Thinkbox TV Shortlists Carling World Cup Live Ads Played Out By Pixel Power

Pixel Power, the leading supplier of broadcast graphics systems, has announced that the live Carling ads aired during last year's Fifa World Cup, which proved so successful during last year's tournament, have been shortlisted for the Thinkbox TV Planning Awards 2011.
The Thinkbox TV Planning Awards, which are held in conjunction with Campaign Magazine and Mediaweek.co.uk, celebrate effective uses of TV and recognise the people behind them. The ads are shortlisted in the Best Use of TV Innovation Category.
The Carling live ads, played out on Pixel Power technology, caused a huge stir at the time. The final score of the England game that finished immediately prior to the ad break was reflected in the content of the ad itself. This was not just with the simpler text additions that several companies have been using, but in the actual format of the ad via manipulation of the video and audio.
The technical concept of the live ads - a format set to grow across the industry - was developed by ITV following an approach by ad agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB) for its client Molson Coorts. The award has been entered in conjunction with media booking company ZenithOptimedia.
BMB then approached ITV who use Pixel Power Clarity technology for both graphics job creation and playout and in this instance playout of the live ads. The software that enabled the creation of the advert in real time was provided by Stephen Mills of BG+C, a long-time third party Pixel Power application developer. The ads were then played out from a Clarity unit at Technicolor Network Services in London on behalf of ITV.
Simon Partington, Post Producer, ITV Studios, said: "This project, though a lot of hard work from all involved, was tremendously successful and it's great that it has been shortlisted for such a prestigious award. Stephen Mills was invaluable because of his knowledge of using the Clarity technology and we will undoubtedly use the method that we have devised for creating reactive commercials again. We can react to events that have a number of predictable outcomes such as sports or elimination programmes extremely quickly."
James Gilbert, Joint MD, Pixel Power, said: "We are very pleased that Pixel Power's technology has been deployed in such an innovative project and one that has a clear sales benefit. It's terrific that the ads have been shortlisted for the Thinkbox TV awards."
The award ceremony takes place on June 30 at Sketch in London.
(KMcA)