The strange, weird and possibly scary future of marketing technology
Facial recognition technology is something we’d normally associate with security. However, this technology (as well as other similar technologies) are being developed in many different industries for a variety of different purposes and combined in unexpected ways. And surprisingly, is likely to have a major impact in Marketing and PR.
Advertising
We’ve become accustomed to receiving targeted advertising online. But there are now plans for taxis (at least in Japan) to use facial recognition technology for targeted advertising. The plans don’t go as far as identifying the individual person themselves, but the technology could identify demographic characteristics, such as age, gender etc. of the rider. Which would make advertising much more effective. One potential benefit for the customer could be reduced fares, provided customers don’t mind being bombarded with video advertising while traveling. Or alternatively, customers could simply ignore the advertising, while still benefiting from the reduced fares.
Online advertising
Eye tracking technology has been in use in many areas of academic research for some time. But it could also have applications in marketing. And certainly could have applications in online advertising. One issue with online advertising is that payments are made for advertising regardless of whether the customer even noticed the advert on the screen. The majority of people are now so used to online advertising that it’s simply ignored. However, revenue payments could be determined by eye tracking technology, paying out only if the customer notices the advert. This could also provide valuable feedback on the effectiveness of the advertising and even feed into customer data itself.