Cosmetics firm Rimmel London has become the first advertiser to use ITV’;s new synchronised ad format Ad Sync, with one of its digital ads appearing on The X Factor app at the same time as a Rimmel ad aired on ITV1. The app is available for iOS mobiles and tablets and was created by FremantleMedia UK Interactive, the digital division of the show”s producer FremantleMedia.

The Ad Sync ad format was launched at last week”s Internet Advertising Bureau Engage conference by Fru Hazlitt, managing director of commercial and online at ITV. In her address, she advised delegates to embrace the fact that digital is now the norm – but not get carried away with complex technology: “Our audience has some early adopters and digital purists, but mostly it’;s about the mass market, who take a while to change. We need to respect those viewers and innovate within their reach,” she said.