A new partnership between Unity Technologies and CBS Interactive was announced on June 26. CBS Interactive, the largest publisher of premium content, plans to work with Unity Technologies in order to bring augmented reality (AR) advertising to its platforms, which include the CBS Sports, CBS News, CNET, GameSpot, and TV Guide mobile apps.
“Through the introduction of new ad formats like AR, we are continuing to create meaningful moments for CBS advertisers to connect with audiences in innovative ways,” Executive Vice President of Digital Sales and Sales Strategy for CBS, David Lawenda said on CBS Press Express. “Together with Unity, we look forward to leveraging augmented reality to create more engaging branded content and ad experiences for our advertisers.”
Unity Technologies, the company behind Pokemon Go, currently powers more than 45 percent of the top 1,000 mobile games and is also partnered with companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft.
According to Julie Shumaker, Vice President of Advertiser Solutions at Unity Technologies, CBS hopes to provide “…another innovative solution to their advertising partners. At Unity, we’re seeing brands use mobile augmented reality ads as a way to achieve high consumer engagement, positive brand association, and direct response from users.”
CBS isn’t the only company looking to use immersive branding and AR for ads. Google recently launched an advertising campaign for MAC Cosmetics on YouTube, in which audiences can try on makeup as they watch their favorite YouTubers put it on.
