GET stuff on Web video
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, July 23, 2007
Winston Salem, N.C. — A technology company based here has developed an advertising platform that allows consumers to shop for products seen in Web-based video feeds by simply pointing their mouse at the product.
GET Interactive expects to market its product to furniture producers.
The company says the patent-pending application delivers, for the first time, real-time shopping as part of any video content without disrupting the video being watched.
"It offers the consumer the opportunity to immediately purchase the product," said Rick Harrison, CEO and founder of GET Interactive. "It creates a direct, one-to-one interaction among consumers, brands and mobile video on a level that has never been achieved before."
Harrison, a former advertising executive at Furniture/Today and the now-defunct InFurniture trade magazine, said the platform will help brand marketers and entertainment companies promote specific products and brands amidst the growing popularity of DVRs, which allow viewers to record broadcast TV shows without the advertisements.
Plus, it will allow marketers to get more exposure for their brands through product placements in movies, TV programs and music videos downloaded from the Web.
Harrison said furniture producers could especially benefit from this application because their products typically get only a quick mention in the credits, which few viewers notice.
"It's a very valuable consumer we're bringing to them," Harrison said. "It's a consumer who is specifically interested in their product and may be ready to purchase it immediately."
Harrison said GET Interactive will work with entertainment companies to identify products used in their programs, then contact the featured brands to see if they want to make them identifiable and shoppable to consumers.
While watching video on the Internet or mobile phones, consumers browse through still images of the content by clicking on the "GET Stuff Now" button. The still images are displayed in a new browser window and won't interrupt the video being viewed, he said.
Harrison said the advertising platform integrates into any Web site or mobile device without downloading any software, and it doesn't require users to register with any third-party site.
Currently, the advertising platform can be seen by clicking on the "GET Interactive" tab on the Web site for the movie "Freedom Writers," www.freedomwriters.com. There, viewers can get a closer look at the shoes, jewelry and clothing worn by actress Hilary Swank.
Additional information also is available on the company's Web site, www.getinteractive.tv.
