Marketing

Diageo's Budweiser first to use Sky Green Button advertising

02.07.2009
Sky Media Ireland launches its Green Button advertising format, which allows viewers to watch extended versions of ads, on Saturday 4 July, just before coverage of the final test in the Lions tour of South Africa.

The latest Budweiser campaign, ‘Lyrics' – which was developed by DDB London and uses a cover of The Beatles’ All Together Now as its soundtrack – will be the first to make use of the on-demand advertising facility.

Viewers with Sky remotes will have the option to look at 90-seconds of exclusive footage of the Lyrics creative by pressing the green button during the commercial on Sky1, Sky News, Sky Sports 1 and 2 and Sky Sports News.

Charles Wong, marketing manager, Budweiser, said the company was delighted to be first to market with the Sky Green Button. “We are confident that consumers will really enjoy this feel-good ad, from the concept that great things happen when people come together,” he said. “‘Lyrics’ has the same entertaining and memorable quality as some of the most iconic Budweiser ads in history including ‘Frogs and Lizards’, ‘Whassup’ and the Clydesdales Christmas ads, and the best part of this ad is that it was shot for real.

“It wasn’t an easy ad to produce so we’re delighted to have the ‘Behind the Scenes’ footage for consumers to see how we did it.”

Jenny Byrne, director, Initiative, Diageo’s media buyer, said her company had worked closely with Sky over the last number of months on securing this first in Irish media. “We felt the Green Button was the perfect platform from which to launch Budweiser’s long awaited new campaign due to the fantastic content, high quality and level of detail contained in the execution. Most importantly, it allows us to drive engagement with our audience beyond the traditional ‘spot’ on a platform of channels that are hugely important to male viewers."

Green Button content can range from two minutes to two hours and the service allows for series-linking of advertising content, for brands that want to create episodic advertising. Each piece of advertiser-created programming will be made available to Sky homes with standard digi boxes twice a day - viewers will be prompted with an on-screen reminder to watch a selected ad when it becomes available. Sky viewers with Sky+ or Sky+HD will be able to store ads on their Sky+ planner for playback at a time of their choosing.

“Green Button provides brands with the opportunity to develop high-quality long-form content catering to those audiences who want a closer relationship with particular brands, or who would value access to exclusive content which has been developed or funded by an advertiser,” said Malcolm Murray, sales manager at Sky Media Ireland. "And with the added functionality of Sky+ and Sky+HD, they can interact with those brands at a time of their choosing."