Audiences can use their mobile cameras to buy products on their TV screens.
You’ve heard of shoppable ads on social platforms like Instagram, search engines like Google and even video-on-demand platforms like Vudu. Now a national television broadcaster is trying to get in on the action for the first time.
NBCUniversal is rolling out shoppable ads that will let marketing partners direct NBC viewers to product pages on their mobile devices. The shoppable ad unit, called ShoppableTV, works when viewers point their mobile cameras toward QR codes that appear onscreen during NBC programming and commercials.
From there, a pop-up will redirect viewers to their mobile browser, where a product page gives viewers a way to view the product in more detail and, if they choose, purchase the item on their mobile devices.
“It’s all about combining the power of television with the shopping ability of mobile,” Josh Feldman, NBCU’s executive vice president and head of marketing and advertising creative, said in an interview with Adweek.
Feldman demoed the product to reporters using a furniture retailer who has not yet signed on as a partner. In the demo, a QR code appeared in the bottom-right-hand corner of a still from NBC’s The Voice on which the rehearsal space set was adorned with the retailer’s furniture. Holding up the camera on an iOS device redirected to the retailer’s website, where more product information for the furniture appeared onscreen.
