Is pluk just a fad, or is it important for advertisers?
You might not have heard of pluk. It’s a mobile application that allows users to “pluk”
offers that they see on TV. You simply activate the app, which listens to the TV ad
and lets you, as the pluk site states: “make instant purchases, grab offers, download
vouchers, access special content and lots more immediately!”
The idea is that this will contribute to the ‘second screen’ of advertising, allowing
people to interact with ads from brands that interest them. Advertisers can worry
less about moving possible customers from watching the ad to purchasing offers or
interacting.
However, this is all predicated on the notion that people will automatically have
pluk on when they are watching TV or will go to the effort to use it often. This is the
core issue we have with pluk. Let’s say you’re watching an ad. The little pluk logo
appears in the corner. Are you immediately going to get out your phone and activate
the app? Unless you’re a prolific shopper this just doesn’t seem like the kind of app
you would actively have on. As a result, the initial buzz of using pluk could run the
risk of petering out. What is the incentive for shoppers, especially when the majority
of users will have access to a laptop and/or tablet and are probably using these at
the same time as their phone and watching TV?
Nevertheless, pluk has been met with quick uptake from users with over 10,000
people having downloaded the app within a few days since its launch in January
last year. The Block NZ sponsors were one of the first to utilise pluk, with Kiwibank
allowing users to download their nifty RenoMate budgeting tracker, while Mazda
encouraged viewers to test drive their BT-50 ute, which has been seen throughout
the show.
So is pluk the future of the second screen phenomenon? Maybe, but with television
itself is on its way to becoming inherently digital with internet access, we imagine
pluk being replaced by your trusty TV remote. With just a push of a dollar sign
button on your remote, you could instantly purchase these items.
Of course, we could be wrong.
Maybe pluk does have some additional value, case in point, enhanced user
experiences such as recipe downloads while watching NZ Beef + Lamb
commercials, or donating to Surf Lifesaving charities.
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