• by Wayne Friedman , May 9, 2008

Boston-based Backchannelmedia has started a campaign for new Horizon Media advertising client MGM Grand at Foxwoods, which lets consumers in Boston click on a special TV remote to get extra advertising information.

In homes with Internet access and a digital TV set, consumers in the Boston area can get special free TV remotes--which, in turn, can be used to get additional information from marketers. In this specific instance, viewers watching an MGM Grand commercial on ABC Boston affiliate WCVB-DT Channel 5 will be able to get additional information sent to their email addresses, or can "bookmark" a marketers' information.

All this effort is to support the new MGM Grand Casino in Foxwoods, Conn., which will open May 17. The effort is part of a multimedia campaign using local TV, local radio, out-of-home, sports-marketing partnerships and local print that will start this month.

Backchannelmedia has developed technology that can be embedded into existing set-top boxes, allowing viewers to forward or "bookmark" their interests from TV to the online world.

Media executives believe that such computer-to-TV connections revive entertainment prognostications that the TV set--not the computer--will be the dominant access point for consumers in the coming years. Marketers believe there is untapped value in the TV platform.

"This approach will help to create a unique awareness for MGM Grand at Foxwoods that will ultimately make it the premiere gaming destination in the Northeast," said Rob Kalman, Brand Group Director at Horizon Media, in a release.