London, 28th January, 7am GMT: Sky Media, the advertising arm of Sky, has launched a new AI-powered advertising toolkit designed to help small and local businesses get on TV – even if they’ve never advertised before.
For over ten years, Sky Media has helped regional businesses appear on TV through AdSmart, which allows ads to be shown only to selected households, rather than paying for national coverage. Now this new AI capability, harnessing Waymark, makes the process even simpler by helping businesses create a TV advert quickly and at a much lower cost.
The new toolkit uses AI to create a professional TV advert in seconds. By using information and assets from a business’s website along with AI video, the system can automatically create short TV ads with a script, images, and different versions tailored to specific locations or audiences. This means businesses don’t need expensive production teams or long lead times to get started.
The tool also checks that every advert meets TV advertising rules, so businesses can be confident their ad is compliant and ready to be broadcast without needing specialist knowledge.
This AI technology has already helped more than 30,000 businesses in the US get onto TV, supporting over $400 million in advertising revenue.
Before going live, businesses can see how their advert is likely to make people feel and make improvements if needed. This helps ensure ads are clear, engaging, and effective – without guesswork.
Once the advert is ready, businesses can choose exactly who sees it using AdSmart. Ads can be shown only to people in specific towns, postcodes, or local areas, or at times that make sense for the business. For example, around commuting hours for retailers, restaurants, or service businesses, keeping costs down and making TV advertising more relevant.
Later this year, Sky Media will also introduce a new feature that helps businesses understand what results they might expect from TV advertising, based on similar businesses that have advertised before. This gives small businesses more confidence when deciding to try TV for the first time.
David Sanderson, Director of Business Development at Sky Media, said:
“More than 4,000 businesses have already advertised on TV for the first time with Sky. While the cost of making adverts has fallen a lot over the years, the time and effort involved can still feel like a barrier. This new tool removes that fear by showing businesses what their TV advert could look like almost instantly – and at very low cost. We believe this will open TV up to many more local and small businesses.”
Simon Godwin, Managing Director, Brundall Auto, added:
“I’d been thinking about advertising on TV for months, but the cost of making an advert put me off. When Sky showed me the TV advert they created for free using this new tool, my reaction was simply: how quickly can we get on TV?”
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