Say what you like about Tesco, but they know how to create a
fuss.
A couple of days ago, the digital, broadcast and print media
fell on a story about the retail giant and its latest advertising wheeze. As a
plethora of reports rushed to tell us, advertising screens in Tesco petrol
stations - and soon, stores - will now be scanning the faces of customers to
calculate their age, gender and preferences in order to expose them to the
appropriate marketing messages.
As you might expect, all this has been accompanied by a storm of protest. Groups such as 'Privacy International' and 'Big Brother Watch' built up a right head of steam, accusing the supermarket of any number of intrusions, conspiracies and machinations. What right has a retailer to examine, interpret and use our visual identities for their nefarious gain? It's a fair question, but does it stem from a considered assessment of the facts, or something else?
Of course, I wholly accept that Tesco has its own spin on
this - and it is likely to be every bit as partisan as the opinions of the
objectors. However, the firm is at pains to explain the screens only detect the
presence of a visitor within their vicinity, at which point the machinery will
attempt to ascertain the person's sex and how much time they spend on their
transaction. Nothing is recorded, nothing is stored. And to be honest, I think
that's quite close to the truth.
Technical innovators are awful braggers. The companies
engineering our futures are very fond of describing what they 'foresee' - what
may come to pass. They revel in describing the astonishing functions their kit
will carry in the next iteration. There's a good reason for this. They want us
to stay hungry and in a state of subconscious anticipation, ready for the next
release, the next model. If a manufacturer had created an advertising display screen
which could spot anything more than the vaguest details, we'd have had it
thrown at us for months before its release. Tech businesses have no interest in
conspiracy, it's too secretive. If their box does something no other box can
do, they'll be more than happy to tell us. Repeatedly.
That's not to say that Tesco, or any number of other
multi-nationals, wouldn't leap to embrace this sort of 'Blade Runner' marketing
opportunity - to a certain extent they have. But I'm sure it's nothing like as
sinister and sophisticated as their opponents believe. What's more, when and if
media technology reaches this feared disruptive level, it will fall under the
same regulation as CCTV.
So where does this leave us? Well, if Tesco is investing a
bundle into screens that change when I approach them - then serve me an ad they
think I'll like - I look forward to seeing them. Thanks to ad tracking systems
on the web, a host of advertisers already throw their banners at me, based on
my searches and visits. Rarely with any success. It will be intriguing to see
whether in-store screens can do better.
In the meantime, I'd respectfully suggest that interested
commentators take their cues from cool-headed research, rather than slightly
hysterical editorials.
Finally, if these devices still have you feeling uneasy, you
may be reassured to know they're made by Amstrad - the people who brought you
the enormously effective e-mailer phone.
