Captivate Network Is…Well, Captivating

Okay, sorry about the headline…

I’m often briefed by companies and mean to write about them but if I wait too long it sometimes doesn’t happen. Captivate Network is a company I spoke to a couple of months ago, after PR reps saw my posting about Ripple TV (and comments to reporters). I spoke to Captivate CEO Mike DiFranza and we had a fascinating conversation that I’m just now getting around to blogging.

You’ve probably seen Captivate screens in elevators. According to the company it has “7,300 wireless, digital screens located in the elevators of premier office towers in 21 of North America’s top markets.”

The screens are divided into content feeds and ads. See below (click to enlarge):

What’s interesting about this, beyond the “captive” audience part, from my point of view, is the way that it can interact with other media and drive people to the Internet or into the real world, locally. Remember, the audience consists of people at work who generally avoid talking to others by looking at these screens — so there’s less multitasking (unless people are futzing with their mobile phones).

The following three case studies provided by the company (reproduced here verbatim) reflect the ability to drive traffic to websites or use the system to test creative and the potential effect of a campaign before going “national” with it. There are also in-store/local aspects to two of the three cases:

Background

In an effort to increase sluggish store sales and breathe new life into its brand, this client utilized Captivates national network of video advertising screens and drive-to-web capabilities to help a well known global beverage company launch a new national multi-media campaign

Solution

This client ran a test solely on the Captivate Network across the US for a four week period to test impact of the digital campaign; Monday – Friday from 7am to 7pm prior to launching a national TV campaign

Results

• Hits to the dedicated website increased by 76% - far exceeding the 20% objective set
• 90% of the website’s activity occurred between 7am and 7pm, Captivate’s broadcasting time
• Large spikes occurred at 9:00, 12:00 and 5:00, when elevator traffic is the highest

Background

Leading Provider of Internet Networks in Canada needed to assess the effectiveness of a new advertising campaign used to launch a new product line. With a launch strategy about to end, they needed to understand their ad effectiveness quickly.

Solution

This particular Leading Provider of Internet Networks ran their campaign on the Captivate network and used it as an opportunity to test the effectiveness of the ad via an on-line recall study. The Captivate Research team developed an on-line study targeting select viewers in buildings across Canada. Viewers were offered a $10 coffee card.

Results

• The study showed that viewers quickly responded to the offer and generated a .02% response rate in just 48 hours.
• The study proved viewers are willing to go-online for an offer of perceived value.

Background

A leading office products company developed a new division of the office products chain. They used our network to drive store traffic and test an online direct response offer.

Solution

The leading office products company worked with Captivate to optimize current TV creative. The ad prompted viewers in selected Boston buildings to visit website to download coupon and redeem in select stores in Boston with close proximity to store trading area. Captivate Ad was book-ended with an ad promoting offers and promotions on our website.

Results

A 7% response rate in click-throughs to the offer page in 2 weeks. Proving drive to web.

The use of this medium and the interaction with the Internet (back on the desktop) and the real world (local) is fascinating. It’s another distribution point for video/TV ads that can offer both branding and direct response elements, much more effectively than can TV itself.

It’s not “online” advertising but not traditional media either. It sits somewhere in-between.