Fox TV Stations wants to help even the smallest local advertiser make an appearance on TV.
The Fox Corp. division, which includes 29 stations, has struck a deal with Waymark, a technology firm that uses AI to help local and regional advertisers that might not have the expertise to make video commercials create some for TV.
“We have been able to, in four test markets, to open doors to clients that we would have never been able to talk to because they didn’t have their own video assets,” says Michael Page, senior vice president of digital sales for Fox Television Stations, in an interview. He believes these marketers might have previously earmarked ad dollars for local cable, radio, direct mail or social media.
Waymark’s technology can help an advertiser create a high-quality commercial with a voice-over in five minutes or less. Among the advertisers who made use of the offer were a local roofer, a senior-living facility and a state Department of Corrections, trying to recruit workers. These types of advertisers typically shy away from video, notes Waymark CEO Alex Persky-Stern, in an interview, “partly because of budgets, partly because of know-how. It takes a lot of time, a complicated process, to get quality creative — and standards for TV are really high.”
A number of big media outlets have eyed local and regional advertisers as national marketers move more of their dollars to streaming and mobile. Now that technology can often help advertisers home in on specific kinds of audience, including those in a certain geographic market, smaller marketers are getting more interested in video.
The two companies earlier this year completed a pilot program using the technology at KTTV in Los Angeles; KRIV in Houston; WJBK in Detroit; and KMSP in Minneapolis. The Fox-owned stations integrated Waymark’s technology into local ad sales efforts.
Waymark also had deals in place with Spectrum Reach, Gray Television, Beasley Media Group and Morgan Murphy Media. Waymark’s platform is also included in the creative directories of major streaming platforms Hulu and Roku, where ad managers can utilize Waymark’s technology to create top-tier video ads.
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