Brand Affinity offers choice of celebrities for online ads

A new platform launched by Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT) allows advertisers to choose canned athlete and celebrity images and videos that can be used to create targeted online endorsement ads.

Under the BAT system, athletes and celebrities agree to review solicitations by advertisers that want to use their images in web campaigns. The platform provides advertisers with categorised lists of participating stars.

The interface contains an exhaustive degree of up-to-the-minute information about the person, including his or her historical and current popularity based on the system's automatic review of more than 30,000 "affinity influencers" gleaned from online sources such as chat and web site discussions.

Currently the BAT platform features 1,400 people, primarily athletes. Advertisers can drill down to see each star's affinity rating on national, regional, and local levels. When an advertiser chooses a personality, an offer is sent to the star or the star's agent.

The talent is available on a CPM basis, with their pricing based on tiers ranging from $1 to $2.50 CPM.

The athletes and other celebrities have the right to review finished ads and reject them.

One such online ad on the LegalZoom website feature an image of basketball hall of fame member Walt Frazier dribbling a basketball. Another ad for the online legal document service shows off the fast footwork of Chicago Bears wide receiver Devin Hester reads, "My Best Offense."