Hewlett Packard wants a piece of advertisers’ budgets.
The tech company, which primarily sells personal computers, has been pitching advertisers on an ad network called HP Media Network, according to a pitch deck viewed by ADWEEK.
The pitch deck plays up HP’s size, claiming to reach a global monthly audience of 830 million people across more than 100 million devices. In the U.S., HP reaches 160 million monthly people across 19 million devices. According to HP, 2 million new devices are added globally each month.
HP remains one of the biggest manufacturers of personal computers, but Apple’s growth is cutting into its market share. According to research firm IDC, HP is the second-largest PC manufacturer with 20% of the market, behind Lenovo’s 24%. Apple controls less than 9% of the market but had a 14% year-over-year increase during the first quarter, per IDC.
As more advertisers look to connect with consumers directly, HP is betting that its devices can be ad platforms, too—similar to how smart TV manufacturers (or OEMs) like Samsung and LG have built ad businesses.
HP’s move into advertising shows how device manufacturers are increasingly battling for ad dollars, said Michael Gifis, founder and managing partner at Marcy Damn and formerly head of commerce media at Taboola. Gifis is an advisor to HP and other companies building advertising businesses.
“The future battle for attention will unfold where there is access to the consumer, and hardware is the entry point to any digital journey,” Gifis said. “As such, you will see more business development activity amongst OEMs, carriers, retailers, software developers, content, and IP providers looking for upstream and embedded access to monetize the digital consumer.”
HP did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Placing ads on a laptop screen
HP Media Network is selling ads that appear on HP’s own computers and apps. HP is also using its first-party data to sell some offsite ads through adtech firms including Microsoft and Kargo, according to two ad executives with direct knowledge. HP’s ad products also include placements within email and social campaigns, according to the pitch deck.
“Kargo is constantly innovating new formats to show up in places where there is less advertising and more attention,” said Harry Kargman, founder and CEO of Kargo. “It’s exciting to watch HP lead the market in creating non-invasive native ad experiences across their massive customer base. Hopefully this will be the start of a much broader industry trend for device manufacturers.”
In one example, an ad format called “Toast” appears in the lower right-hand corner of a laptop screen. The ad features a logo, a short message, and a call to action. Last year, HP used the format to promote holiday deals on its products, resulting in more than 5 million views and a 2.6% clickthrough rate.