CHICAGO – Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and DIRECTV, the world’s most popular video service, have an agreement in principle for SMG to assist DIRECTV in delivering scaled, household-addressable advertising to customer households with DVRs.
The deal, the first of its kind on a national level, will allow SMG to be the first agency network to provide its clients with the ability to address highly relevant advertising messages, including the right to be the first to identify the audiences that best fit their clients’ needs for addressability. The agency will also serve as an advisor to DIRECTV to help enhance and refine the service, a role SMG has played for many early trials.
“This is a glimpse into our industry’s future. Up until now, we’ve only been able to test the power of addressability in local markets. We proved its value beyond a shadow of doubt, but hadn’t yet conquered scale until now,” said Laura Desmond, CEO of SMG, whose clients include some of the world’s most influential marketers including Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola, and General Motors. “As a result of this partnership with DIRECTV, we can now invest our clients’ dollars in addressable messaging at the national level. We believe this is the tipping point, an entirely new marketplace is being created and shaped that will increase marketing effectiveness.”
According to Tracey Scheppach, SVP/Innovations Director at SMGx, “At SMG, we’ve run the numbers and feel confident that the creation of a viable national addressable platform can infuse $10 billion in incremental revenue into the television marketplace as its appeal is universal and has the ability to bring a whole new class of marketers to the medium. It’s taken years of hard work to get this far, but we’ve got light at the end of the tunnel and we’re ready to put our money on the table.”
“This partnership with SMG will create a whole new revenue stream for DIRECTV and ensure that our viewers are being served up with ads that are relevant to their lifestyles,” said Bob Riordan, senior vice president, DIRECTV Advertising Sales. “It’s a win for DIRECTV, advertisers, and our viewers.”
As part of the advertising deal brokered by SMGx, the trading and innovation arm of SMG, media agency’s clients will be able to segment their ads on a national level to selected consumers based on multiple factors including geography and customer segmentations, as well as third-party sources and the marketers’ consumer databases.
The consulting segment of the SMG/DIRECTV relationship begins immediately, with the addressable ad technology set to begin testing in 2011. After testing is complete, DIRECTV will deploy household addressable advertising capability to the nearly 10 million customers expected to have DVRs, with 25 of the top-rated cable networks.
ABOUT DIRECTV
DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is the world’s most popular video service delivering state-of-the-art technology, unmatched programming, the most comprehensive sports packages available and industry leading customer service to its 27.6 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its 19.1 million customers access to over 160 HD channels and Dolby-Digital® 5.1 theater-quality sound (when available), access to exclusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, award winning technology like its DIRECTV® DVR Scheduler and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for ten years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the pay-TV category in technology, programming and service, delivering an unrivaled digital television experience to 8.5 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks (Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 65 percent interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date information on DIRECTV, please call 1-800-DIRECTV or visit directv.com.
ABOUT STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP
Starcom MediaVest Group is the Human Experience Company. Our dream is to grow our clients’ business by transforming human behavior through uplifting, meaningful human experience. These brand ‘experiences’ are brought to life by distinct, strategic point-of-views — Truth and Design and Space for Ideas — created and owned by SMG’s two global agency brands: MediaVest and Starcom, respectively. Ranked one of the largest brand communications groups in the world, Starcom MediaVest Group (www.smvgroup.com) encompasses an integrated network of human experience strategists, investment specialists, content creators and digital experts. With nearly 6,000 employees in 110 offices worldwide, SMG partners with the world’s leading companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, Mars, Inc., P&G, Samsung, Walmart, among others. In 2010, SMG was the #1 ranked Global Media Agency (AdAge) and “Media Agency of the Decade” by Adweek. SMG is part of Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris: FR0000130577], the world’s third largest communications group. Publicis Groupe is also ranked as the world’s second largest media counsel and buying group and is the first global network in digital and healthcare communications. Publicis Groupe launched VivaKi (www.vivaki.com) to leverage the combined scale of the autonomous operations of Digitas, Denuo, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia to develop new services, tools, and next generation digital platforms. Web site: www.publicisgroupe.com.
