Sure, product placement might inception a consumer into purchasing a car, soft drink or outfit later, but then again, it might not. Even if consumers notice the desirable consumer good and think to themselves to want it, the reality is they might just forget all about it long before they are ever in a position to buy it.
Or, at least, that was the wave of the past. It looks like shoppable video just might be in our collective future, as firms that make entertainment easy to shop through are starting to really capture VC interest.
Cinematique has snapped up $5.4 million in total funding for touchable video, which allows users to get a direct link to anything shown in said video. Interlude recently raised $18.2 million from MGM, Warner Music, Samsung, Sequoia Capital, Intel Capital and others.
The new shopping embedding even accounts for items on screen that aren’t sellable. Cinematique allows brands to offer extra information around those items.
The tech is useful for publishers and brands alike for use in advertorial pieces or on eCommerce sites. The team at Vox Media and TAG Heuer, for example, recently worked to create a video on the life of a chef that was actually an ad for the chef’s TAG Heuer watch (with other information about his motorcycle, clothing and location embedded).
Cinematique also allows space for content distribution, but unlike various social media platforms, it doesn’t work easily across the Web and the YouTube version of the Cinematique videos are not actually clickable for commerce.
The company isn’t currently sharing its pricing model.
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