Swisscom Advertising, the telecom provider's internal department that generates revenue through advertising on all Swisscom channels, is already represented on PCs and laptops with the Bluewin portal. It is also present on mobile devices - smartphones and tablets - with the Bluewin mobile website and Swisscom TV online. "Two years ago, we took the step onto the tablet. Now we're taking the next big step: we want to go big screen," explains Philipp Scheidegger, Head of Advertising at Swisscom. Swisscom Advertising was therefore looking for a concept with which it could offer its advertising clients and sponsoring partners a "4-screen offer". The first ideas for this emerged around two years ago. "We asked around on the advertising market and at broadcasters and agencies. But they always said: You have to have at least 500,000 households, otherwise the big screen offer is not relevant."
 
This limit has long since been exceeded. Today, around 850,000 households in Switzerland are equipped with a Swisscom TV box. With a realistic factor of 1.9 people, it can therefore be calculated that 1.7 million people can be reached with advertising via Swisscom TV. This results in a market share in the digital TV sector of around one third. A considerable impact in IPTV. This makes Swisscom the international leader.
 
Backed by these figures, Swisscom Advertising created a showcase with the support of Sapient Nitro in April 2012 and presented it to the management. Shortly afterwards, this showcase, which presents formats and placements, was presented to potential advertising partners. Philipp Scheidegger and his team at Audi met with interest in the "first IPTV advertising platform in Switzerland". During this process, everyone involved was aware that the project would only be shown on the big screen if the quality was convincing. "The big screen is also the most emotional screen. We can't do anything here that could damage the reputation of our Swisscom brand."
 
The installation of the "Raven" ad management tool from Emuse Technologies - an IPTV ad management solution similar to those used on PCs, tablets and smartphones - was completed on Swisscom TV in October. Audi was the first customer to not only opt for a basic offer, but also wanted to be present on Swisscom TV with an interactive application. This is triggered by an icon in the App Center and a display format. Anyone who activates this format, for example in the form of a skyscraper with the "Info" button on the remote control, is transferred to the Audi content. In England, where the first interactive TV advertising formats were introduced back in 2001, this transfer used to work via the red button and now works via the green button, which is why this type of advertising has also become known as "red button advertising".
 
In Switzerland, Audi has also decided to launch its own channel on Swisscom TV. Audi now offers over eight hours of video content here. The "Audi tv" offering includes regular contributions from the fields of culture, sport, lifestyle and automotive technology. The car manufacturer from Ingolstadt launched such a channel on the Internet back in 2007. The content is broadcast around the world in English or German via the World Wide Web. Only in Switzerland is "Audi tv" now also available via broadband on a big screen. Thanks to the new possibilities offered by Swisscom TV, the magazine and a constantly growing collection of articles in the archive can now be viewed exclusively in HD TV quality. "This is clearly visible progress, as films and content are loaded in milliseconds on Swisscom TV, where they often take over half a minute on other TV platforms," says Marc-Oliver Rohde from Sapient Nitro. This global marketing and IT services company and its Zurich branch are providing Swisscom with the creative and technical aspects of the new offering with interactive advertising on the TV screen.

How do I as a consumer become aware of the new offer?

With Swisscom TV, viewers can find Audi content either via the side display advertising and by pressing the Info button. The second option is the App Center. This has been available on Swisscom TV since January via the menu button on the remote control. "The App Center is very popular on Swisscom TV," says Philipp Scheidegger. When clicking on it, the viewer currently finds the "Sponsored apps" section at the top with the icon for the Audi applications. The actual usage figures can be calculated directly by Swisscom TV. For "Audi tv", these are already "sensational" after three months. Swisscom's new offer is being pushed via the "Play" magazine, which Swisscom TV subscribers receive, as well as with notices on the Bluewin portal. Audi is publicizing the new service, for example via customer mailings, at the POS or via social media.

And since buying a car is not least a matter for the whole family, the big screen is of course particularly suitable for a joint evaluation. "Advertising on a smartphone only appeals to one person at a time. Television, on the other hand, is a social medium. Here, everyone can give their opinion while watching together," says Erich Hunold, Head of Marketing at Audi. Audi's slogan is: "Vorsprung durch Technik." The opportunity to be the first to join Swisscom and to "play a pioneering role" in this new advertising technology has prompted Audi's marketing experts to bring their rich cinematic content to the Swiss public via the Swisscom TV channel.

Interactions via the remote control
An important factor in this decision was that Audi customers quickly feel at home in the TV applications, because the presentation of the content is structured in roughly the same way as on the Audi website. "The customer knows where to find what." Audi wants to "establish new customer contacts" via Swisscom TV. To this end, viewers can request a test drive or order a catalog directly via the remote control. A dealer search is built in via the Audi database. Conversely, Swisscom can - with the subscriber's consent - forward the contact details of potential customers directly to Audi.

Advertising is changing. The offer on Swisscom TV is a possible answer to many unanswered questions about how to proceed with commercials in particular when more and more people are using time-shifted television. "This is the first time that viewers can put together and control their own advertising on television. That's why they perceive this kind of voluntary advertising in a completely different way. It is more of a service offer and therefore a completely different experience than a conventional TV commercial," says Scheidegger.

To ensure that this remains the case, Swisscom Advertising wants to approach potential customers for this new offer "very selectively". "Potential partners must be able to convey added value for Swisscom TV subscribers." Potential advertising customers with their own channel on the big screen must also be a bit of a "love mark" for the Swiss. "A brand with a negative impact has no chance of being distributed on the big screen." It is also clear to everyone involved: "It is important that we do not increase the advertising pressure for viewers, but simply make the formats more interesting together."

Commitments are possible in the form of a package for at least six months. During this time, the customer can regularly update the content without having to make any technical adjustments to the app. The application is built in-house at Swisscom. Swisscom Advertising has now started talks with a handful of other companies that have both the courage and the necessary content for "the next big thing".

Andreas Panzeri

In a nutshell

Philipp Scheidegger is Head of Advertising at Swisscom. His department is responsible for generating revenue from advertising on all Swisscom channels. A newly launched offer on Swisscom TV could be a possible model for advertising on television, if more and more viewers are zapping away from commercials or watching programs with a time delay. In England, the idea has become known as "red button advertising". In Switzerland, such interactive advertising formats can be called up on Swisscom TV via the "Info" button on the remote control. This explicitly requested advertising is no longer just intended to entertain viewers, but to provide them with added value in the form of information.