Commentary

Discovered: iPads Can Offer Two-Screen, Simultaneous Marketing Opportunities

New research indicates iPads offer marketers an opportunity to reach consumers simultaneously on both TV and the devices. The survey from Discovery Communications found 43% of iPad owners say they watch TV and go online concurrently “all” or “most” of the time (compared to 33% of non-owners).

Some evidence might come with data showing 87% of iPad owners have an HDTV set, compared to 72% for the general population.

Offering insight into marketing possibilities, the research found 45% of owners said they are comfortable using the iPad to make a purchase. Yet, only 16% said they don’t mind ads on the devices.

About half of owners say they share their devices with other household members, while iPad owners are 86% more likely to watch 20-plus hours of video a week on devices beyond the TV.

“More portable than a laptop, less personal than a smartphone; the iPad has created a niche that bridges the two devices,” Discovery wrote in its report. “As a portable, sharable entertainment device, the iPad serves to fill content spaces not covered by the other myriad of devices in people’s lives.”

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More than a thousand Discovery viewers were surveyed about their “media habits and thoughts concerning advertising in the digital age” during the research.

During its Shark Week last year, Discovery offered apps for the iPad and iPhone that allowed a viewer to interact with added content synched to the shows.

ABC has experimented with the sync-to-broadcast concept with several shows, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” where Lexus served as a sponsor. Nielsen technology powered the two-screen offering.

Discovery’s research found 41% of iPad owners indicated their dual-device use has them “looking up/posting/chatting” about what they are watching on TV.

The Discovery report notes iPad distribution is “relatively small,” but cites an estimate that there will be 61 million iPad users in the U.S. in 2014, about 20% of the country.

The research found that iPad owners can be rather rabid early adopters, a demographic many advertisers covet. About a quarter say they also own a Roku box, Apple TV or Slingbox.

1 comment about "Discovered: iPads Can Offer Two-Screen, Simultaneous Marketing Opportunities".
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  1. Richard Reisman from Teleshuttle Corporation, February 20, 2012 at 2:49 p.m.

    Two-screen viewing--and the advertising/marketing opportunities it opens up--are finally becoming ready for prime time. This has been latent for many years, but the ubiquity of iPads, iPhones, and similar smart "companion devices are finally making it real.

    I have written about this as "coactive TV" and a look forward to where this is going is provided at http://teleshuttle.com/cotv/CoTVNow.htm. Current apps give just a hint of the major changes in the TV viewing experience that will transform TV advertising.

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