Think Ads are Smart Now? Wait Until you Read This…

Online advertising can’t possibly get any smarter, can it? Of course it can!  And it will, but that’s not what this article is about. This article is about the long-awaited infiltration of “smart advertising” into what has been, up until now, a mostly untouched, old-school form of promotion: The Billboard.

Or really any type of board, inside or outside. We all know that the ads we see online are very customized, sometimes creepily so. The almighty search engines collect data about our every action, search, website viewed, product ogled at, and friend talked to. Sometimes, online ads even seem to know when we’ve had supposedly private conversations about something in a car (conspiracy: the real reason the computer giants now have devices in cars, like that bluetooth system “Powered by Microsoft” in your Ford).

But billboards have remained rather static. The most strategic they really get is basing the ad off of the general demographic data of the potential audience driving by. Affluent areas may see more billboards for expensive watches or cars than poorer areas. But that’s generally it.

However, major companies, such as Outfront Media (formerly CBS Outdoor) are now using technology to track the specific people that pass their board at any given time through mobile phones. Their electronic billboards can now change the ad displayed based on the drivers approaching it. For instance, when schools get out and a large group of teenage drivers are hitting the road, the ads may change to feature one of the hip fashion stores like Abercrombie. Is it 1am on Friday night? Time to satisfy those hungry partiers with Taco Bell’s latest mash-up of nacho cheese covered Doritos.

For companies, this means less waste in their ad spend. One reason online advertising has become so popular is the ability for companies to spend money only when the audience is relevant. Just like pay-per-click advertising online, billboard advertisers won’t have to pay for a 24-hour billboard when they’re only interested in the audience that’s driving by for 2 particular hours in a day.

Here’s my personal prediction for something really cool: Highly detailed algorithms for advertising to smaller groups such as in a shopping mall. With all the technology for algorithms, it just makes sense to have something this sophisticated. The system will assign points to all potential consumers within range of the advertisement based on how likely they are to make a purchase of a certain product or to be persuaded by an ad. So perhaps there are 100 people within view of an ad. Of those 100 people, 75 are teenagers casually hanging out. The system weighs what purchases they’ve made recently, the slew of potential ads, and the discretionary income of the collective group. It also knows how many of those teenagers have recently searched for products related to the ad choices (shoes, games, etc.).

However, in the same group of 100 people are 10 people whose primary language is Spanish. It knows that those people have recently made searches online for dress shoes. It also knows that they’ve been to this particular mall before, and that they’ve collectively made a significant amount of purchases while at the mall. The buying power points assigned to these 10 people outweighs the larger group of teenagers. Thus, the board displays an ad, in Spanish, for the dress shoe department at Belk with the latest sale offer. Even though the demographic group is primarily teens who speak English, the system is smart enough to know that the most effective target is the smaller group of Spanish-speaking adults, who are likely there with an intention to make a purchase rather than just hang out with friends.

In the United States, Las Vegas is starting to see small digital billboards that feature facial recognition. If it determines you are a 20-25 year old male, you get RedBull. A 40-50 year old woman and you get an ad for a Coach handbag.

However, imagine the world in 5 years where every billboard, large or small, across the world is constantly changing based, not only on demographics, but on potential purchasing power, search history, and previous decisions online and off. The proliferation of facial recognition technologies that are linked to a specific online account (with, of course, a detailed record of all of your online activity) means that this ability for offline advertising to become as targeted as online advertising is already in place.

“Smart advertising” is no longer limited to Internet browsing. It’s about to get tangible and autonomous as you drive, walk around a shopping mall, or attend a sporting event. You won’t have to wait long, these advancements are already in progress. Next time you see a digital billboard that’s displaying an ad for something extremely relevant, it’s safe to assume it’s not coincidence.  It really is meant just for you.