Rogers Communications during last night's Maple Leafs game launched "an experimental advertising campaign in partnership with Google" in which online ad space is "bought through automated exchanges, known as 'programmatic' advertising," according to Susan Krashinsky of the GLOBE & MAIL. In addition to "placing the ads in real time, in a global first, the broadcaster will also be working with Google to create them in real time." The ads promote Rogers NHL GameCentre Live, a digital subscription service that "allows Rogers customers to watch streaming hockey games on their phones, tablets and computers, including NHL games not broadcast on TV in the customer’s region." For the next month or two during NHL games, the ads will "appear online, targeted to Web users who are sports fans, based on data such as their online activity." When a goal is scored, Rogers will "upload instant replay footage via a private YouTube link; Google will grab that footage and slot it into an already-produced ad that says, 'See the goal you just missed.'" The ads will be up online "in a matter of minutes after a goal happens." The campaign was devised with Google’s Art, Copy & Code program, which is "designed to attract deeper ties with advertisers by partnering on experiments that use Google’s technology to experiment with new ad tactics." It has previously "done campaigns with brands such as Nike, Electronic Arts and Burberry." This is the "first time Google has ever helped to produce an ad campaign with footage from YouTube of action that has just taken place." The ads will be produced "during three NHL games this week, and probably five games per week in the coming weeks." The promise of "placing them through a centralized, automated platform is that they will be better targeted to viewers who might actually be interested" (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/27).
