Axe, Unilever’s line of men’s body products, and BrightLine iTV Marketing Specialists, Axe’s partner since 2005, have developed a new interactive television initiative.
The campaign incorporates video on-demand bookmarking, a Verizon FiOS technology that allows users to flag digital shorts touting Axe’s new Proximity products, which are targeted toward young professionals, and come back to them. Keyword searches can also be performed on the platform.
“Consumers are able to search keywords like ‘comedy’ or ‘digital shorts’ and the Proximity shorts will be at the top of the list,” said Robert Aksman, creative director from BrightLine iTV. “Search marketing has been huge online and this is the first time it’s being used on TV.”
In addition to Verizon FiOS, the ads will also run on Time Warner Cable’s Movie Trailers On-Demand and Independent Film Channel (IFC) Free On-Demand.
“We see every click a viewer makes, so we have deep insight into the behavior of our target consumer. This is really the only way to advertise on TV in an accountable fashion,” Aksman said. “The on-demand digital world often flies under the radar, but almost 70% of households have some form of on-demand digital or interactive advertising through satellite or cable. It’s a pretty significant reach.”
On Time Warner’s Movie Trailers On-Demand, Axe has its own “supercategory” where viewers can watch the short films. On IFC’s Free On-Demand, Proximity shorts will be embedded into 75% of on-demand programming. “A teaser will run before the program which says ‘IFC presents Axe digital shorts’ and then ‘stay tuned after your program’ and after each show the full length short will run,” said Aksman.
