Online is increasingly present in offline media. We no longer just see website ads on buses and street billboards: TV is now dot-com territory.
What used to be reserved for companies with millions in revenue, like Ford, or something more local like El Corte Inglés, now features websites advertising their services on TV.
Online companies are starting to show their economic weight by betting on offline spaces to engage a different audience, not necessarily digital natives, who may look for their services.
But why do online companies seek visibility in other media?
Possible triggers include the multiscreen / multitasking user and the arrival of smartphones in our lives.
According to Google data, users increasingly use their phones while doing other activities.
This multiscreen user phenomenon is already factored into several advertising strategies used by US TV companies, and it’s gradually gaining ground in Europe.
According to MillwardBrown, people in Spain spend almost as much time in front of the TV as on their smartphones.
- TV: 124 minutes
- Smartphone 122 minutes
- Computer 97 minutes
- Tablet 53 minutes
But an increasingly common phenomenon in Spanish homes is using a smartphone while watching TV.
Among the things people do with a phone in hand while watching TV:
- 26% look up more information about what they see on TV (sports scores, biographies, etc.)
- 13% chat with friends about what they’re watching on TV
- 16% interact with what they see on TV
- 15% follow up on a TV ad
Hence the importance of having a website that lets users reached through any medium easily keep exploring the product we offer.
The offline-to-online transition needs to be made easy, and that’s the gap many companies face when people finally visit their website. It’s no longer enough to have a site that displays properly on phones and tablets (responsive); the information we offer must be different from what they’re seeing on TV.
So what can we offer?
- A hashtag that ties our campaign together
- Online-only content (extras, behind-the-scenes footage, etc.)
- Interactive ads (e.g., Shazam)
- Short 5–10 second videos that are easy to share on social media (snackable clips)
- A mobile game that lets you interact with live TV events.
Following these guidelines, Emagister.com has just launched an ad campaign airing on Atresmedia, among other outlets. With the hashtag #cambiadevida, they created a campaign inviting people to search for courses on their website.
They chose Carlos Latre to create short video clips impersonating several celebrities, which can be watched on their YouTube channel. The hashtag helps them go viral on social media.
Another example of interaction: during the broadcast of the “Red Bull Supernatural” snowboarding event, NBC offered a first-person view on smartphones for a unique experience. A person with a camera provided real-time streaming, giving another perspective of the event exclusively to people watching on their phones.
Clearly, the line between offline and online is blurring, and now more than ever it’s important to have a mobile-friendly site with good usability.
Are you ready for the multiscreen user?
Contact us and we’ll explain how you can be.
