This week I presented to the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association on what Brain-Computer Interfaces are and what marketers can learn from them. More specifically we delved into how marketers can use biometrics like eye tracking and facial recognition software to measure the effectiveness of products, services, and even advertising. How do you understand your customers on the most intimate, human level to best serve them? With the use of these advanced biometric technologies, marketers can gain more insight than ever into an individual’s experience with a variety of products and media, and gauge emotional states and reactions to different stimuli.

Overall, the group was engaged and receptive – easy to tell even without having them wear sensors during my talk from the way they leaned in and asked lots of questions afterward.  A question that kept coming up in different forms concerned the long-term impact of advertisements, or rather, the impact of repeatedly showing an advertisement to an individual and how that looks in the brain.  

In short, we know that familiarity begets liking. So, if you repeatedly show someone something, including an ad, they will grow to like it.  However, what we are not so sure about is whether there is a threshold for diminishing return, and if there is ever a negative development over time.  This is a great example of a project that nürltec would love to partner on and explore.

Other questions involved the future of the biometric technologies described.  We discussed how technology is coming closer in proximity to the human body (see how you cannot be detached from your smartphone for long) and the teasers now with wearable technology.  Remember the familiarity statement above? Well, that also applies to our lives; we are being exposed to teaser technologies that are the forerunners for personalized implants that will provide greater resolution of our thoughts.

It was fun to discuss neuromarketing tools and the potential impact they can have on brands with a professional group that has its fingers on the pulse of marketing in Atlanta and beyond!

-Adriane B. Randolph, Ph.D.