The Virtuoso Brand

I saw a demo by a guy from Real Networks of something just like this - a US baseball game, with eg Domino Pizza ads dropped onto the hoarding around the pitch. Really cool. It was incorporated into some of their new products and was based on something called 'SMIL' - some sort of embedding technology (I think) that Real seemed to be pretty excited about. Seemed to be about the embedding of various channels of info/advertising/etc into the broadcast stream - so could also work for providing detailed stats on eg each baseball player on the field, as well as advertising. So forget James Bond driving around in a BMW Z3: here we finally have the ultimate in product placement...
Sam

On 15:24:22 1 February 2001 murray wrote:
>The first UK “virtual advertising” campaigns
>are expected to launch this year. This involves
>advertising insertions or links during programming. (For
>example: A branded kitchen appliance is
>“inserted” into the broadcast stream of a
>cooking programme.) Branding can be customised according
>to the region or demographic of the target audience and
>graphics can also be linked to additional information
>screens or shopping interfaces.
>
>Live sports events have been an important driver of the
>technology in the US. Images carried on stadium
>advertising space (billboards, video screens etc) are
>replaced, in the broadcast stream, by new logos/messages.
>[Americans can really look forward to watching Wimbledon
>on telly this year……after all, the staid,
>brandless walls of the All England club have always looked
>somewhat naked without the Miller Lite, Pennzoil and
>MCI/Sprint marks of approval.]
>
>Have a look at some of the companies offering the
>technology:
>www.orad.co.il
>www.pvi-inc.com
>
>Some of the obstacles/limitations facing implementation of
>the technology, include:
>
>- Difficulty in determining when a virtual ad is
>appropriate – consistency with content is crucial.
>Alteration of content could have a serious negative effect
>on loyal viewers. To date, most channel/platform owners
>(in the US) are experimenting with sports events, music
>concerts and awards ceremonies. These are often
>“highly sponsored” programmes and inclusion of
>additional branding could be more acceptable to viewers
>than, for example, altering a favourite sitcom or drama
>purely for a sponsor’s benefit.
>- As is so often the case in digital media, existing
>copyrights could complicate development. Particularly, the
>issue of how to reimburse the creators and producers of
>programme series, if their work is significantly changed.
>- The ITC have already released virtual advertising
>guidelines for the UK. These state that insertion of
>branding in the broadcast stream must be restricted to
>space that is already occupied by advertising i.e. at a
>sports event, virtual branding may replace an existing
>billboard or video screen (which normally carries
>advertising) but nothing else.
>
>Feel free to contact for more details:
>