I read a report today that women multi-task better than men. Published by Integrated Media Measurment Inc, the survey looked at how almost twice as many women both use the Internet and watch television at the same time compared to men.

While I found the survey a little obvious (everyone knows women multi-task better than men!),? it did make me wonder – how is this information being used?

Let’s look at the key group, for instance.

The biggest percentages of women that are using the Internet while watching TV are the ones that fall between the ages of 19 and 39. For this age group, many of the most popular shows include Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Medium, 30 Rock and Big Shots.

This doesn’t take into account the most popular genres like soaps, lifestyle, reality TV and chat shows. So the question then becomes are brands using this audience effectively?

Media Convergence

Let’s say I’m the marketing director for one of these shows. I find out that while my target audience is watching the show, there’s a good chance that they’re also online at the same time. So shouldn’t I be using that to my advantage? How about…

• I offer fans of the show the option to register at my show’s website.

• When the show is on, anyone using the Internet at that time gets pinged with a time-sensitive message offering exclusive offers for the duration of the show. It could be fan apparel, memorabilia, discounts on DVD boxsets, etc.

• Pick random email addresses by location, give them free tickets to their favourite show and run their website username along the bottom of the screen as a way of saying, “Thanks for being a fan”.

These are the really obvious approaches and they’re also limited to first runs and live shows. Yet the concept is feasible and the technology is there. As far as costs go, take it a little step further with your advertisers. Show them the numbers of online users you have outreach to, and allow them to place similarly unique offers to those online users for a nominal fee increase in their advertising rates.

What do you think? Would you be interested in your favourite show or brand engaging you in this way? If not, and you fall into the group the IMMI survey mentions, what would you advise when it comes to brands interacting more with your online use?

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