OnScreen Interactive is expected to announce today that it is launching full-screen, rich media screensavers backed by its IdleSync technology. Its first client will be photo image content provider Photos to Go.
While this product is entering territory already occupied by a handful of competitors, OnScreen does have a few tricks up its sleeve to help differentiate its screensaver product.
It can deliver interactive advertisements, online marketing promotions, targeted news, movie trailers, cartoons and digital art to users' desktops in the form of screensavers. Special buttons allow consumers to link to special offers and coupons as well as to make a purchase.
In the case of Photos to Go, the technology will automatically deliver new screensaver photos each day, without interrupting a user's Internet activity or requiring users to go to a Web site for the images.
“They will also have the ability to send new content without having to wait for them to come back to their Web site,” said Shaurav Sen, founder/CEO of OnScreen Interactive, Arlington, VA. “This allows consumers to preview the content. They can then click on the Web button that will automatically take them to the section of the Web site where they can view all of the content.”
Contrary to many other forms of online advertising, the screensaver gives client companies a sustained presence, Sen said.
“Once a consumer logs off, the company has lost all touch with the end-user,” he said. “Photos to Go will be able to have their brand sitting on the screen.”
Consumers can also easily forward screensavers to friends. All activities regarding the screensaver are trackable.
OnScreen's competitors include Rhode Island Soft Systems, a software engineering company that has created promotional screensavers for a variety of companies, from Bacardi to International Bioresearch Solutions.
IBS works with organ procurement organizations to place human organs with research organizations when the organs are not medically suitable for transplant. To generate interest in its site, it is distributing Liverdance, The Screensaver Parody. Viewers of the screensaver simply hit the space bar to link to the IBS Web page, www.researchtissue.org.
AdSavers.com launched earlier this year with a different model. Its rich media screensavers feature targeted advertising. Consumers select what types of AdSavers they want to see. They earn cash every time an AdSaver appears on their computer screens.
Screensavers provide a superior alternative to banners and other forms of online advertising, according to Sen. “People are beginning to get frustrated with pop-up ads all over the place and banner ads cluttering the desktop,” he said. “Screensavers are unobtrusive.”
