Minority Reports for the Majority

"John Anderton. You could use a Guinness right about now!" The target of this statement is Tom Cruise's character in the futuristic 2002 film Minority Report. It is the stand-out message in a relatively short scene in which we see him faced with a number of highly targeted, digital display adverts. Adverts that recognise his face and present him with 'relevant' (if not exactly timely) personalised content.

The scene probably left marketers salivating at the possibilities - until they remembered, regrettably. that they were indeed watching a sci-fi. Surely such tailored messaging would be out of their reach for years to come...

However, recent technological advances suggest that this may actually be reality far sooner than we think. Forget 2054, try 2012.

Can it really work? Will it be cheap enough? Would anyone really give away all their personal details? Well actually, the answer is yes - to all of the above.

Let me bring two exhibits to the table.

Exhibit 1: Immersive billboards - digital signage that is equipped with cameras that can roughly work out your gender, age and whether or not you are with friends. It can then offer you tailored advertising based on some assumptions.

http://www.psfk.com/2011/04/immersive-is-the-google-adwords-of-intelligent-digital-signage.html


Exhibit 2: Facebook picture recognition - a 'service' that 
 recognises the faces in your photo albums and tags them automatically in order to save you time.

It does not take a genius to propose synching the two types of technologies together. You could create a system that not only could establish who you are, but scan your personal page to discover what your interests are, what brands you like and who you are mates with.

I say bring it on...

I like to think that when they get hold of my page it will only be a matter of time before I'm offered a half price bottle of Bacardi, last minute gig tickets and a new (replacement) phone. Winning!

Claydon's Heelz

This week, our crack team of speedy runners, known brilliantly as Claydon's Heelz, took part in the annual LGN Run Club's Inter Advertising 5km in Regents Park.

Raising money for TESFA in Ethiopia were Richie, Steve, Mus, Amit, Ali, Nicola, Jules, Eve, Lou and Alex.  Here they are looking slightly rosy-cheeked after the race...

And here they are celebrating their (personal) win.

Sweaty trainers and well-deserved pints all round.

Well done guys!

Fast cars and...your finances?

Stability. Solid. Customer centricity.

Just some of the core attributes a high street bank would probably want to portray to its customers, right?

Risk taker. Adrenaline seeker. British champions.

Perhaps three attributes not quite so timely for banking institutions. Especially one so unmistakably non-British (that shall remain nameless...)

Why then, has the largest bank in Europe recently announced its plans to ramp up the prominence of its two UK 'brand ambassadors', Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton?

Now I can completely understand the reasoning behind this kind of high profile celebrity endorsement. They can be beneficial by:

-  proving a useful way of communicating some sense of a brand's value and personality, by drawing upon the general public perception of said individual.

-  closer aligning a brand with its consumers through an individual that people admire, respect or aspire to.

-  leveraging the highly visible nature of an individual to reach a wider audience.

I can clearly see the link between the sport of Formula One and the financial industry. Both are intricately scientific and complex. Both are highly volatile and operate at speed.

In this case though, it just feels wrong. Post financial crisis, associating your consumer facing financial services brand with a sport where the tiniest error can have hugely destructive consequences; or where speed, risk-taking and aggression are rewarded, just seems poorly thought out. More than this though, it's the association with the drivers themselves - these adrenaline junkies that crave the high-risk excitement - that hits a nerve with me.

Banks need to do a serious job in re-establishing a relationship with consumers that is based on trust. They need to show that they are solid, stable and customer focused. Consumers are more savvy about the financial world. They're more wary of overt displays of financial risk-taking and more willing to shop around for the best products and rates.

Investing such vast sums of their marketing budget on high profile Formula One faces doesn't seem particularly smart to me.