• by Colin Kirkland , June 14, 2024

Disney is introducing two new gamified ad products on its streaming platforms Hulu and ESPN in an attempt to “push the limits of what is possible” while fostering peak engagement among CTV viewers,” according to Jamie Power, Disney’s senior vice president of addressable sales.

The company’s new ads come in the form of “advergames,” which Power says pair “the interactivity of streaming with the premium nature of content.” Hulu and ESPN users will now encounter Quiz Show and Beat the Clock, two interactive ads designed by adtech firm Brightline that invite viewers to answer trivia questions and land golf balls into specific targets using their remote.

Both games are branded, with Quiz Show showcasing various brands while you play, and Beat the Clock featuring the entertainment venue known as Topgolf. In addition to engaging viewers in new ways when encountering an unskippable ad, the advergames may also help advertisers gain a new understanding of how much consumers are interacting with their content.

As reported by Adweek, the games are customizable by brand, but to streamline the creation process, BrightLine bases each experience on a handful of basic templates that can be attributed to different advertising categories and trending events like March Madness or major holidays.

“Once Disney delivers the ad assets, Brightline takes between three to five days to develop the advergame,” adds Adweek. “This enables the product to scale, which is critical for spurring adoption.”

Disney also announced a new shoppable ad product on Disney Plus. Created by AI-ad creation company Kerv, the shoppable ads show viewers QR codes that link directly to a brand's product page. These are programmatic ads, which automate the targeting process for the advertiser.