“Can You read Your Customers’ Mind” – Q&A Session

“With next-generation advertising technology, you may not be able to read your customers' minds, but you can get pretty close.” concludes the article I read recently.

Without going into detail what this new technology of the future called TABANAR really does (it is, or should be, a device that combines a digital screen and camera to analyze your physical characteristics and play back personalized advertisements), I found very interesting the overview of existing technologies presented in the article.

• The first featured solution of the presence is Image Recognition software, e.g. VideoMining solution. What does it do? “The feeds from security cameras are sent to a computer, which extrapolates  info on everything from what products people are looking at to how long they stand in front  of a particular display”. Its application is very clear – maximize sales by correcting the effectiveness of a display or store design.
• Digital media platform, e.g. YCD Multimedia solution. The idea is that video screens play advertisements related to what people put in their shopping carts at POS. Its benefit is that the retailers will cheaply measure, in real time,  the performance of marketing campaigns and concept testing.
• The third solution is based on so-called brain-mapping techniques, e.g. Martin Lindstrom’s study, which measured how different regions in the brain reacted (or didn’t) to certain advertising related stimuli, including sound, smells and visuals. One of his conclusions is: “if the brain can’t figure out how it (advertisement) fits with the story line, it will literally delete it”.

Sure, all these techniques and technology solutions raise privacy questions, but at the end, it seems, according to Guy Hagen from Innovation Insight: “in general people will put up with privacy invasions if they get enough benefits from it”. Hm, would I be happy if TABANAR  perceives me as having couple kilos more than average, and concludes I like chocolate, so I see only Lindt commercials everywhere I turn my head to?! Hm hm…