“No-one requires more advertising,” Jonathan ‘JC’ Oliver, chief creative officer at Unlockd, explains. “There’s a lot of shit advertising in this entire world, and for any reason, companies feel like because the stock is there to push ads, the more we put into the system, the more we are going to get out — and that’s not the situation.”
This was, in essence, the introduction into the speech at the NOAH Seminar in London last November of Oliver. Since then — in fact, just short of a fortnight ago — the Microsoft and AOL executive has been unveiled among the two hires of Unlockd.
Unlockd’s offering is an interesting one to say the least. It’s what Oliver calls ‘tumultuous permission’ — more of which soon when a user unlocks their telephone, they receive relevant advertising and content. This finally translates into tangible rewards, like free data, or a discounted phone bill.
Hang on, you are about to say. We’ve heard this one before. Ad tech provider goes to consumer and begs them : please watch our ads and we’ll provide you free stuff. Yes, there were added questions; will users accept jumping to watch? How do you know they participated? Can someone appear from the shadows using a clipboard following the ad finishes?
Oliver notes the disparity in previous approaches and in his view, Unlockd differs, mentioning the act of unlocking the phone as an exciting new bit of real estate to play with. “There are a range of businesses that have attempted this kind of permission marketing,” he states. “That has not worked previously because it was somewhat gimmicky — and I do not think anybody wants to agree to observe advertisements in exchange for something.
“If it’s a part of you using your own phone and viewing it, if it becomes relevant for you, and you are getting off your bill…the version for me was an interesting one,” Oliver adds. “We’re still bothering people, since once you unlock your phone you do not understand what you’re going to see, therefore it’s disruptive in that way, but it’s also relevant and you’ve given it permission since you’re a part of the play.”
Naturally, this comes at a time once the digital advertising landscape continues to change. Advertising blockers’ virtues and what marketers can do to conquer them have always fuelled roundtables and business events. Oliver agrees with the opinion put forward in this novel that consumers get the demand for ads to fuel their content, and argues the industry is more understanding of the sands in advertisements.
“I think they understand that they simply make it free if they see advertising — it does not mean they wish to participate with that advertisements,” says Oliver. “If the business begins to get better at delivering that advertising, so it is much better in being contextual and bringing around behavior and targeting people, then we’ll shift in an era when [consumers] don’t mind engaging with advertisements because they know what it gives them.”
Yet is it more of a generational aspect at play? As much as the term ‘production Z’ , or worse, ‘millennials’ , grates, is demographic more likely to get this message? “Those men, they totally know it they know it’s a part of how that value exchange functions,” says Oliver. “What they really don’t enjoy is terrible advertising which isn’t authentic.”
It is about getting the balance right. “It’s different circumstances for different people, but I certainly see the younger generation being comprehension of this as long as the advertising we deliver is relevant to them. When it is not, I think again, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it could be a turn off,” Oliver adds.
There are a few kinks still to be ironed out. Presently, the messages users receive when they unlock their telephone are advertising, with content to come — that the organization is currently working with NewsCorp — and Oliver expects, in the future , location-based attempts. “I think the Unlockd merchandise will facilitate unique people along the socio-economic scale,” he argues. “If you merely wish to see advertising and you wish to get #5 back off your bill, then that is going to be applicable to a people; content is going to be relevant to others; and contextual experiences will be relevant to everybody.
“We’ve got to get the company up and get it climbing, [and] that the simplest and easiest way to do that’s to plug into the programmatic networks and also have advertisements there”, says Oliver, although adding that full display, some of the ads look “good on the monitor.” Concerning the future, he adds: “Eventually, where I think there is likely to be a huge area for us is geo-location and contextual-based experiences…creating that supreme sort of programmatic Mecca which is right material, right place, right time.”
You can find out more about Unlockd here.
Picture charge: Unlockd
