Social TV

Increasingly marketers are working towards to integrating TV with social media experiences to form "social TV". With this "second screen" experience TV watchers can use a tablet or mobile device while watching a TV show to see additional content or engage with other people watching the same show. This trend is driven by the increasing penetration and usage of smart phones and tablets where nearly 40% of Americans use their smart phone/tablet while watching TV at least once a day.

A few retailers and companies have begun testing the waters of social TV. American Express has signed deals with Fox and NBC; where AmEx will sponsor a program and allow viewers to use the Fox Now iPad app to shop in real time while watching such shows as "New Girl." Verizon has also tried to get consumers to consider "in app" voting by partnering with Fox's app for "The X Factor." Finally, Target and Neiman Marcus recently bought all the ad time during an episode of ABC's "Revenge." Understanding the target fans of the soapy drama, they created ads to be short vignettes featuring the drama's cast making it hard for fans to ignore the story within a story.

The main benefit of marketing that appears on tablets and smartphones while consumers watch TV "does not alienate the viewer or the consumer" as it does not interrupt their show watching time and is user initiated to add to the overall experience by offering more information, deleted scenes or other elements related to the program being watched.



http://adage.com/article/media/social-tv-business/238347/