NEW ORLEANS — Mixed Signals Technologies, Culver City, CA, the first company to create and manufacture interactive television hardware and software for the television and advertising industries, announced at the NAPTE convention here yesterday the introduction of a new technology that gives marketers the ability to specifically advertise to certain consumers while simultaneously providing immediate customer service.
The technology, called an interactive portal, will be launched in April and gives users of such set top devices as Web TV Plus or AOL TV their own personal home page.
This home page gives viewers such standard fare as news, sports, weather and stock quotes. But more importantly, the site will track their favorite sites and shows, tabulate interactive incentive based programs such as Game Show Network Points and allow the viewer to send e-mail or directly contact any companies who offer product information or samples.
“The greatest thing about this home page for advertisers is that for the first time, viewers will really feel like they are talking directly to a company through their television,” said Mixed Signal Technologies CEO Alex Thompson. “If they have a question as to when their free sample is arriving or whether it will come by e-mail or regular mail, they can be immediately updated.”
The site is free to all users and also will feature personalized interactive advertising based on the consumers biographical information and television and Internet preferences.
“If this viewer usually responds to a certain type of ad or company, or if they are a certain age or live in a specific area, we can gear the ads to them on a moment to moment basis,” said Thompson. “This provides marketers with the ability to specifically target a single person while at the same time they are on a page giving them customer service and satisfying their needs that way. It builds trust.”
Presently, Mixed Signals Technologies provides interactivity to Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Inquisition and The Game Show Network. An accumulation of Game Show Network Points can be redeemed by viewers for prizes and are earned by playing along with interactive shows or by responding to certain interactive advertisements.
“This is a new way to reach consumers and to provide them with a real service that helps them understand and work with the technology,” said Thompson. “We started when Sony came to us to provide interactivity to Jeopardy and we have grown from there, this new portal is just a small part of what we do, but for us it is a very important part because it touches the customer directly.”
