Dinosaur Marketing Gets a Makeover

Billboard advertisers have long struggled to overcome the limitations of their medium. They've tried to get past the one-directional messaging option afforded them—flashing a giant, flat message at random passersby—by adding cute little bells and whistles that include:

• Changing LED-lit messages
• 3-D figures that extend past the standard confines of the flat plane
• The ability to text your own message to the billboard
• The ability to play a video game on the billboard
• And other clever tactics to grab the viewer's attention for just a split second (sorry)

Now, however, marketers are moving beyond eye-catching content into eye-catching media, quite literally. The latest billboard technology actually catches viewers' eye movements, and tracks and stores the information. This reminds me of the recent Mini Cooper campaign that uses an RFID chip to identify passersby and customize messages just for them.

I don't know about you, but I find this trend disturbing. It seems like social networking gone haywire; advertisers assume that because technology allows us to spy on each other (sorry, connect with one another), we should. I've always enjoyed living in the city because of the anonymity: you can walk down the street and blend in with the crowds around you.

This is a great example of unintended consequences: is it worth alienating a portion of your audience by forcing them into a particular relationship with you? Is this any different than relying on risqué content that might offend? I'm not sure, but the former seems much, much worse to me.