Mobile video advertising firm iVdopia is adding a social networking component to its pre-app and in-app iPhone ads, so consumers can share ads with friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Called Talk2Me, the product increases the range of options by which marketers can reach iPhone end-users. The company plans to follow it up later with a version for Android.
With apps-based advertising, people’s behavior can be measured more precisely, according to Srikanth Kakani, co-founder of San Jose-based iVdopia. iVdopia’s Share Respond Interact (SRI) interface is customizable and allows marketers to offer end-users the ability to share, respond and interact. For example, users can respond to advertisers by calling, sending an SMS, e-mailing or filling out a short form. Or users can share ads through Twitter or Facebook.
A sample of iVdopia Talk2Me ads can be found here.
In light of acquisitions by Google and Apple in the mobile advertising space, the key for newer companies like iVdopia, which launched last March, is to come up with solutions that are effective at reaching large numbers of users, and iVdopia is one of the first companies doing just that, Kakani says. “This is actually a very exciting time,” he says, as more money gets invested in the space.
The company has undergone two funding rounds, one involving angel investors and another with venture capital. Back in October, the company announced that Nexus Venture Partners had invested $4 million in a Series A round.
The company employs close to seven in the United States, where it is adding more staff. In India, it employs close to 21. It also plans to add staff in India and to be up to 30 or 35 people by next month.
Filed Under: Devices
