etc.tv, a company that has developed a "telescopic advertising" service that allows linking from 30-second linear commercial spots to long-form advertising content hosted on cable operators' VOD platforms (note: the company and its technology are a product of the "Media Experts ITV Lab," which Canadian media buying company, Media Experts, set up in 2000 to develop interactive TV services), says that several high-profile brands--including Daimler-Chrysler Canada, Ford Motors of Canada, General Motors of Canada, the National Bank of Canada, Procter & Gamble, Molson Canada and Unilever--have signed up as charter advertisers for a 10-week trial of its "Advertising on Demand Network" on the TVA and LCN broadcast networks and cable operator Videotron's ITV-enabled illico digital TV system.
Once viewers link from a 30-second spot to the long-form ad associated with that spot, they will also have the option of bookmarking the ad in a personal bookmark page so that they can watch whenever is convenient for them. The trials of etc.tv's telescopic advertising service will begin in November, and the service will be available to all illico subscribers when they are tuned to LCN or TVA. etc.tv says that a commercial launch of the service will follow the trial period.
