To make on-demand ad inventory as valuable as traditional broadcast (linear) or online inventory, the industry needs a standard, ubiquitous way to steward and monetize on-demand advertising.  Canoe is committed to making this happen.  Our new focus will be on giving programmers the ability to dynamically insert advertising into on-demand TV in a common way nationwide, by expanding our current technical platform and operations to facilitate advertising between many programmers and distributors.

As we establish our on-demand business, we’ll make it easy for national programmers to work with us, and easy for our MSO partners to deliver relevant and timely ads.  Once we establish the market for dynamic ad insertion within cable’s VOD platform, our vision is to offer more robust reporting and data insights, introduce addressable dynamic ad insertion, and support dynamic ad insertion across a wide array of devices both inside and outside the home.

To succeed, we must prioritize and focus our resources.  Therefore, Canoe will conclude its national interactive TV initiatives.  Cable’s ITV business will continue through the ad sales teams and video business units at the individual MSOs, as they pursue business opportunities with these capabilities within their own footprints.

We thank all of our dedicated employees, programming partners, vendors, and other supporters, as well as pioneering national advertisers and their agencies for their work with Canoe and the industry.  In particular, the members of the joint venture thank Kathy Timko for her outstanding leadership during her tenure.

Each of the founding MSOs continue their support for Canoe, and are committed to our new mission.  We look forward to continuing to serve the industry by making dynamic advertising for on-demand a valuable reality.

New York, NY — Canoe Ventures, the advanced television joint venture of the nation’s leading cable companies, and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) today released summary findings from its year-long study of interactive television (ITV) effectiveness.   The collaborative research endeavor,  named CEE MEE, aims to understand how the Connection, Emotion and Experience (CEE) of advanced television solutions, including ITV, relate to the Measurement, Efficiency and Engagement (MEE) advertisers seek.  Initial conclusions from the CEE MEE research featured promising results for ITV effectiveness in viewer interest, unaided brand recall, likelihood to seek additional information and likelihood to purchase.

“A core responsibility of the ANA is to explore opportunities and new technologies that can help our members enhance their business,” said Bob Liodice, president and chief executive officer of the ANA.  “TV remains a crucial medium, and it’s important that we understand how engagement on television is changing.  We are thankful to Fidelity, GlaxoSmithKline, Honda, Kimberly-Clark and State Farm for participating in this pioneering work which we are pleased to share at our annual TV & Everything Forum.”

Fidelity, GlaxoSmithKline, Honda, Kimberly-Clark and State Farm were the first ANA members to join the CEE MEE collaboration which collects insights from a proprietary online panel of more than 4200 TV enthusiasts whose reactions to various advanced television experiences are studied. Additionally, panel members share opinions on overall media consumption and use of technology in surveys, discussion boards, blogs and live chats.  Quantitative and qualitative studies provided insights on TV viewing habits; attitudes toward advertising; the effects of advanced television advertising; viewpoints on consumers privacy; and in particular consumer response to in-ad and in-program interactivity.

Consumer engagement with RFI (Request for Information), interactive offers presented as an overlay to advertising, was one of the items that the studies focused on in year-one; the effectiveness of RFI is promising. In aggregated results for Honda, Fidelity, GlaxoSmithKline, Kimberly-Clark and State Farm, on average, 19% of adults 18 to 49 years said “yes” to interactive offers.   Additionally, regardless of offer acceptance key brand metrics were significantly higher:

• +86% unaided brand recall
• +26% likelihood to seek additional information
• +36% likelihood to purchase

In studies where the interactivity was within a program, brand-sponsored Polling and Trivia had positive lift on unaided brand recall (+101%).  Also, in programs where interactive elements were offered, the likelihood of viewers to want to watch a future episode of a TV series with an interactive element increased (+50%).

“Kimberly-Clark jumped at the chance to participate in the project,” said Jeffrey Holecko, the company’s North American media manager. “Testing new opportunities is part of our culture. It allows us to be well informed on new developments and continuously improve in order to provide our clients with the strongest plans and the most relevant channels.”

“So far, the trial results have been outstanding,” said Jim DeLash, director of consumer multichannel strategy, enterprise channels marketing, at GlaxoSmithKline. “It’s research, and it’s measuring changes in brand awareness a short time after viewing the ITV spot, but the direction is very positive.” DeLash believes that ITV will be an important part of the company’s future efforts and is planning to execute in-market ITV campaigns in 2012.

For Honda, the results from CEE MEE were similarly catalyzing for their future marketing efforts on television.  “Going forward, ITV is certainly going to play a significant role in the future of brand marketing,” said Tom Peyton, senior manager, Honda brand, at American Honda Motor Co. “We are beginning to see the emergence of a lot of digital metrics, and we’re getting a glimpse of what can be done to make TV more interactive from a marketing perspective, with the metrics to support those efforts.”

Through their CEE MEE studies, State Farm has closely considered the value of participating within in-program interactive experiences such as polls and trivia.  “With the explosion of new technologies touching so many aspects of consumer behavior, it’s imperative that we, as marketers, understand both new platforms and new opportunities on existing channels,” said Ed Gold, advertising director at State Farm.  “One of the most attractive aspects of ITV is the opportunity it presents to get State Farm more deeply involved within the programs in which the brand is already involved by virtue of its advertising. Our hope is that as someone becomes more engaged in our brand, they will feel better about State Farm, want to learn more about us, and, ultimately, choose and buy our products. It’s a promising technology to move prospects further down the purchase funnel.”

“We were very encouraged by the strong brand lifts measured for Fidelity Investments in our tests through CEE MEE,” said Jim Speros, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.  “Today’s consumers simply expect to be able to interact at every turn, regardless of platform or device, and the findings strongly suggest that the reward for brands engaging interactively is the consumer’s attention and mind share.”

“Our partnership with the ANA in this research provided much needed evidence to brands who use television, and we are very pleased to have worked with the CEE MEE participants in in-market campaigns on our enabled networks,” said Kathy Timko, chief executive officer of Canoe.

Canoe is currently enabling national interactivity to more than 25 million cable homes on select networks.  ITV-enabled networks include AMC, Bravo, Discovery, E!, History, G4,  Style, and USA Network.

Canoe and ANA are providing additional information about the CEE MEE panel and the research at www.canoeventures.com/cee-mee. The initiative is ongoing; Canoe and the ANA are welcoming the participation of other ANA brands in 2012 research.

 About Canoe Ventures:

Canoe Ventures is in the business of better television. Founded as a joint venture of the leading cable television operators in America, Canoe is expanding relevant, measurable engagement with television viewers. Canoe enables national networks with advanced capabilities and works collaboratively industry-wide to define, develop and scale advanced television solutions. Canoe is headquartered in New York, with advanced technology operations and collaborative labs in Colorado.  More information is available at CanoeVenture.com.  Like Canoe on Facebook; follow Canoe on Twitter and YouTube.

About the ANA:

Founded in 1910, the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) leads the marketing community by providing its members with insights, collaboration, and advocacy. ANA’s membership includes 400 companies with 10,000 brands that collectively spend over $250 billion in marketing communications and advertising. The ANA strives to communicate marketing best practices, lead industry initiatives, influence industry practices, manage industry affairs, and advance, promote, and protect all advertisers and marketers. For more information, visit www.ana.net, follow us on Twitter, join us on Facebook, or visit our YouTube channel.

# # #

Media contacts:

David Grabert
Canoe Ventures
(212) 364-3627
David.Grabert@canoeventures.com

Luna Newton
CooperKatz & Co. for the ANA
(917) 595-3061
lnewton@cooperkatz.com

“The Promise of ITV”
featuring Vicki Lins, Chief Marketing Officer, Canoe Ventures

February 16, 2012. New York, NY

Presented by Columbia Business School, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Management, NYU Stern School of Business & The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School
featuring Vicki Lins, Chief Marketing Officer, Canoe Ventures

February 24, 2012. New York, NY

“ITV: The Primary Screen”
featuring Vicki Lins, Chief Marketing Officer, Canoe Ventures

February 27, 2012. Boston, MA