SecondScreen to Power Synch Apps for Super Bowl

Ad platform will offer rich media ads tied to Go Daddy and two other sponsors airing spots during the game

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/3/2012 3:09:46 PM

As advertisers increasingly look to tablets and mobile devices as a way to offer additional information and pitches to consumers, SecondScreen Networks will be working with three advertisers from this year's Super Bowl to offer additional rich media ads for iPad, iPhone and online users.

The ads will be synchronized with the live TV airing of ads from Go Daddy and two other advertisers that didn't want to reveal their names, notes Seth Tapper, CEO and founder of SecondScreen.

The synch ads will provide additional information and material for the mobile devices but will only be delivered on three outlets -- PrePlay, TapCast and an unnamed entertainment site.

"When the Go Daddy ad is aired on TV, an ad will also appear in the PrePlay app that matches and picks up from the content of the TV ad to expand the experience," Tapper notes. The PrePlay app is built around a game where viewers try to guess the next play as they watch a game. The user who gets the most plays right, wins the game.

While the synch apps will only reach those accessing PrePlay, TapCast and unnamed entertainment site, Second Screen is hoping that the Super Bowl effort will lay the groundwork for wider efforts tied to other events in 2012.

"It will reach only a small fraction of the overall audience," notes Tapper. "But it is really an effort to show the effectiveness of the synch ad."

To that end, Second Screen will be working with an ad research firm to collect data on usage and the impact of the concept.

Looking forward, Tapper also stresses that they plan similar efforts for the Oscars, the Final Four and other events in 2012 where these ads should be much more widely available. "We are already signing up people for the Oscars and the Final Four and the interest in the idea has been over the top," he notes.