More from the world of advertising

Turner and Virgin Media have recently announced their new ad solutions. The common basis is contextual advertising. While the idea of contextual advertising is not new, what Turner is aiming to do is certainly so. Traditional contextual ads have been based on the generic content on a particular channel e.g. home improvement tools and services on HGTV. Turner has taken this a step further in letting the live content set the scene for a follow on advertisement. The rationale being that viewers immersed in watching a particular piece of action are more likely to respond positively to an advertising message that follows along in the same theme. As a result the ad insertion is more dynamic and contextual.

Virgin Media has teamed with SeaChange to incorporate similar ad insertion technique where contextual ads are inserted pre-roll or post-roll based on the VoD content being streamed to a viewer's television. Both of these announcements are significant. Dynamic and contextual insertion ability will catalyze the need for a shift in the ad slot management and sales/business models.