mini advances

From our correspondent on the streets:

I've seen the future. I'm not sure I like it…

Advertising is all around us. Some might say it's already too invasive. Any TV show that isn't on a BBC channel is sliced up to make way for 'important messages'. We've even seen shows and time slots sponsored by manufacturers and service providers. But at least we can the TV off. At the moment we still have some choice whether or not we want to be exposed to sales messages. It does, however, restrict what activities we can take part in e.g. only watching BBC channels.

This 'sales saturation' is posing it's own set of problems for those in the business of selling their products, and those who are charged with coming up with new ideas – those in advertising and marketing. As a consumer, I want less advertising not more. For me, this poses somewhat of a dilemma – since I work in that field.

So, back to the future. What can advertisers and marketers do to make sure their message reaches an increasingly desensitised and ad savvy population? The answer, it seems, is something that anyone in Direct Marketing has known for years – personalisation.

A personalised approach is far more likely to elicit a response. If that is further channeled to a specific audience, the chance of success is further increased. Used in that way, direct marketing can succeed where other channels fail. Mass audience advertising is a fairly blunt tool.

So how can advertising apply personalisation? The key is information. Good direct marketing relies on good data. The more you know your target audience, the more likely you are to give them something they want. We're starting to see 'above the line' advertising tentatively using data to give more personal messages. This is the future.

Mini USA have given us a glimpse of that future, with an innovative test campaign using digital signs and emerging new technology called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Using a small chip embedded in the drivers key fob, a personal message displays on a digital hoarding as the driver approaches.

You can find the full article here.

This test campaign was targeted at existing Mini owners who were asked to fill out a questionnaire, the answers for which became the basis for the personal messages. Imagine seeing "Happy birthday Mr Jones" on a 10 foot high bill board as you drive to work! Clever stuff.

Even more clever or just plain scary depending on you view, is a patent application to use the human body as a conductor for data. Imagine if by touching a screen, a relevant advert could be displayed, based on knowledge of perhaps your spending habits, travel history, etc.

See the full article here.

Pretty cool you might think. But there is a darker side to all of this, and that is where the information comes from. The Mini campaign relied on voluntary participation, but what if that RFID chip was embedded in, lets say, your credit card. Every purchase you ever make could be logged and recorded (for marketing purposes), allowing this sort of technology to be directed on an unprecedented level.

Just think about that for a second. You're walking down the street and you pass a blank digital ad board that picks up from the RFID chip in your credit card that you've recently bought a new car. You might get a personalised thank you from the manufacturer. or if it's coming to the end of it's credit agreement, you could get a message inviting you to test drive the new model.

The possibilities are literally endless. The ultimate in Direct Marketing. So it seems that far from dying out, Direct Marketing will, one way or another, become more and more important in an increasingly crowded marketplace.