It occurred to me in junior high school as I began watching MTV
that I was no longer seeing commercials for cool new toys and
happy meals, which I had been used to seeing up until then. It took
some time for me to realize that this is because advertisers are
specifically targeting an audience/certain demographic that is
watching MTV. So that explained to me why I saw commercials for
Legos and Barbies on Nickelodeon. By these advertisements being
places strategically on certain channels advertisers have all their
angles covered... right?
When looking for technology news this week I stumbled across
an article that explains the studying of consumers taken to a rather
creepy level. In grocery stores, malls, and other various places there
is a growing trend of TV screens with secret cameras embedded into
the frames. In other words, as a person is watching an
advertisement on the TV, the TV is secretly watching them. The
article claims TV software is able to detect the gender, age range,
duration of viewing, and possibly ethnicity of the viewer. While this
may seem frighteningly odd, I must admit it is an original tactic in
the world of marketing to a specific audience. I can definitely see
this becoming a more prevalent and effective form of advertising if
the camera in the TV and accurately assess it's viewers. However, on
the other hand I'm not sure if I should be scared of such a thing. By
the advertisements appearing ever so perfectly when a specific
group is in front of a TV screen, will this encourage spending in our
economy or create annoyance? Will consumers grow tired of yet
another way advertisers are trying to reach them? Luckily, this
technology is in its early stages. Its possible it may not even take
off into a full blown marketing strategy or be accurate enough to be
worth the cost. But next time I am in a grocery store or mall, I'm
sure I will be looking at any TV screen with a critical eye. It could
be watching me!
That is a different way to advertise. Certainly a bit creepy, possibly violating privacy since you are being filmed without knowing it. I think we also all get a little tired of constantly being bombarded by advertisements. Also, I wonder if it would be mostly relying on stereotypes of people to decide what to show. Sure many men like sports, but not all men do. I can imagine though that a man walking up to something like this would be likely to see sports related ads. And if it's a group of people of mixed genders, ages, and races, I wonder what advertisements would be chosen.
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