First targeted, addressable TV advertising campaign over IPTV is announced

London, UK — Packet Vision – the pioneer of targeted, addressable advertising for IPTV – has announced the completion of the world’s first targeted TV advertising campaign to a predefined audience.

The campaign featuring a Mediacom financial client ran daily on Channel 4 between 16 and 31 October. It was specifically targeted at university students across the UK so that during the same 40 seconds in which the ad spot ran, students saw an ad from a different brand to the rest of the general viewing population.

The targeting was made possible by installing Packet Vision’s IPTV advertising solution within the Inuk Freewire service – an IPTV network which provides triple play services to universities across the UK. IPTV uses broadband telecom networks to deliver TV, either to traditional TV sets or – as in the case of Inuk – to students’ laptops.

Charlie Horrell, Packet Vision’s CEO, said: “This is the first time IPTV has enabled targeted advertising. In this instance, we’ve inserted an ad into a closed IPTV network for students, but that’s just the beginning. As the service develops, TV advertisers will be able to select IPTV audiences on a range of demographic or geographic profiles.”

Andy Barnes, Sales Director, Channel 4, said: “Targeted advertising over IPTV is an innovative new broadcast technology, and Channel 4 is pleased to have taken part in the first ever campaign.”

Marcus Liassides, CEO of Inuk Networks, commented: “Together with Packet Vision, we have shown how advertisers can bring the targeting power of online marketing to the world of television. Advertising over the Freewire platform offers the best of both worlds to advertisers – direct access, without any wastage, to a specific social category and total measurability of what works and what doesn’t.”

Rhys Mclachlan, Head of Broadcast Implementation at Mediacom, said: “We’ve delivered a pure targeted campaign for a client through television advertising on terrestrial broadcasters for the first time. Packet Vision offers an opportunity for advertisers wanting to reach a specific demographic without screening copy to viewers who fall outside of the intended audience. We also see advertisers with restricted budgets using this service on a regional basis for the delivery of cost-effective campaigns.”