Clicktivated

Clicktivated is an interactive video technology company that converts a brand's existing video assets into clickable experiences without new production or a rebuild of the content. Viewers click or touch items shown in a video, which creates a bookmark alongside the player containing item information and a link to purchase or learn more; the video itself continues playing uninterrupted. The company states its item-recognition technology is patented and AI-powered, identifying individual items within video so they can be tagged, monetized and measured.

Beyond activation, Clicktivated offers managed distribution of the resulting interactive video through DSPs, SSPs and publishers as well as site embeds, and provides analytics based on item-level interaction signals. The company positions these signals as first-party intent data that clients own and can use for creative optimization, targeting, retargeting and performance measurement, integrating with existing UTMs, click trackers and third-party tags. It also operates an in-house production capability, described as an Emmy-winning team, for clients that need new creative built for interactive engagement. Stated turnaround is same-day or 24-hour activation from receipt of a video to a live interactive campaign.

Clicktivated markets across verticals including retail and tourism, and its site references work involving brands and destinations such as Visit Orlando, Greater Palm Springs, Visit Arizona, Toyota, McDonald's, Target, Mary Kay, Nescafe, Burberry and AFEELA. In its earlier years the company, then operating as Clicktivated Video with offices in Birmingham and downtown Detroit, Michigan, worked with mid-sized video players including Home Shopping Network.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Chris Roebuck has said the idea came from his own frustration while watching online video on a mobile screen: seeing an item he wanted to buy or learn more about with no way to act on it or go deeper during playback. He and co-founders Ben Hatala and Joe Roebuck built a clean, non-intrusive way for viewers to click items as they appear.

Business model

Clicktivated activates client-supplied video into interactive experiences and manages its distribution across programmatic, publisher and owned-site environments, layering into clients' existing media buys. At its early stage the company described a two-pronged model: a license fee to use Clicktivated, plus a CPA fee when a purchase is made through the video.

Early-stage description cites a license fee for use of the platform combined with a cost-per-action fee on purchases completed through the video; the current site describes an end-to-end offering spanning video activation, managed media distribution and ongoing optimization.

Traction

Company-reported campaign results include a Toyota Tundra campaign with 11,656 interactions, a 7.17% interaction rate and 12.20% CTR; a Target campaign with a 118% interaction rate and 22% CTR alongside a 15% increase in cart size; a McDonald's Spicy Chicken launch across 7 international markets with a 6.51% interaction rate and 3.93% CTR; and a Visit Orlando program cited at more than 10,000 high-intent consumer engagements. In 2014 the company reported engagement rates of 96% and a conversion-to-purchase rate above 7%.

Latest developments

The current site describes an end-to-end offering combining same-day video activation, managed programmatic and publisher distribution, site embeds, item-level intent analytics, and an in-house production studio for interactive-first creative, with retail and tourism as highlighted verticals.