I don’t know where I have been for the last year, but I just came across SpotRunner.com via Chris Baggot’s blog.
I also found an old post on Seth Godin’s blog about this as well, and he sums it up best:
The good news here is that:
a. it becomes astonishingly easy to test local TV. And if you’re local, you should (you must!)
b. it raises the game for the quality of media in every market.The bad news is that these are, by definition, standardized, sort of average ads. Ads that don’t spread, ads that get you part of the way, but not all the way to what a great ad can do.
How amazing is it that I just quoted a 4 week TV campaign, and was one click away from being able to “purchase” it. Apparently there is a white label version, and a phone call to customer service has left me informed that you can submit custom content.
This one of the coolest things I have seen in some time, in my experience TV buys have always been mystified and protected by advertising agencies. Essentially, if you have someone on staff who can create a good looking, interesting video showcasing your company, or you have relationships with quality vendors, or if you are a small interactive team, or you just have some money to burn, you can buy TV.