Biometrics and consumers neurofeedback in advertising – social media innovation, Web 3.0 and performance marketing

Few years back I worked with research companies that specialize in biometrics; they conducted studies to determine how users respond to certain ads. They offered an evaluation that goes beyond traditional measures like click-through rates if applied to online advertising.

Couple of years ago neuro technologies started to find its way into gaming world (Neurosky and Emotiv were creating quite a bit of a buzz on every Game Development Conference).

Neurosky – Power by your mind: Ads and collateral that IdeaMama’s team designed for GDC 2008 in San Francisco.

Few years ago Google and MediaVest started collaborating to produce a research report that goes significantly beyond the typical online survey, Coke hired EmSense to help it decide which two TV ads to place in the Super Bowl. A lot of interest and fuzz, but no particularly strong applications yet were found for neurofeedback in advertising as technologies were not mature enough for wide adoption.

I knew that it will change within few years and the potential of it, if the technology is truly non-invasive and scalable, can be enormous.

I started reflecting on its application in social media and enterprise level platforms. My thoughts revolve around the role of biometric data for better R&D investments, biofeedback and Web 3.0, and neuroscience in non-traditional performance marketing approaches.

Reflection on BIOMETRICS and PERFORMANCE MARKETING

Can neuroscience and biometric research really help advertisers craft not just better ads, but ads that actually sell?

If the answer is yes, then monetizing with Pay Per Deal performance marketing model will be peanuts. (Please see PPD demo and some Media Monetization Use Cases for PPD).

Online publishers can now put forward their best ad inventory and allocate it to PPD.

Now advertisers can be saved from risk aversion, moving away from economics of uncertainty to transactional marketing models.

Reflection on BIOMETRICS in R&D and WEB 3.0

No, I won’t be talking about semantics web here. I will focus instead on new forms of collaboration that can arise out of trends that I touch upon in this article.

Couple years back when one of my companies, IdeaMamaClub.com was in its infant stage, it occurred to me that with biofeedback measuring technologies social media can be taken to the next level and users’ actions can be assessed by measures other than cognitive behavior.

After some analysis, debates with neuroscientists and in-depth studies we have filed the patent for an application of the biofeedback technology in the social media.

At that point it seemed to be pretty futuristic to deploy the technology as social media users might have not being ready for such level of transparency. Are they ready now? It is hard to say unless deployed, soft launched and tested.

So, idea was to create an enterprise level digital platform for collaborative innovation between companies and their fans (including investors, employees and customers) that would enable users to assess, conceive, and co-develop the winning projects using a proprietary scalable process of NeuroCrowdsourcing® with biofeedback measurement technology. It would utilize the biosensor technology that monitors subscribers’ true reactions to the concepts presented by other platform users.

This platform would enable subscribers to assess how different audiences respond emotionally and cognitively to marketing messages. The technology would objectively evaluate how target groups feel about any topic or idea, what captures their attention, and what motivates them to action.

Now as time passed, we have not only a patent, but all partnership contracts in place to develop innovation portals to companies that are motivated to deploy this platform and take their boring Web 2.0 portals to next level. Our expertise can be utilized in such ways that tailored solutions will be designed to meet needs of various industry verticals.

Here is how we initially planned it for IdeaMamaClub.com, a virtual invention incubator. You can reflect on our applications and come up with your own – we can design and deploy it within few month.

Let’s look at our virtual invention incubator as it might appear in the future:

Using this platform individual inventors, corporations, entrepreneurs, and researchers can quickly and easily present words, sounds, and visual messages — to test any aspect of their content, style, and delivery. During a presentation, the technology clearly indicates the point at which people get interested in an idea and the point at which they lose interest; when they are concentrating or distracted or excited; and how deeply they are engaged with the material. Thus, investors can assess the level of consumer engagement in potential portfolio companies; advertisers can see if their ads motivate a positive response; and inventors can assess the effectiveness of their presentations to investors — all in real time, while avoiding the cognitive bias that can interfere with self-reporting and focus groups.

The technology can detect changes in brain activity within a fraction of a second, using inexpensive headsets, worn by countless numbers of subscribers. These subscribers volunteer their time in support of other entrepreneurs who need to assess ideas. This is a radical breakthrough in the way this technology is currently being deployed. In the past monitoring people’s responses to ads, presentations, or ideas, required complicated EEG devices utilizing many electrodes, covering the entire head, and this can happen only in a well-equipped laboratory, under controlled conditions, requiring considerable time and expense — which severely limits its use. With our product the process is very simple, inexpensive and manageable — thus many more tests can be achieved, in less time, with far better results.

Real-Time Intelligence

By collecting and combining the physiological and neurological reactions, the software can easily assess and report emotional states such as:

• Liking – A measure of the level of positive emotions.
• Thought – A measure of the level of cognition provoked.
• Excitement – A measure of the level of arousal.

Signals Measured Include:

• Brainwaves
• Heart activity
• Breathing
• Blinking
• Motion

Then, these reactions are displayed graphically to show the specific points where subconscious thoughts and feelings peak or diminish during the presentation of an idea. Thus, researchers can make intelligent changes — based on hard data instead of speculation — and retest if needed, until perfection is achieved.

Each idea assessment typically includes over 1000 community users, selected for their specific demographics, who comfortably sit at their desks while wearing the headsets and reviewing the presentations of other members. This relaxed and familiar environment ensures accurate measurement, and the testers remain completely anonymous.

This breakthrough technology provides quick and easy evaluation of the impact of new ideas. The process and technology fulfill an important need and will gain a prominent place in net-centric marketing — the business intelligence and data mining potential is tremendous. Now, marketing and R&D organizations can see the future, before committing capital.

FINAL QUESTIONS:

So, now when we have new tools to put brands in touch with feelings, what will we do with it?

When all measurement and metrics based on neuroscience developed, what are the applications beyond B2B research services?

Can technologies scale and find wide market adoption within various and consume applications?

Can they foster changes in buying decision?

Can they help media to monetize and corporations make better investment decisions and get out of multibillion dollar debts that became a typical upshot in current economy?

Can this technology stop look intimidating and actually serve the society?
…
by Olga Kostrova, CEO of IdeaMama Group:




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