Sky Media is ploughing an extra £1.5m into its AdSmart SME Support Scheme, opening up the prospect of data-driven TV advertising to an additional 150 businesses.
The broadcaster first launched the scheme, SME100, last month with a £1m pot to provide 100 businesses with campaigns on its addressable TV platform. It now becomes SME250, with Sky investing a total of £2.5m into the fund, for 250 firms.
Sky insists that, with more than 1,000 entries received across the UK in just five days, the extension of the scheme will help to get more businesses back on track.
The fund was available to SMEs that have been running for at least one year in the UK, with up to 50 full time employees. Businesses could nominate themselves or be put forward by their own customers. Each of the 250 businesses will receive a £10,000 campaign and full support on the creative process.
The initial 100 selected companies included Sashed, Field & Flower, Care and Carers, Parent Pool, Love Writing and Dunnet Bay Distillers, all of whom will receive additional complimentary support in creating their ads from Shutterstock.
Sky Media director of AdSmart local and development David Sanderson said: “The response to the campaign has been exceptional – so now we’re extending so more business can benefit.
“SMEs have a voracious appetite for targeted TV advertising at the moment. As lockdown eases, more brands are returning to TV every day and advertising via AdSmart allows companies to reach their target audiences and help establish a new form of business confidence.
“SMEs are the engine of the UK – and AdSmart increases the horsepower.”
Mark Sherwood, managing director of Love Writing, a children’s stationery business based in the Midlands, said: “Advertising on TV with AdSmart will open up a whole new world to us. We’re able to advertise only to the households we want to, which we only ever thought was possible through online advertising. We can’t wait to see the impact it will have helping our business grow.”
Since launching in 2014, AdSmart has been used by 2,380 brands for more than 28,000 campaigns to provide data-driven TV campaigns. With 75% of the brands using the technology totally new to TV, Sky claims it is allowing businesses to utilise the brand-safe and trusted power of TV for the first time.
Sky Media’s recent research report, AdSmart: Five Years & Forward, revealed that addressable TV campaigns increase purchase intent by 7% overall, and as much as 20% for new to TV advertisers who benefit from the exposure and credibility TV delivers. Local brands like Gasway and Richardson’s Garden Centre have seen significant business growth (35% and 17% uplift respectively) through their TV campaigns, the report claimed.
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