And the Winner is… 02/25/2009 12:02 PM
The second most watched television event of the season aired on Sunday night and among the biggest snubs at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony was mobile among the national commercials.
Similar to the Superbowl, the Academy Awards marked another example of missed opportunities for advertisers to interact with viewers during live television. Movie trailers and broadcast tune-in commercials could have ended with a text-in for a reminder before the movie and show premieres, travel commercials could have included text-in for discounts or prizes and the restaurant advertisements could have easily included a text-in for specials and locations. With the money spent for advertisements during this massive reach event it is difficult to imagine the advertiser is satisfied with only speaking to an audience and not allowing for response. If the relationship begins with the initial contact, it needs to continue with a venue for dialogue.
Mobile was present, however, as ABC offered mobile alerts to provide behind the scenes information. The next big event is the finale of American Idol in May, and you can bet that text messaging will have a much bigger part to play.