Featured Startup Pitch: Birmingham, Michigan-based Clicktivated wants to make in-video advertising less intrusive…and more effective

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By Editor January 23, 2014
Courtesy of Clicktivated.

Courtesy of Clicktivated.By Chris Roebuck, Clicktivated co-founder and CEO

Elevator Pitch: Clicktivated is a non-intrusive interactive video technology that monetizes video content and further engages the viewer. We don’t use layers or indicators, so the content remains ‘untouched’ and pure—see an item in a video, and simply click on it to buy or learn more.

Product/Service Description

Clicktivated is a new and revolutionary interactive video technology that is totally non-intrusive—we do not use any indicators or layers in our interactive experience, and it is fully HTML5 compatible. It’s simple: Click (or touch) on items within a video that you’re interested in, and a bookmark will appear to the right of the video containing all the item’s information (the video is never disrupted and continues to play). At any time, you can click on the bookmark and be directed to the relevant webpage to make a purchase or learn more (situation dependent).

Founder’s Story

A few years back, I was getting frustrated while watching videos/shows and seeing something I wanted to either buy on the spot or learn more about. There had to be a better way to interact with items as soon as you see them. So that’s exactly what we did, in a very clean-and-pure format.

Marketing/Promotion Strategy

We are currently implementing various PR and marketing campaigns and are continuing to grow our social base. The response has been tremendous thus far.

Courtesy of Clicktivated.Market Opportunity

The online video market has grown rapidly over the last three years and is expected to double by 2016.

Currently, it’s considered a success when a purchase is made .1 percent of the time through online ads. That’s a very low number. We have been seeing 96 percent engagement rates and over a seven percent conversion-to-purchase rate. Brands have been longing for a technology that will allow viewers of online content to act on their impulse to buy or learn more on the spot!

How We Differentiate From the Competition

Our competitors use both layers and indicators over items or people throughout a video. We have found consumers really do not like indicators as they feel they are being sold to and find the experience is annoying. Who wants to watch a show and stare at a bunch of moving dots on the screen saying, ‘click me!’? These technologies have not gained the traction they’d hoped because the experience is very weak and the viewers are seeing through it. Clicktivated believes that ‘content is king’ and puts the control into the hands of the viewer—if they see something they like, they can click on it to learn more without having the content disrupted.

Business Model

Our model is two pronged: 1. License fee to use Clicktivated; 2. CPA model if there is a purchase made through the video.

Current Needs

We are currently looking for developers and sales people, and are seeking a second round of funding to facilitate growth.

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Courtesy of Clicktivated.

Ben Hatala (left), Chris Roebuck (center) and his father Joe (right) co-founded Clicktivated Video.

Headquarters: Birmingham, Michigan

Website: www.clicktivatedvideo.com

Founders: Ben Hatala, Chris Roebuck, Joe Roebuck

Investors: IncWell

Year Founded: 2011

Employees: 9

Twitter: @Clicktivated

Facebook: facebook.com/clicktivated

Video Samples: www.clicktivatedvideo.com/tryitout.aspx