Bell Media and Shopsense AI Bring Curated Shoppable TV to Canadian Viewers
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bell Media, Canada’s leading media and entertainment company, has partnered with Shopsense AI, the leader in shoppable TV technology, to bring innovative second-screen shopping experiences to millions of Canadian viewers. This collaboration marks Shopsense's first expansion outside of the U.S. and the first integration of its powerful Commerce OS into Canadian entertainment programming. The partnership will debut on CTV’s popular daily shows The Good Stuff with Mary Berg and Etalk.
Bell Media is now the fifth major media organization to partner with Shopsense since its launch in April, joining an impressive lineup that includes Paramount, Univision, Tastemade, and Nexstar Media Group (The CW).
“Bell Media is always looking for new and innovative ways to strengthen connections and create an interactive viewing experience for our large and loyal audience,” said Stewart Johnston, SVP, Content and Sales at Bell Media. “Our partnership with Shopsense provides our viewers with a next-level viewing experience, while giving our clients valuable integrated opportunities to engage with consumers.”
The Good Stuff with Mary Berg, a lifestyle series with a strong focus on food, will offer foodie-focused gift guides, host-inspired fashion, and affordable home décor, creating a trendy and hyper-curated marketplace to recreate what viewers are seeing on screen. Meanwhile, Etalk, Canada’s longest running entertainment news program, will introduce a shoppable experience featuring accessible fashion inspired by today’s biggest stars, giving audiences the opportunity to easily recreate their favorite celebrity styles.
Brands will soon be able to sponsor second-screen experiences during pivotal moments on The Good Stuff with Mary Berg and Etalk, and across both series impressive social media channels, which have a combined reach of over 1.5M followers. A recent eMarketer study found that TV viewers prefer mobile devices to shop for products seen on TV. Engaging living room audiences on the second-screen alongside TV activations offers brands the opportunity to gain incremental time and influence with customers.
“Partnering with Bell Media and launching shoppable TV on CTV is a significant milestone for Shopsense,” said Glenn Fishback, CEO and Co-founder of Shopsense. “Canadians have trusted CTV as a leader in entertainment for years, and this collaboration allows us to enhance their viewing experience while providing innovative solutions for Bell Media’s advertisers.”
Shopsense AI’s Commerce OS offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enhance TV shoppability and activate consumers across multiple channels where they engage with content. The platform empowers broadcasters with innovative features like the Shopsense Lens, enabling viewers to use their smartphones to snap images of their screens and shop millions of products powered by proprietary AI. It also includes AI-curated Storefronts for fast online retail store deployment, SEO-optimized tools driving Organic Store Traffic, and Retail Media Ad Units that extend shoppable sponsorships across websites and apps. Additionally, its Shopper Intelligence provides detailed insights into consumer behavior, covering the entire purchase journey from consideration to conversion.
U.S. retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy represent a significant share of Canada's e-commerce spending. Through the Shopsense AI partnership, Bell Media will gain access to these leading U.S. retailers, as well as prominent Canadian retailers such as Canada Goose, Roots, and SSENSE, expanding opportunities across both markets.
Bell Media has plans to scale shoppability across its extensive content library, including award shows, scripted dramas, and unscripted programs, paving the way for immersive, interactive television experiences throughout their portfolio. Bespoke brand partnership opportunities for advertisers will be available through the Bell Media Brand Partnership team around brand inspired collections.
About Bell Media
Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services. As a content leader and partner in Sphere Media, Montréal’s Grande Studios, and Dome Productions, one of North America’s leading production facilities providers, Bell Media is committed to keeping Canadians entertained and informed.
Bell Media also offers best-in-class technology, marketing, and analytics support through Bell Marketing Platform, an omnichannel self-serve platform which includes Bell Analytics, Strategic Audience Management (SAM), and Bell DSP, in addition to advanced advertising solutions, including Linear Addressable TV, Addressable Audio, and ads on Crave. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company. 1 Learn more at BellMedia.ca.
1 Based on total revenue and total combined customer connections.
About Shopsense
Shopsense AI unlocks new revenues for media companies, like linear and streaming TV platforms, by making their original content instantly shoppable within their own e-commerce sites and mobile apps. The patent-pending, enterprise SaaS solution allows consumers to easily find and buy AI-curated collections of clothing, home goods, sports gear and other products inspired by what they see on their favorite shows, movies, sports events and livestream broadcasts. Offering a low-lift, no-SDK integration, the Shopsense platform allows publishers to quickly activate second-screen shopping experiences that keep viewers inside their content and commerce ecosystem, driving revenue, engagement, and loyalty.
Visit Shopsense.ai to learn more.
Contacts
Media Contacts:
For Bell Media:
Kaitlynn Jong
kaitlynn.jong@bellmedia.ca
For Shopsense AI:
Michael McMullan
Berns Communications Group
mmcmullan@bcg-pr.com