INSIGHTS:

THE RTL DIGITAL MARKETING BLOG

facial-recognition-markers

The Two Faces of Facial Recognition: Has big brother gone to far?

As the years come and go, the impact of technology on marketing continues to increase exponentially.  2016 is looking to a be a year where Big Brother is taking a bigger and bigger role in your life with facial recognition technology being used to target advertising.  Now, before you say there is no way that can happen….did you see The Minority Report?  Just a few years shy of Tom Cruise’s sofa hopping antics, he was staring a movie (2002) that showed the future of marketing based on facial recognition.South Africa’s Douwe Egbert, a coffee company, installed a coffee machine in O.R. Tambo International Airport which dispensed a coffee automatically to passengers that yawned as they walked past.  As a marketer, I think this is absolutely brilliant.  As a consumer, my fears are increasing by the day.  So, let’s look at the good and bad of facial recognition.

Smile, You are On Candid Camera

As a marketer, I am chomping at the bit for this technology.  How brilliant is the idea that a customer can walk into a store and their face would be recognized and BAM….a coupon would show up on their phone offering them 25% off an exact product they had been looking at recently online?  The potential for increasing sales close ratio is insane!  Companies who embrace this technology might actually put customers back in the brick and mortar just to get the discounts.  Used effectively, businesses could change the face of their business with this software, turning the red bottom line to black.I also believe in the positive impact on humanity it could have within the market place.  Let’s say a felony criminal committed a crime and the police have not been able to arrest that individual?  Facial recognition programs used in stores could be connected to list of suspects provided by a national police database and report criminals in their store in real time.

gotham_city_mugshots__two_faceMugshot of the Year

At the same time, with every step towards less anonymity we lose more and more privacy.  With the loss of privacy, our personal data and families are at risk.  What if someone who has very bad intentions get their hands on the pictures and home data?  Where is the ethical responsibility for big businesses to protect the consumer and not prostitute them for their own wallet?The best scenario out of what could go wrong is that our pictures and data would be sold to other businesses to use to market to us.  The worse…I don’t want to consider.So, is there a way to use this technology responsibly?  Are we as a society beyond hope that this could happen?  As we get closer and closer to the brilliant possibilities this could be used in commerce, we need to understand how to control the pandora’s box that is bound to be open.  How do you feel about facial recognition being used in business/ marketing?
rtl-logo-v3

Smart Ideas. For Free.

Rectangle 78

Lorem Ipsum

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Rectangle 78
rtl-logo-v3

THANK YOU

We appreciate the time and thought you put in to sending us this message. RTL Digital Media is grateful for every opportunity to interact with people like you.

This is (obviously) an automated response to acknowledge receipt of your message. If you asked to be added to one of our distribution lists, consider it done.

If you asked for more, then we’ll be back to you promptly with a personalized reply that addresses your request.

Again, thank you for reaching out.  

Junior SEO Specialist

Ann Jennith Fernandez

Junior SEO Specialist

Putting The Extra In Extraordinary Visibility.

Ann began her professional career as a customer service representative. After outgrowing that position, she worked as a Virtual Assistant for a logistics and real estate company. Her keen interest in technology and natural ability to apprehend technological concepts and systems brought her to the RTL team. Ann’s work ethic and firm knowledge of SEO are greatly appreciated.

When she’s not working her SEO magic for our clients, she enjoys watching movies, reading great books, and spending time with family and friends.

Ann holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems.