The future of multiple device targeting is getting up close and personal. Kiwi-grown Snakk Media is leading the charge, helping catch a sliver of the mobile phone users’ attention which study shows tend to spend a tad longer on the same ad appearing on their mobile, the same time the marketing appears on television.

Snakk Media, headquartered in Auckland, has developed a new proprietary technology called TV Synch that auto-detects the advertisements on TV screens, allowing for that same ad to come up on mobile devices while consumers are busy Facebooking their lives away.

Run by Vizeum in conjunction with Peugeot’s adverts for the new 308 in New South Wales, a corresponding ad on Facebook News Feeds is triggered each time the ad comes up on television.

Snakk Group CEO Mark Ryan said TV Sync ‘groups’ the timing of the mobile ad follow shortly after a TV commercial through specialised cloud-based software. It scans broadcast TV feeds in real time and identifies particular commercials – such as Peugeot’s campaign – that then connects into the mobile ad system to fire off the corresponding mobile version of the ad.

“It’s very early days, so it is too early to talk about results,” Ryan said.

“There is a trend emerging where we can see there is a percentage of people who are engaging with mobile ads at approximately the same time as the TV ad has appeared – they are spending significantly longer within the mobile ad.”

 Nick Behr, managing director of Vizeum in Sydney say: “TV Sync will maximise the impact of Peugeot’s TV commercials by providing a rich, interactive brand extension on smartphones and tablets. With more than 80% of smart phone and tablet owners turning to their devices while watching TV, this is a pioneering step for the industry, placing Peugeot at the forefront of the multi-screen evolution.”

Mobile subscribers worldwide are projected to reach 8.5 billion by the end of 2016, while global mobile advertising revenue hit EUR€14.6 billion (NZD$23.7 billion) in 2013. The potential in synched advertising is enormous, and already there is significant industry interest in TV Sync.

The new “multi-screening” product means that messages suited to each screen is developed individually, with the purpose of amplifying the effect of the campaign.

Nic Behr, managing director of Vizeum in Sydney, sees TV Sync as a pioneering step for the industry. “This execution provides an interactive platform to explore the look, feel, and specifications of the [car] model via mobile and tablet.”