Orange Teams with French Broadcaster, TF1, to Trial Interactive TV Advertising on its IPTV Platform

French telco, Orange, announced last week that it has signed a deal with French broadcaster, TF1, to enable the latter to offer interactive TV advertising on its ADSL-based IPTV platform, Orange TV. The companies, which say the deal builds on a collaboration that began last fall, plan to launch a trial of ITV advertising early next month.

According to the companies, TF1 viewers on Orange TV will be informed that a commercial spot is interactive via a superimposed banner. They will then be able to click on the Orange TV remote control, the companies say, in order to access an interactive mini-site, dedicated to the advertiser, which will offer product presentations, photos, demo videos, interviews and other content. Among other things, the mini-site will let viewers request that they be contacted with more information, order promotional materials and samples, and obtain a list of sales outlets.

The companies--which say that they have developed a "simple and complete marketing offer" to help get the new interactive TV advertising service up and running, say that the service will be available to over 2 million households. "We are delighted with this agreement with TF1, a key player in the French TV market," Orange's VP of audience and advertising, Paul-Francois Fournier, said in a prepared statement. "This innovation illustrates the added value that Orange can bring in advertising by accelerating customer interactivity and involvement. Interactive advertising will enable us to offer genuine innovation to the advertising sector. Apart from this agreement, the next stage is to work with all market players and, in doing so, bring this innovation to as many TV channels and Internet operators as possible." Added Benoit Louvet, deputy managing director of TF1 Publicite: "This agreement will enable our advertisers to continue their pitch, which starts with the TV ad, by offering interaction with the viewer. They will thus convert the power of TF1 and its family audience into a qualified contact, in a one-to-one relationship. This product falls perfectly within our strategy of innovation and is part of our interactive range that was introduced to the market in October on CGV set-top boxes. Ultimately, we aim to enrich TF1's broadcast content with interactive services for all Internet Service Providers."