Ever heard of screen hopping?
Posted by Richard Pentin on February 3, 2011
What with moving house, xmas, panicking to get my tax return in on time and pandering to my newborn baby boy, I’ve rather neglected my blogging duties I’m afraid! Not that you noticed 
Anyhow, I’m back on track now with this rather cool campaign.
Honda has just unveiled “This Unpredictable Life” – an interactive TV campaign to launch the new Honda Jazz which enables viewers to interact with the ad via a dedicated iphone app. Whether you’re watching it on your TV, computer, or on another iPhone, you can basically grab the characters from the film using your iphone as they appear on screen.
‘Screen hopping’ is a new term for me but I believe it works by using sound recognition in the iphone app to register what’s being played on the ad. In doing so you can effectively present pre-defined elements on your iphone app to give the impression they’ve hopped over from the TV screen. I think even David Blaine would be impressed with that trick!
But to me it feels like the technology is driving the idea here rather than the other way round. Whilst it’s definitely an neat innovative idea I’m not convinced consumers will go to the trouble to download the app as there’s little reward for their efforts apart from the obvious wow factor of experiencing the technology. I’m also struggling to see the connection with the model positioning for the Honda Jazz. That said, this is the first time I’ve seen a brand adopt screen hopping as a way to engage consumers, so it will be interesting to see if other brands will try to emulate this and take it to the next level.
via digitalbuzz
Carol L. Weinfeld said
Agreed. It is an impressive use of technology, but lacks a connection to the brand and requires much work for the consumer. If consumers found it fun and engaging, then they would use it. This indicates the increased usage of technology to involve consumers. Marketers will learn that the interactive media must fit the brand and consumer to be successful.