Advertisers Are Watching You (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Recon Thursday and we’re going to take a look at whether or not Big Brother, and I’m referring to advertisers, is really watching us.

As advertisers, the more we know about our customers or potential customers the better we are able to tailor advertisements to really get them interested in our product and service.  Google is starting to do that more and more.  They are able to align the interest of their customer with potential products.  But just how far do we want to take this?  I am going to talk about new technology that enables very specific identification of customers.

Imagine you are driving along the highway and looking at a billboard when the ad suddenly changes.  It is now a product or service directed at you in particular.  That billboard may be looking back at you and, using facial recognition technology, has determined if you are male or female, young or old, even if you are happy or sad.

Microsoft is using a similar concept with their motion sensing console.  Televisions are also using this technology to determine the age of people watching in the room.  Perhaps if only younger viewers are detected in the room, an ad may run targeted at that younger person which would not have been run with an adult in the room.

It’s funny to think that after all these years of wondering whether or not Big Brother is watching us that Big Brother turns out to be the advertising industry, or you and me.  On one side it’s a great idea, being able to pin point exactly who a customer is and deliver relevant ads to them.  On the other side, do we really want to be watched in our homes and on the street or highway for the purpose of determining ads to better suit us as customers?

That’s a lot to think about.  It is a double edged sword and I’m sure there will be lots of conversations about this in the future.

That concludes Recon Thursday.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday.  To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

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