Chado-Design.com

Japan has recently introduced new digital advertising billboards for a trial run that utilizes exciting new technology that could potentially change the face of visual advertisements. Although it is still in its test phase, the new technology fits billboards with specialized cameras that can read the gender and approximate age of its viewers and tailor the message displayed. This ensures the ad space is being used to its fullest potential and the message is delivered to its intended audience. The project was launched last month with twenty-seven displays in multiple subway stations around Tokyo. Further testing and analytics can take the ads a step further adding another variable for increased accuracy in audience targeting: the time of day. Different demographic groups are more likely to use the station at certain times of day so the available ads in circulation can change for increased precision.

This type of targeting is already being used online with Facebook tailoring advertisements based on the user’s gender, age, and interests, but using cameras could be seen as too invasive. There has been some backlash at Facebook for saving user data for advertising so there are already many ethical considerations surrounding this new technology. The operators claim that the cameras do not record images, they only collate data about the groups it is targeting to improve the system. Depending on how the trial run proceeds, we could soon have these “smart” advertisements in American subway platforms displaying only relevant ads to commuters.

I find this particularly interesting because, besides a few exceptions, billboards have never really changed. For decades they have remained the same, untouched as relics of old-world media before the digitization of advertising. By incorporating new technology it may ensure the lasting survival of the medium or, based on the public’s perception of its potentially invasive nature, destroy the public’s acceptance. With security cameras already prevalent in most major cities this wouldn’t seem like a hard sell for the public’s acceptance, but it may be seen as more surveillance and the next step in an increasingly Orwellian future.

In previous posts I have featured new innovative billboards that take advantage of new technology to engage viewers and breathe life into an aging advertising medium. These new technologies have added functionality to the otherwise inoperative ads. The newest and quite possibly strangest billboard advertisement created was recently erected in Charlotte, North Carolina. The billboard is for The Bloom, a regional grocery store chain that is promoting a new brand of beef. Not only does the ad display a gigantic piece of steak on a massive fork but it actually pumps out the smell of hickory barbecue to entice passing motorists. It also has copy boasting that the “flavor is actual size”. The scent technology was developed by ScentAir, a company that develops custom fragrances for casinos and hotels, and is powered by an oversize fan that blow the scent thirty to fifty yards into the roadway. The billboard is otherwise unavoidable as the scent jumps into the audience’s car for a multisensory experience. This billboard is the first of its kind and it could possibly be the last based on the public’s reaction. It certainly raises a lot of questions about ethics; what do people who live nearby think about the billboard? Do they enjoy living with the constant smell of barbecue? Does it really smell like steak? What about vegetarians who claim to be appalled by the smell of meat? Regardless of local opinion, the ad has caught nationwide attention possibly making it one of the farthest-reaching billboards in advertising history.

Earlier this year Dominoes pizza launched a new campaign in an attempt to re-brand their pizza. With consumer behavior shifting towards natural foods and gourmet offerings Dominoes adapted by changing their recipe and using better quality ingredients to improve the taste. To announce this they chose a risky campaign where they would admit that their then-current recipe tasted bad and quoted customers saying the crust is like cardboard and the sauce tastes like ketchup. It seemed like a huge risk openly admitting to your customers that you have knowingly been selling them a bad product for over fifty years. Also, the existing Dominoes customers are not buying their pizza for its superior taste, they are buying it for convenience. I personally thought this ad would backfire and burn bridges causing Dominoes to lose their loyal customers that still continue to eat their pizza in spite of all the better alternatives available.
Although it was extremely risky for the brand to devalue all their past brand messages and product lines, this campaign accomplished exactly what it set out to do; it got people talking about the brand again. “New and Improved” is one of the most overused phrases in marketing and simply communicating that they have a new recipe wouldn’t have been as effective without publicly bashing their product beforehand. In early January when the campaign launched, people were actually talking, tweeting, and blogging about Dominoes and the brand received more attention than it has in the past decade.
Yesterday it was reported that their new recipe and brutally honest campaign has been a success, at least in the short term, as Dominoes has more than doubled its fourth-quarter profit with curious customers trying their new recipe. Time will tell if this success will last but this early victory has been very interesting. As long as they can keep the momentum going and the novelty does not wear off, Dominoes big gamble with their brand will be well worth the risk.