Marketing Trends 2011: Advertising Becomes Personal with Billboards that See You

Annie DiMatteo - 11.29.2010 7:49 AM

The following is re-posted from July 27, 2009.

We live in a “me” society, where everything is on demand, and customized and personalized just for me.  I have MySpace, iGoogle, my Yahoo, my iTunes – everything directed towards me, in the way I choose to consume it.  I no longer read a print newspaper; instead I simply log onto my Google desktop, and can see my top interest news, specifically in the way I have decided to filter it, and specifically in the order I want it displayed.  I no longer listen to the radio, I play my iTunes, which are songs I have chosen to listen to, or Pandora, with specific radio stations created just for me, based on the music I want to hear.  I no longer buy shoes at a regular store; instead I use an online company that puts together a customized selection of shoes just for me, based on my personal tastes.  I have decided that I am important enough to only consume exactly what I want, and have thus managed to filter out most of the “noise” that exists in the world. 

It only makes sense that advertising and marketing will follow this trend in focusing on the “personalized for me.”  Random ads directed at mass consumers may no longer be as effective, now that consumers are used to having everything else customized specifically for them. 

While there has been much debate in the past over your online privacy – a new debate may soon exist that can be taken to the streets, in the form of billboards. 

A system was very recently developed by a research agency in Singapore.  The system consists of a billboard-like electronic screen that has cameras and sensors that can actually “see” passersby.  The screen can detect the gender of the passersby, as well as exactly how long the “audience” looks at the billboard.  The system will soon be able to detect your age as well.  IBM is currently working on a system that will be able to scan a crowd, estimate the number of people in the crowd, as well as the demographics of the crowd, and exactly where the crowd is looking.

Taking this new technology a step further, there is much to come just on the horizon.  These systems will soon be able to detect logos on cups and shopping bags of passersby, and then display relevant ads to each person.  These “relevant” ads could either be to reinforce the brand they are using, or to display an ad of a competitor of the brand.

Albeit a bit creepy to have a screen know my age, gender, and what I am having to drink, what an amazing way to customize and tailor messages just for me.
 

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