Bright House’s Bright Future
After attending Bright House’s “New Technology of Advertising” seminar last week, I was really impressed by some of the new services the media provider has to offer. Bright House has found several ways to make television advertising interactive. By incorporating ad banners, surveys, direct mail, and Marketplace On Demand, Bright House has created a way to bring advertising into homes that we have never seen before in the Tampa market.
One of the new channels is Marketplace On Demand. I have actually seen the ad spot on TV several times since originally viewing it at the seminar. Basically, Bright House has created an on demand channel for products and services. Anything from real estate to auto dealers can be found on the channel. It works by categorizing all of the products and services, and then sub-categorizing them so that users can pinpoint exactly what they are looking for. After they select the product or service that they are interested in, a video will play the actual advertisement. The cool part of advertising on this channel is that you can see exactly how many viewers tune into your ad and how long they stay. For example, if you had a real estate client and you advertised on Marketplace On Demand, you would categorize it according to price range, location, etc.
Another very innovative feature is Bright House’s new “Request for Information” program. This program runs during your company’s regularly scheduled commercials. The difference is that once your commercial starts playing, a tool bar scrolls up at the bottom of the TV screen. Usually there is one line of text and three options below labeled “a”, “b”, and “c”. (These lettered buttons can be found on all Bright House remote controls.) A great example is a campaign that a local car repair shop is currently running. The text reads “Are you interested in…” and each letter reads “A. discounts on new brakes”, “B. coupons for an oil change”, and “C. special offers on tune ups.” If the viewer selects any of these options, he/she is taken to a different page that allows him/her to request information. Bright House then mails the special coupons to the viewer’s home address directly.
Sure, this feature is really innovative and neat, but it is actually much more valuable than it may seem. This feature combines the tools of television advertising with direct mail. Here’s the best part, not only does Bright House take care of sending the mailing, postage and address information, but they only send the mail pieces to individuals who are interested in the product/service. Regular direct mail campaigns have a return rate at around 2%. This excellent feature allows you to cut the losses usually incurred from launching massive direct mail campaigns. Brilliant!
Advances like these are what our industry needs in order to maintain its growth. Bright House is doing a fine job in adapting to the ever-changing media marketplace, and I look forward to seeing what other advancements they have in store for our market - and our clients.
