If you’re wondering where the future of TV-based advertising is headed, Solon-based Everstream might just have a bead on the direction.
The technology firm, which specializes in broadband and advertising systems, software and infrastructure, is proclaiming its targeted multimedia advertising software via interactive television (iTV) is the next phase of advertising — reaching specific consumers with tailor-made messages.
Recently, Everstream, along with The Arras Group, the Association of Interactive Marketing and Catalina Marketing Corp., surveyed marketing professionals nationwide to gauge their interest in iTV services and determine what the potential marketplace thought of the product.
An overwhelming number of marketing professionals and marketing executives — more than 75 percent — expressed serious interest in applying iTV services to their current offerings.
Technology and advertising professional expect iTV services to grow as the expansion of digital cable and satellite TV offerings continues. Everstream is hoping they will become a magic bullet for business owners because they allow for one-to-one message delivery, pinpoint targeting, interaction and exact campaign measurement via television — all factors that go into how a company’s marketing dollars are spent and measured.
As for the consumers who will be targeted, odds are they’re not going to be consulted before they start seeing advertisement that not-so-coincidentally seem a bit more relevant than the ones they’re seeing today. Then again, no one asked if consumers wanted to see pop-up messages via the Web, either.
