TV fans go nuts over the products their favorite characters use, wear and buy. The promise of social and connected TV means that those products are more accessible than ever. Get★This a Los Angeles based social TV company is tackling this problem and already has some impressive partnerships that will let you social TV shop ’till you drop. We interviewed founder Lisa Farris about her company.
Lost Remote: What problem are you solving? And has this been tried before?
Lisa Farris: Get This provides an opportunity for audiences to discover, share and shop — enabling viewers to engage with their favorite entertainment like never before. There have been several video hot-spotting and tagging tools released, however, they miss the consumer and content focus by disrupting the viewer experience and taking the viewer away from the content when they click on the video hotspot or tag, or adding overlays on top of the video.
There’s a clear difference between collaborative vs. disruptive experiences. Audiences are there, first and foremost, for their video entertainment selections. Get This’ shopping stage is a companion platform that adds value to the viewer experience, through discovery, companion shopping. and single cart checkout.
LR: How do web video creators implement Get*This?
Farris: In terms of technology integration, it’s quite easy, the Get This web video shopping widget is a API and iFrame configuration. In the near term, Get This works with larger content creators to curate the original products, and in certain instances look-for-less options. For smaller content creators and publishers, we plan to enable access to Get This’ marketplace, in the months ahead, so that publishers can leverage brands, select featured products to be featured for sales from their videos and begin to drive new revenue.
LR: You have won the approval of a major Hollywood network, and with a hit show no less; what’s next for you with regard to mainstream TV content integration?
Farris: There are so many opportunities ahead from TV series to new programs being created by leading content creators that leverage the ability to shop-enable programs for their audiences.
LR: How do you see advertisers involving themselves in Get*This? Are they looking for this kind of engagement play?
Farris: Brands who have products to sell can most certainly benefit from Get This Web Video commerce widget, either in content stream, product integrations. We’re also introducing opportunities to enhance and activate their video ads.
Native advertising is a big buzz word now, and it means many things (and nothing at all) to industry folks. How does Get*This accelerate native advertising units?
In terms of video, Native advertising ranges from Sponsored videos to Branded content. Get This’ web video shopping widget provides the added contextual relevance and activation for these ads.