Barely one month after Digital Renaissance of Toronto signed a deal allowing Microsoft Corp. to use its new interactive tag technology, the Canadian software company is demonstrating how this technology might be used by an advertising client.

Ford Motor Company of Canada, the first domestic car manufacturer to launch a Web site, has agreed to allow Digital Renaissance to use some of its commercials to demonstrate to delegates at North America’s largest cable technology show the impact tag could have on the advertising industry. The show will be held next month in Anaheim, Calif.

tags, or temporal annotation generators, allow viewers to click on on-screen icons for additional information and details about a product or service. Because tags are denoted on a segment of running video, the technology can be used on both computers and tvs. Until interactive television becomes the norm, however, tag icons will likely appear only on computer screens.

‘It is an interactive system which is also somewhat passive,’ says Rob Martel, director of product development at Toronto’s Digital Renaissance. ‘The benefit of this technology is that it allows viewers to decide whether they want to interact, instead of assuming they do.’

Ford has not yet finalized which four 30-sec. commercials will be used to demonstrate tag at the December show, but it plans to include a spot for its new high-end utility vehicle, the Ford Expedition.

During the commercials, viewers will be able to use tag to get details on specifics such as the tires, the engine and the vehicle’s interior.

‘It also enables us to explore other advertising opportunities with our products,’ says John Arnone, product information manager at Ford. ‘People who purchase a sport utility vehicle, for example, often have a specific lifestyle that other companies can also target through the same video.’

Ford has already focused on lifestyle targeting through its partnership with outdoor clothing manufacturer Eddie Bauer. In 1991, Ford used traditional advertising to introduce several limited-edition Eddie Bauer vehicles. ‘tag will allow us to do this on screen,’ says Arnone. ‘We could offer Ford and Eddie Bauer products through this type of promotion.’

Cross-promotion and partnership opportunities become virtually limitless as numerous advertisers can promote themselves within one 30- or 60- sec. spot.

Toronto’s Young & Rubicam, the agency representing Ford, has entered into an exclusive agreement with Digital Renaissance while tag is in its pre-market testing phase, according to Edward Boyd, y&r’s director of new media technology.

y&r clients will provide feedback about the efficiency of tag to help Digital Renaissance prepare for mass market introduction, he says.

Advertisers can use tag to better understand their customers, says Boyd, adding that, since viewers must decide to interact with the screen, advertisers can assume they are already interested in the product.

‘Clients will also be able to find out which information users want to know most through the number of clicks given to certain icons,’ he says. ‘This will then enable them to refocus their marketing and better service the viewer.’

Despite the fact that the technology is still in the early stages, tag could also influence how advertising creative is developed down the road.

According to Boyd, creative teams will not only have to consider the image-building component of a campaign, but may have to take the creative to another level for interactive television.

‘It will probably be more of an adjustment for creative teams than a major change,’ says Ford’s Arnone. ‘The benefit is that tag lets users get a closer look at products by going behind the scenes of the creative.’

The interactive Ford commercials will be seen at the Western Cable Show, Dec. 11 to 13. Delegates include broadcasters, software developers, telephone companies and multimedia corporations.