad that they’ve made the emotional connection we were aiming for when we made them.”
TV is the star
A Deloitte report published last year showed that the medium continues to rule the advertising roost. It found that TV advertising had the greatest impact on consumers in 2012 - for the fourth year in a row - and 57% rated the channel more effective than any other form of advertising such as radio, online and newspapers. The research also found almost one in five had bought a product after seeing it advertised on TV.
Nick Suckley, managing director of media agency Agenda21, which has worked with retailers such as Matalan, champions TV advertising. “There’s no other medium that can offer the level of reach and impact of TV advertising
in terms of driving store traffic for sales, new season ranges and special offers,” he says.
Hitting fast-forward
The effect of advertising is undeniable but the pressure to grab viewers’ attention is greater than ever. Many TVs now have the option to fast-forward through adverts, meaning retailers need to produce ads that are capable of overriding this temptation.
Toto Ellis, head of strategy at ad agency TBWA\London, defends advertising through TV. He says that, while some people will continue to skip ads, it is underestimated how many enjoy them. He acknowledges, however: “The industry as a whole needs to make every entire ad break interesting.”
TV home shopping also continues to evolve. Andrew Malcher, co-owner of High Street TV, a retailer that sells through dedicated shopping channels, infomercials and online, as well as wholesale, says the informative andconvenient nature of TV shopping has ensured its growth.
“You can impart a lot of information about a product to a person sat in their armchair watching TV, and that information is presented to them in a highly emotive format,” Malcher says.
He says the channel is perfect for selling products that need more explanation and that benefit from demonstrations.
TV shopping specialist Ideal Shopping Direct, meanwhile, has experienced dramatic growth in access to viewers since the digital switchover began.
“In the early 2000s we were only available to watch through paid-for TV services. Now with the digital switchover anyone with a TV can access us on Freeview,” says Ideal Shopping Direct chief executive Mike Hancox.
He adds that now multiple screens are connected to Freeview, TV shopping is no longer limited to a home’s primary TV set.
In-store sets
Television is no longer limited to the home either and retailers are increasingly embracing in-store digital screens as a way to pump extra information to customers. B&Q, for instance, has TV screens in most of its in-store cafes, showing content such as footage of its DIY workshops.
B&Q head of advertising Ruth Harrison-Wood says the retailer is also experimenting with iPads in store, which enable customers to scroll through various content from its online TV channel. “By using these we’re able to show
customers exactly what they want to see,” says Harrison-Wood.
Burberry has been a leader in in-store technology - it has 100 screens in its Regent Street store alone. Not only do the screens showcase product-specific content and runway shows, they also use RFID technology. That means when shoppers pass the screens holding certain products, it will trigger relevant catwalk footage.
Television has changed hugely since its invention. But there’s a long way for it to go yet.
How Littlewoods is tapping into dual screening
Gary Kibble, retail director, Littlewoods:
“At Littlewoods, we know that many of our customers dual-screen while watching TV and the rise of the tablet has made this behaviour even more prevalent. It’s changed the way viewers consume media and content as well as the ways they shop and browse for products. We wanted to understand how we could be part of that journey in an interactive and engaging way.
So in April we launched our first spring above-the-line campaign for Littlewoods in four years with an interactive TV advert featuring audio recognition technology.
A special edit of the ad, which was created to support the launch of Myleene Klass’ first swimwear collection designed exclusively for Littlewoods, was Shazam-enabled. When viewers saw the Shazam prompt and activated the app on their smartphone or tablet, they were taken to a dedicated Littlewoods campaign site. There, they found a competition to win a holiday as well as behind-the-scenes content from the ad shoot and other interactive content.
The ad appeared on ITV in two high-profile slots in April during the British Animal Honours and Britain’s Got Talent. In Naughty Boy’s Wonder we had a very strong soundtrack and knew that, coupled with a strong call to action, this would encourage viewers to Shazam the ad to access exclusive content. And we were right. During its first week on air, the ad generated more than 22,700 visits to the campaign site via Shazam. Of those visitors, 69% engaged further with the campaign site by interacting with other content, such as special offers and the holiday competition.
As people consume content across multiple devices, we need to ensure we become part of that journey in a relevant and personalised way.
This will ensure our advertising investment remains efficient, delivers the highest ROI and offers the consumer the choice of how and when to shop with us.
We have focused heavily on creating an infrastructure to deliver world-class content and have selected the right partners and celebrities to do this.
Ultimately, we’re always aiming to make the Littlewoods brand accessible to our customers and the trial with Shazam clearly demonstrated a change in consumer behaviour and how immediately viewers respond to engaging content.
Dual screening, especially through mobile and tablet devices, fulfils the audience’s desire to be entertained and to shop in an effortless way.
As long as that trend continues, we will continue to invest.”
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