• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 12, 2010

 

Cablevision boasted Tuesday that its fledgling interactive advertising platform is producing results with a notable viewer response rate, in line with marketers' goals.

The service launched in the fall is effectively a lead-generation opportunity, where an advertiser runs a spot that displays an on-screen prompt. A viewer can then use the remote control to request that samples or promotional offers are sent to their home.

But in order to receive the mailings, viewers must go through a double opt-in process, clicking twice to ensure they want the mailings.

Cablevision has been tracking what it calls "conversion rates," which measure how many people who click once do so a second time to actually request the special offer.

A recent campaign from Colgate-Palmolive -- for a toothbrush -- saw a 70% conversion rate on a 30-second spot. The TV company is not, however, providing actual numbers on how many people responded to Colgate's offer involving a toothbrush.

The 70% conversion rate was at the high end. Other advertisers that ran spots had at least a 40% rate.

Gillette, Benjamin Moore and Unilever are among the other marketers that have run the iTV spots on the Cablevision system in the New York area. The iTV ads were slated to run for two weeks apiece, but Cablevision said on average, they had to be shortened by a week because marketers ran out of materials.

Advertisers can target digital cable customers -- about 3 million -- with the system and air spots on 25 cable networks. How many viewers actually saw the iTV spots run by the Colgates and Unilevers is unclear.

Cablevision is now offering advertisers a second iTV advertising opportunity, in which a viewer can request a long-form video with more product information stored for later viewing.

Cablevision is using proprietary technology to serve the iTV ads, not a system propelled by what's known as EBIF technology, which Comcast, the country's largest cable operator, has been employing.

Canoe Ventures, a business run by the six largest cable operators including Cablevision, is trying to offer an iTV ad option nationwide using EBIF.