Post Script: SeamBi creates new ad opportunities
Issue: January 1, 2011

Post Script: SeamBi creates new ad opportunities

SeamBi has developed technology that enables brands to seamlessly integrate their product or message into finished television content. The technology is DVR-proof, and, unlike traditional spots, cannot be skipped since it is a part of the show itself.

To better describe it, think of a show that has products or signage added to it, seamlessly, after the show has been posted. A CG billboard might be added in an outdoor scene, promoting a major automaker. Indoors, a shopping bag might be placed on a table with a fast food chain’s logo. In both cases, these sales opportunities were added after the show finished post production. And, better yet, the sponsors can be changed for different markets and throughout a run in syndication, providing on-going opportunities for generating revenue.

20th Century Fox Television is already using SeamBi’s technology in the syndicated run of shows such as How I Met Your Mother and My Name is Earl, but the process is not limited to syndicated programming and can be used to insert sales opportunities into the initial network broadcast of content.

Roy Baharav is the CEO and co-founder of SeamBi, which got its start in Israel in 2005, and set up an office in LA back in 2008. He describes an efficient three-step process that allows for these ongoing revenue opportunities. The first step is the “discovery” stage, in which SeamBi works with a show’s producers to find and approve opportunities within already-produced programming. They also work to define the look of those opportunities, making sure they will integrate seamlessly. The second step involves the SeamBi sales platform, which allows content owners to decide who can sell that inventory on the local, national, and international level, and what products are appropriate in that space.

The third step is an automated production and distribution process for inserting logos and delivering the final product. Modern VideoFilm is a partner with SeamBi, housing their technology, helping to deliver programming and making sure everything meets broadcast standards.

SeamBi has created a library of hundreds of CG models that can be inserted into programming to present sales opportunities. Advertisers are guaranteed that their logo appears between :08 and :12, and represents 10 percent of the viewing area. The above image (Left) shows what the inserted ad would look like — in this case, an ad for automaker Chevy. If the insertion space was not purchased, the original imagery (Right) would be present.