Audio ads beam message for your ears only
Updated Sun. May. 25 2008 7:31 AM ET
Andy Johnson, CTV.ca News Staff
Imagine you're walking along a busy downtown street, minding your own business. Suddenly, you hear a voice whispering in your ear: "Who's there? What's that? It's not your imagination."
The cryptic message is delivered in such an intimate fashion it could almost be coming from inside your own head.
You look around and no one else seems to notice. You take one more step and the words cease.
You've just been the target of a new form of audio marketing that can send a focused beam of sound directly into your brain. Well, almost.
The technology works by beaming waves of hypersonic sound at a pitch that can't be detected by the human ear.
However, when those sound waves strike an object, such as a human body, they suddenly become audible in the immediate area of the object -- allowing personalized marketing that can target one person in a crowd of hundreds.
In December, the A&E Television Network used the technology to deliver the "Who's there? What's that?" message from a billboard on a busy New York street to advertise a new show about ghost hunters called "Paranormal State."
It's also being used in grocery stores in France and in some museums, and could soon be turning traditional advertising on its ear here in Canada too, said Ken Hardy, a marketing professor at the University of Western Ontario.
"You step into the spotlight of sound and if you step out, just a foot or so away, you won't hear anything," he told CTV's Canada AM in a recent interview.
"It's this ability to cast the sound in a tight little circle that is so novel and so effective."
'Spooky' sound
The New York experiment was a massive success. Once word got out about the sound-projecting billboard, people started showing up in droves just to check it out.
"It was spooky for people to suddenly hear sound. And of course the sound was a whisper that was related to the show so it all fit together so I think in that application it was effective," Hardy said.
Hardy said most companies are now putting 65 per cent of their advertising budget into point-of-purchase marketing that tries to attract buyers at the shelf, compared to just 25 per cent for traditional forms of advertising.
As a result, Hardy predicts the new form of audio advertising will soon join the advertising gauntlet most of us find ourselves in on a daily basis.
But the technology is so new, and so untested, that many questions remain about how, or if, it will boost sales. It is also uncertain how people will react to such an intimate form of target-marketing.
"I don't think it's an invasion of privacy but I do think people might react badly until they get used to it," Hardy said.
"I'm not sure everybody wants to hear it so I think as a direct marketing technique it's something that needs experimentation."
A talking pop machine that quietly urges passersby to drink Coke, might be a little creepy, Hardy admitted.
I can easily see this falling into the wrong hands and being used for less than ethical purposes. Cool, yet creepy.
English Rachel
The future is coming!
jon jon
lol I love how the first manner in which we use this technology is for marketing.
UmmiE
Marketing is everywhere.............It was long due to have some kind of crazy form of it appearing in ways we could not have imagined......The type that annoys me the most is the ads I see on top of urinals in the washroom." ing let me pee in peace":whip:....or the ones in which you recieve a voicemail and when you check it the dood goes...." are you haveing debt problems ......":whip:
exstasie
Minority Report anyone??
It'll be here before you know it!
adi26
This is not really a new form of marketing but a strategy that has not been utilized by many companies in their marketing strategies. This is called Guerilla Marketing. These guys have however made great use of technology.
I love doing research on Guerilla and Viral marketing techniques as they are really very fascinating. The first time I heard of guerilla marketing in play was for a Camera.
Two guerilla marketers disguised themselves as tourists and walked up to a couple and asked them to take a picture from their camera. Once they took the photo the 'tourists' said thank you to the couple and told them that they really like this camera because of its ergonomics and photo quality. The tourists then left.
What has really happened here is....that the name of the camera has been inserted into the heads of those couples and if/when they buy their next camera - they will definitely keep this camera in mind. Guerillas are big on the power of word of mouth and testimonials - the two most powerful psychological marketing tactics !!
Stilez
quote:
Originally posted by adi26
This is not really a new form of marketing but a strategy that has not been utilized by many companies in their marketing strategies. This is called Guerilla Marketing.
I know what you're talking about, but this isn't quite 'Guerilla Marketing' per say. Since this technique is using more of the Technological approach rather than using
quote:
"unconventional system of promotions on a very low budget, by relying on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets"
and yeah... totally like minority report where people would be targeted by marketing based on their 'public profile' info. gathered from their pupils. Nuts.
exstasie
quote:
Originally posted by Stilez
and yeah... totally like minority report where people would be targeted by marketing based on their 'public profile' info. gathered from their pupils. Nuts.
\
jonnystel
this will never happen... i dont wanna hear that when im walking down the street... peopl are gonna o psychotic cuz of stuff like this .
Sly_Guy
just one more medium I'm gonna have to learn how to ignore I guess.
infinity HiGH
I swear these people will keep going until they're able to get inside your head and advertise to your very thoughts.
