On June 22, Hulu, the streaming TV service owned by The Walt Disney Company, announced the launch of GatewayGo, “a new ad experience designed to allow viewers to connect and interact directly with a brand and take action on their second screen — like access personalized offers, while being minimally intrusive to the viewer.”
The interactive potential of mobile devices is what is transformative here. When something catches a viewer’s eye on GatewayGo, they use their smartphone or other mobile device to register their interest and take the first step on a customer journey.
Potential customers can register their level of interest in various ways, ranging from scanning a QR code to asking to receive the promotional code, or just requesting more information.
Hulu boasts: “By leveraging these channels to engage with a brand, we’re inspiring our viewers to take action while delivering on the promise of a better ad-supported viewing experience.”
Jeremy Helfand, Head of Advertising Platforms at DTCI Technology, observed, “This experience builds the foundation for more bottom of the funnel ad experiences that will enable action, and ultimately, transaction, from viewers.”
Hulu named three of its launch partners for its new format for ad delivery: SmileDirectClub, The Sweetgreen and The RealReal. Marc Viale, Chief Growth Officer at The RealReal sees it as a way to tap into the huge potential market for luxury consignment: “Through Hulu’s GatewayGo, we’re looking forward to expanding our innovation in the interactive ad space.”
If this approach is successful, we should see it adopted by other channels that bank on video content. It’s about time video ads allowed the communication between brands and potential customers to be a two-way street.
