Wink Strikes Deals with JWT, Goodby, Others

Interactive TV ad company Wink Communications Wednesday released details of several partnership deals with four ad agencies.

Under terms Wednesday’s agreements, CARAT North America, Starcom Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners will offer interactive advertising technology and response processing services to their clients.

Wink announced a similar deal with Grey last month.

“Wink is very pleased to be working with some of the leading agencies in North America to bring interactive advertising into the mainstream,” said Kevin Smith, senior vice president of advertising sales for Wink. “Over time, we expect interactive enhancements to become integrated into the regular dialogue between agencies and their clients.”

By clicking their remote control during a Wink-enhanced TV advertisement, the viewer can request product samples, coupons, brochures and other offers from advertisers. Wink’s package provides advertisers and agencies with the software to create and deliver interactive TV ads, and the company also handles routing viewer requests for information.

Ultimately, the company says its technology will enroll users in promotions and contests and make purchases instantly.

“We have been working with Wink for a while on behalf of a number of our clients, and are very excited by the opportunities for increased value and learning enabled by Wink’s technology,” said CARAT North America chief executive officer David Verklin. “We believe that television advertising is destined to become more interactive over time due to the dramatic growth in the interactive TV universe.”

Understandably, deals with ad agencies like Wednesday’s can be lucrative for both parties — allowing marketers to expand their prospective client base in one fell swoop, and giving ad agencies new outlets and uses for existing creatives, which can be included in Wink’s pop-up screens.

“The Wink overlays allow us to use existing creative material and media buys to help acquire new customers. It’s an extremely cost effective way to stay competitive,” said Kristi Argyilan, director, Media Services for Goodby which has used Wink’s technology in a TV campaign for online brokerage E*Trade. “Goodby believes that Wink’s technology is applicable across a broad range of industries and looks forward to launching interactive campaigns with multiple clients in the near future.”