Biometric Marketing

Neuromarketing research has been around since 1990 when it was developed by psychologists at Harvard. Yet advances in technology, coupled with a growing focus on data among marketers, have made biometric market research much more relevant recently. According to the American Marketing Association, marketers are using biometrics to tap into the minds of consumers as they mentally process and subconsciously respond to messaging and overall branding. Unlike traditional research methods such as interviews and surveys, biometric measures do not depend on verbal articulation and are normally very accurate since they are reported subconsciously.

Most individual biometric measures do not provide the whole picture by themselves. For instance, eye tracking may be especially useful for understanding which elements of media are most noticeable, but eye tracking alone will not provide any concrete insight regarding a person’s thoughts or feelings.

Brands, filmmakers, TV networks and others continue to invest in biometric research to better understand and engage with consumers. Technological advances and the proliferation of wearable devices will undoubtedly lead to more powerful insights and opportunities for marketers. That is, assuming the industry is able to overcome the inevitable privacy concerns that lie ahead.

Current Uses

With the rise of biometrics and wearable devices, advertising is now just as much a science as it is an art. Whether it’s observing the emotional reaction of movie viewers through heart rate monitors or identifying what catches a consumer’s attention through eye-tracking devices, the industry is just starting to scratch the surface in terms of how science will change the game for marketers.

Makers of “The Revenant” employed bio-analytic testing (heart rate, skin moisture, movement and audible reactions) using wearable wristbands during a screening of the film. The results identified 15 fight or flight responses and 14 heart-pounding moments, among other insights. Such studies, if performed early enough in the process, could be used to inform marketing campaigns as well as how films are edited.

TV networks are also experimenting with biometrics to more accurately understand what viewers are thinking and feeling.  NBCUniversal (NBCU), Time Warner and Viacom have all begun to explore the various ways biometric insights may help optimize TV commercials and content, and with good reason given that consumers continue to time-shift in order to avoid ads. Perhaps biometrics will help the networks better adapt to this shift if they are able to uncover ways to improve ad targeting and engagement. In the meantime, initial studies have yielded interesting implications and potential opportunities for marketers.

Similar to “The Revenant” studies, NBCU is examining which scenes in various movies and TV programs elicit the strongest emotional response from viewers. With this information, NBCU is able to identify what to use in its promotional ads to garner the best reaction, according to Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development at NBCU.

Time Warner is performing similar studies in its Medialab, where cameras track and record eye movements, facial expressions, sweat and heart rates, among other measures. In partnership with Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience (formerly Innerscope Research), Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting System tested a U.S. Navy ad that depicted an aircraft carrier. Eye tracking showed that viewers with devices in their hands looked up at the sound of helicopters (and then back down at their devices after the sound), and that heart rates and skin sensors spiked in the moments following the sound. Based on these findings, Turner suggests “announce your brands, don’t just show them.”

Viacom has a different focus, which is to determine the best time for any given commercial to air (think dynamic ad insertion). For example, if a scene elicits a response from expectant mothers, insert a diaper ad; or if a scene makes people hungry, serve a food ad. Though as one might expect, the new process is expensive (nearly twice as much as standard focus groups) and it will be difficult to attribute sales or even purchase intent to brain activity. According to comments made to Reuters by Beth Rockwood at Discovery Communications, “Just because their brain cells are lighting up during a commercial, doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to buy the product. They may simply find the commercial engaging.” Andy Smith at Hershey Company, who has been using neuroscience and biometric research for several years, also made it clear in statements to Reuters that he’s unsure what conclusions can be drawn regarding the effectiveness of this type of research. Nevertheless, he does believe that the research should be studied by advertisers.

TV networks and filmmakers have made great strides (and investments) in the work being done within their research labs, but they are not the only trailblazers. Other technology companies and brands are increasing the use of biometric data in marketing as well.

While most of the companies experimenting with biometric data are focused on improving future ad campaigns, innovative companies like Lightwave are using the information in live advertising thanks to the speed of data transmission. Lightwave is a pioneer in emotion-based advertising and developed a technology platform that uses sensor-equipped wristbands to draw real-time data from people.

At South by Southwest in 2014, Lightwave and Pepsi teamed up to host a “bioreactive concert.” Attendees were given wristbands that tracked their movement, temperature and excitement levels, and certain data benchmarks unlocked rewards such as visual effects and free Pepsi bottles. In addition, the company worked with Jaguar at Wimbledon this past June. Using biometric wristband sensors and air sensors, they were able to infer the crowd’s emotional response to each point. Jaguar then shared live updates of the crowd’s reactions on their social media channels to engage fans outside the venue. Additionally, Lightwave ran another DJ project with Google in December and has worked with Gatorade as well.

Companies are also tapping into existing wearable devices and ongoing product innovation to execute highly engaging campaigns beyond live promotional events. For instance, to promote its children’s sunblock, Nivea created print ads that included tear-out wristbands with GPS chips. Parents were able to place the band on their child’s wrist, download the Nivea app, sync the two devices, and set an acceptable distance for their child to roam. If he or she wandered out of range, the parent received a mobile alert with a visual image of their child’s location.  British Airways’ “Happiness Blanket” is another great example. According to CNN, headbands with neuro-sensor technology read brainwaves and transmitted data via Bluetooth to blankets enhanced with fiber optics. When passengers felt calm, their blankets lit up blue. When they were stressed, the blankets turned red. The airline used these blankets on select flights to determine how passengers were feeling, which entertainment or meals made them happier, how comfortable they were while sleeping, how they felt during takeoff, and when they finally relaxed and enjoyed the ride. As the experiment progressed, the blankets were used only for data collection and not as a way to identify passengers in need of assistance. However, this data likely helped the company improve—and better sell—the customer experience.

Most of these examples showcase ways that brands are leveraging wearables to drive engagement and improve the customer experience. However, Nike’s groundbreaking “Our Year” campaign highlights the value of first-party data, and gives a preview of how such data could be taken to the next level in the future.  Starting in 2014, Nike began gathering data from customers who trained using Nike Fuelbands or apps like Nike+ Running. At the end of the year, they rewarded the 100,000 most active users with customized animated films that showcased their athletic exploits in 2014 and encouraged them to “outdo you” in 2015. The technology exists for Nike and others to do even more with the data they own, but the industry isn’t there quite yet.

Future Uses

As smartphones and wearable devices evolve and collect increasingly more robust data, the next step seems inevitable: serving and creating ads that respond to consumer’s biometric state in real time. Google and Apple have clearly been anticipating a world that looks eerily similar to the movie “Minority Report.” Google filed a patent last summer for a pupil-tracking system in a head-mounted display (possibly Google Glass) to try determining emotional responses to ads, and Apple applied for a patent to use consumers’ moods to serve targeted content back in January 2014.

Multiple biometric measures could work together to reveal genuine emotion, which could be a more predictive indicator of future behavior than mindset alone, especially when browsing history, GPS data and the wealth of other information already available to marketers is accounted for as well. However, the keyword is predictive; it’s one thing to know when someone is sweating, but being able to interpret that insight accurately enough to serve an effective ad is what counts. But what if the industry is able to crack the code? Michael Cohen, a visiting scholar at NYU Stern School of Business’s marketing department told The Guardian last July, “Some people are emotional eaters or shoppers. Some people are the opposite…we can track and tailor a message or a shopping experience to your profile based on all the information we’ve learned from monitoring you.” Ultimately, marketers will be able to take a personalized approach with each consumer, and tailor to his or her likes and interests.

Imagine how the virtual reality experience would be impacted if the scenario described above comes to fruition? In anticipation, Time Warner’s Medialab is in the middle of building a virtual reality facility, which should be ready by the third quarter of 2016. Kristen O’Hara, Time Warner’s CMO for global media, told Adweek in April 2016, “Given the increasing role that VR is going to play with our content and even with our advertisers in the future, I think that alone gives us an interesting opportunity to partner with Nielsen and an unparalleled opportunity to integrate both the biometrics part of research and also the neuroscience piece to help us understand how consumers are really engaging with the VR experience.” Carl Marci, who heads up the Nielsen unit, said Nielsen will be able to bring its eye-tracking technology inside of VR headsets, which will not only show what direction viewers are looking, but also precisely what they’re looking at. He told Adweek, “I think what our clients and I think this lab is going to be able to do very well is separate the sort of ‘wow factor’ of VR from really full-on engagement with content and advertising.”

Privacy

All parties will need to tread carefully or run the risk of spooking (or even losing) customers. Apple, for example, is avoiding this particular scenario; they banned developers from selling Healthkit data to ad networks – despite its tremendous value, at least as of now. But that’s par for the course considering the traditionally customer-protective approach the technology giant takes.

So far, it seems that many consumers are willing to share their information when there is a value incentive. Google Maps is a great example of how quickly consumers are willing to trade their privacy for convenience and value. According to data published by GlobalWebIndex in August 2013, Google Maps was the most used smartphone app in the world with 54 percent of global smartphone owners having used the app in the month preceding the survey. Clearly, users value navigation assistance more than their data, but Google Maps is not the only app that is valued by consumers, nor is it the only app that tracks a user’s location via GPS. Yelp and Facebook also have GPS functionality, which enables advertisers to serve relevant location-based ads. For example, if a mobile user searches for Mexican restaurants on Yelp and then visits a restaurant viewed in the search results later that evening, advertisers can access that data and target ads accordingly. Cohen, in his interview with The Guardian, adds, “It’s inevitable that consumers will eventually hand over their health data once the applications are valuable enough for them to do so…. People are already slowly giving up every aspect of their life to the information age.”

The problem is, even when consumers consent to share their data with specific companies, they may or may not realize they are exposing themselves to potential security breaches. Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at Intel Security tells TechRepublic, “The information that’s contained on your wearable that’s stored either on your smartphone or stored downstream on a cloud [service] is worth 10 times that of a credit card.” It makes sense that the data obtained from wearables is susceptible to threats because of its high value, but there is another issue adding fuel to the fire–the black market.

Part of the security issue with wearable devices stems from the fact that companies are rushing to beat their competitors and get their product onto the market first. As a result, these devices are extremely vulnerable to attack. And just as many consumers consent to share their data in good faith (or ignorance) that it won’t be exposed to a security breach, they also consent – many unknowingly – to give up ownership of their data. Common themes across seven different fitness trackers conveyed (some more directly than others), that in addition to owning the data, the company can also sell anonymized data to third parties for market research, and share data with third parties if forced by a warrant or by business interests.

From a marketing standpoint, these privacy concerns are delaying brands from fully exploiting the use of biometric data even though the technology to do so already exists.  If marketers are able to get their hands on such personal data, along with all the other data that is currently collected, then the opportunity to truly reach the right person, at the right place, time and state of mind, is very viable.