The broadcaster is believed to be shifting its focus away from the ini-tiative, less than a year after its launch, following a lack of interest from brand-owners (Marketing, 24 January 2007).
ITV has been offering the service to retailers, such as Boots, Woolworths and WH Smith, as a way of enabling marketers to measure the direct effect of their advertising on sales.
However, plans appear to have stalled after Channel 4 axed a similar scheme involving TK Maxx last June. In January 2007, Sainsbury's stopped its ShopScanSave offering, where consumers texted in a brand name to receive a discount.
ITV's service, created by Eagle Eye Solutions, delivers an SMS coupon that can be redeemed by entering a code into Chip and PIN terminals at retail outlets.
The broadcaster is turning its attention to the development of its mobile portal. It recently extended its mobile ad contract with 4th Screen Advertising after a six-month trial. 4th Screen handles ad campaigns on the ITV WAP portal, as well as providing search-marketing services.
Orange and Vodafone have also started to stream live ad content from ITV1 for brands including Tesco. Rights issues had prevented ITV from screening ad spots on mobile phones, but these have now been resolved.
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