By Adrian Porter, Head of Strategic Research
No, I’m not talking about QVC or similar shopping channels, I mean using your mobile, tablet or laptop to buy something while watching the TV. According to Ofcom we all do it all the time anyway, sitting there with our laptops, or tablets surfing the web while watching the latest episode of our favourite series. So it’s no real surprise that it was announced today that BSkyB has invested significant amounts in Zeebox – ‘The new way to watch television’.
So what does it do? Well it’s an app for your device that knows what you are watching, it can show you what your friends are watching and lets you interact with them, and it offers you tags that are related to the programme you are watching which will link you to places where you can find out more about the subject, or buy stuff mentioned in the programmes you are watching. If Joe Bloggs is plugging his latest book it will provide you with a link to hop off and buy it before he’s told you the plot.
Is that something we will all be getting into soon? It could be.
I am wondering how Ofcom will reconcile this development with its product placement rules. Currently, “There must be ‘editorial justification’ for a product to be placed in a programme”. But what if everything in, or mentioned on a programme is buyable? Somebody on Eastenders shouts “don’t use that hammer on him Fred”. I’m sitting on my sofa and reminded that I meant to buy a new hammer, and there in front of me is a link to the Screwfix website. How much would Screwfix pay for that I wonder, and is that product placement in the current sense?
It doesn’t seem like it will be long before every SKY TV programme will be analysed for selling opportunities, and retailers will have to pay in a similar way to PPC works now to have their links at the top of the list. Another whole new industry courtesy of the digital revolution.
About 12 years ago my old boss went to a seminar in New York, which rather than showing the web the way it was in those days, showed how it might evolve. He regaled us with an account of one presentation where they were watching a stylish old 30’s movie, all Art Deco and lavish. At one point the presenter clicked on the film, precisely on the part of the set showing a fabulous art deco table lamp. The action froze, a dialogue box appeared showing the lamp, its price and a link to the shop where it could be bought. It turned out that the whole film, actors’ clothes, wallpaper, furniture and so on was purchasable. Now that will be a very interesting way to fund the production of a new TV drama, or film. Anyone want to go into business?