Undertone, a digital advertising company, recently launched their own marketing campaign, which included a TV buy. We recently spoke with Alan Schanzer, Chief Client Officer at Undertone, about the campaign.
The Makegood: It’s safe to say that most digital advertising and technology companies don’t run TV spots. What was Undertone’s motivation for developing and running this campaign?
AS: It’s certainly unusual for a b2b company to run TV spots, and particularly a b2b digital advertising company. But then it’s also unusual for an opportunity like The Pitch to present itself. The Pitch is as close as a company like ours gets to a perfectly targeted TV buy. It’s a show that by virtue of its subject matter has got the industry watching – you’ve only got to look at the chatter in the trades and across social platforms to see it for yourself. This was a great opportunity to reach our target audiences in a really unexpected and impactful way.
The Makegood: Who came up with the idea to develop a TV spot and what were initial internal reactions to the idea?
AS: The idea of running a TV campaign is not a new one for us. We’ve been looking at different opportunities for a while, but there’s always been too much wastage from an audience perspective. The team was surprised and excited when we told them. We’ve been spending a lot of time talking about Standout Brand Experiences internally since launching our new positioning earlier this year. We brainstorm new and exciting ways to help our clients stand out online on a daily basis and we’ve been practicing what we preach too through our own digital ad campaigns. This was an opportunity to take it to the next level by integrating our digital buys with TV.
The Makegood: Who produced the spot and what are your expectations for results?
AS: We worked with an award-winning team on the production process. This was a big step for us, and unchartered territory, so we wanted to work with the best. Our director, Fred Elisson Burgos, has more than three decades of experience at agencies including JWT, DDB Needham and Arnold Worldwide. He was complemented by director of photography, George Wieser and a production crew from Hero Content.
In terms of expectations, we looked at this as a branding play, but one that we could leverage through PR and social media. The spots have generated some real buzz, initially through our PR efforts, before taking on a life of their own across social channels. The reactions and level of engagement have been really positive and really validated our decision to commit to the buy.
The Makegood: So we saw the debut during the premiere of AMC’s The Pitch. When and where else can we expect to see the campaign run?
AS: The TV spots are just one part of a larger digital buy which is running this month across the U.S. and U.K. This digital campaign will feature the spots, but also include more product specific messaging. We’ll also continue to leverage the spots through social channels.
The Makegood: Thanks, Alan.
