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.

By Royal Invitation Only

As part of our campaign delivery for The Queen's Awards for Enterprise, our CEO Steve Grout was invited along with the campaign team and winners of the awards to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace for a personal thank you.

Targetbase Claydon Heeley - We've got contacts.  Believe.

Google Goggles Part II

 Here's the exciting second installment of 'How Google Goggles sees TBCH'.  We still recommend abusing the technology for your own immature amusement.

Becky

Caroline

Chris Martin

Chris Myers

Claire

Merran

Muz

Ali

Amit

Tee hee hee.

The New Rock Stars?

Isn't it a disappointment when you imagine a brilliant picture of something really cool in your head, only for it to be rubbished in the cold light of reality?

Maybe it was just me, but I always had a slightly romantic view of internet hackers (not to be confused with those pesky phone hackers).

I had convinced myself that they were the modern day heroes intent on sticking it to the man (think Neo and Morpheus from The Matrix).  Either that or they were a sinister bunch of uber-villains out to cause havoc and mayhem.  What tied the two together was a delightful mixture of intelligence, charm, skill and mischief, not to mention a good dose of humour.  They were a secret society, the illuminati of the internet, who met up in their mysterious hideouts to plot, scheme and hack.

But the recent arrests of prominent members of hacker groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec has made me realise I was perhaps being a little flattering in my fantasy.  The dynamic internet elite were little more than teenagers, and pretty geeky ones at that.  But it did get me thinking...

Are these budding hackers the disaffected youths and rebels from yesteryear?  Both are seemingly drawn to the 'cool' and dangerous side of society.  Just as they were with punk and grunge, our generation of youngsters are being compelled by the same sense of rebellion and anarchy (and the counter-culture and politics that come with it).

Have they simply traded guitar rhythms for algorithms?

The main difference is that the internet has made it possible for anybody to become a 'rock star'.  The internet provides anonymity and intrigue.  Its reach allows anyone to gain kudos, respect and admiration (regardless of what they look like).

Herein lies the appeal for the downtrodden and outcast - a golden chance to be a part of something bigger.  More importantly, it's a chance to be something more than an awkward teenager who struggles to strive in an offline world.

Let's compare the old with the new.  Sure, both are rich and famous and evidently surrounded by a gaggle of groupies.  But if I'm completely honest, I'd sooner spend an evening with Keith Richards than Julian Assange - any day of the week.

Email or Admail?

Returning from my summer holiday this year, I was welcomed home by over 280 emails in my hotmail inbox.  I know we all complain about junk mail, but this number actually excludes those pesky little bits of communication.  So if you subtract all the messages I received suggesting all sorts of gadgets and pharmaceuticals for any problems I might (or might NOT) have, it would appear that I am pretty popular.

It was only when I started to sort through my inbox that I realised I didn't have ONE email that was sent from a friend, relative, colleague...or indeed, anybody I really know.  Most people knew that I was away, but this did strike me as pretty shocking (Or maybe you have no friends - Ed).

I sorted the messages into groups:

Interesting stuff I want to read:  0

Newsletters from sports clubs I've joined:  3

Offers from brands & products I'm a regular customer of:  21

Updates from LinkedIn/forums I've signed up to:  32

Random rubbish from companies I've had to give my email to in order to register interest/buy something once:  224+

Now, I'm no good with stats but that's a pretty small percentage of email that I actually have any interest in.

More importantly, there wasn't any personal email, so it seems (in my world at least) email isn't used this way anymore.  Has email become purely an advertising medium?  Perhaps email has now reached maturity as a personalised, targeted comms channel...

While I have 'opted in' to this stuff in some way, virtually none of it is truly personalised, relevant or interesting.  When I do take the time to 'open' rather than 'delete', the majority is just your bog-standard, boring email copy.  And the more I get of it, the less time I spend opening anything at all...

Email can be good, but it should be used sensibly.  Just because it's cheap, doesn't mean you should send it.  Just because you are pinging out lots of messages to your mailing list, don't kid yourself that you have an engaged audience at the other end.

Next time...'Freemiums'.