SYNC, a spinoff of second-screen television software company Visiware, has announced
the development of a mobile ad format that can coordinate with TV advertisements to serve "rebound" ads to mobile devices.
According to Mary Meeker’s KPCB Internet Trends 2014, approximately 84% of TV viewers use their mobile devices
while watching television. About 50% of viewing time using a second device according to Millward Brown.
During ad breaks, 67% of the audience’s attention shifts to mobile.
SYNC’s format, called Sync2ad, is designed to help TV advertising campaigns
capitalize on the time that audiences are spending on mobile.
Sync2ad will be launched in the U.S. in early 2016, but the product has already been tested
in France among clients such as Air France, Brother, Canal+, Dunlop, Rue de Commerce, Gillette, and Renault, as well as mobile publishers Lagardère Group, Marie-Claire Group and
Mondadori.
TV ad spending in the U.S. is expected to reach $84 billion per year
by 2018.
As the TV ad market moves toward a programmatic model, combining different channels will be much easier. Retargeting efforts like this one seek to combine the hyper-specificity of
mobile targeting with the broad reach of TV advertising.
Cross-device tracking and targeting for TV has become more popular as more users consume TV through digital providers like Netflix and Hulu. Marketers are still
learning about multiscreen behavior and how to capitalize on it.
Millennial Media recently made headlines after releasing a similar product aimed at retargeting TV viewers that were using mobile.