Canoe Still Not Identifying Its Charter Advertisers

Canoe Ventures CEO David Verklin likes to use name-brand advertisers in his talks about the cable-ad company’s upcoming product launches — marketers like American Express and Visa.

But he hasn’t been 100% clear that they’re just hypothetical examples, not (for now) paying advertisers.

At the Cable Show 2009, Verklin talked about community addressable messaging (CAM) and said American Express could use the capability to target, say, its Gold Card to high-income cable ad zones ($100,000+) while the standard Green Card would get shown to everyone else. (See Cable Show 2009: Canoe To Launch Product In 4-6 Weeks.)

Turns out, Canoe reps told me last week, Amex was just an example. (See Canoe Closer to Spot-Swapping.)

Verklin today was discussing Canoe’s forthcoming interactive TV ads, and apparently cited Visa as using the RFI capabilities to let viewers request more info on credit cards, Contentinople reported. Verklin was speaking at at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Digital Video conference.

But again, Visa is just a ferinstance: “No — they’re not a client,” Canoe senior director of marketing communications Dana Runnells wrote in an e-mail. “Just an example.”

The interactive-advertising products will be introduced in the fourth quarter, Runnells added.

Having heard Mr. Verklin speak, I can verify that he exudes an infectious enthusiasm. But until Canoe has officially launched maybe he should just say “a major credit card company” in his explanations?