PVRs seen as ushering in radical change to advertising

by Jules Grant,, Brand Republic 27-Jul-04, 15:30

LONDON - Advertisers are increasingly ready to move away from traditional advertising and embrace new technologies such as games consoles and personal video recorders, which they see bringing radical change to their advertising, according to new research.

Almost half of all marketers, 46%, said that they expected PVRs such as Sky+ to create "radical change" in the TV marketplace, with 60% believing that this technology will allow them to target consumers more accurately.

The research, 'The Living Room of the Future', conducted by OMD Snapshots, found that 46% saw PVRs as a means of tailoring their TV ads to suit the individual viewer and 21% believed PVRs will result in more "efficient" TV advertising.

Only 2% said that they thought that developments would mean the end of advertising, as we know it.

The vast majority of marketing directors, 93%, said that they were aware of PVR technology and 74% said they understood what the technology allowed customers to do, although almost a quarter (24%) said they were not sure and 2% admitted they did not know.

Among other technologies, 69% of marketers said that they had not heard of media-centre PCs that allow users to mix TV and computer content and almost a quarter of marketers, 24%, were unsure about what convergence meant.

Videogames were seen as a significant advertising medium by 64%. Other emerging technologies that have caught the eye of marketing bosses were: Bluetooth mobile technology (48%); 3G mobile phones carrying video and musical content (46%); wi-fi technology allowing wireless free connection to the internet (39%); and Blackberry handsets that mix PDA technology with a mobile phone (36%.)

Alison Wright, managing director of Manning Gottlieb OMD, said: "There is a great deal of scaremongering about the impact of new technologies like PVRs on traditional advertising. Marketing teams should be challenging their agencies to shape up to this new world. We are investing heavily in areas like data, content and econometrics to ensure that we are prepared to navigate clients through these changes."

'The Living Room of the Future' is the first initiative from The Source, a new strategic unit set up by Manning Gottlieb OMD to help advertisers through communications challenges in the coming years. It covered 138 marketers from a broad section of consumer brands.

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