A New, Covert Way Of Marketing

How Old Are You?

Well, there is one thing I have learned in my life.  And, that is, no matter where you are in life, asking anybody about age is always a very sensitive topic and subject.  I guess you never ask anybody outright about their age, there are ways and very tactful ways of asking somebody.  So, how do you it?  Biometrics may provide the proverbial smoking gun.  Several vendors (including biometric and non biometric) got together to create a downloadable app for the Android Smartphone in order to provide an answer to this every elusive question I have posed. 

The details:  “AppTech Corp announced today the launch of "ReconAge", a mobile age recognition app for Android phones. The application, available for free download in the Android Market, recognizes the approximate age of a person by making use of real time face recognition biometric systems online . . . Now, advertisers will be able to ascertain the age, gender, and ethnicity of their audience and evaluate whether they are advertising the right products to the right demographics . . . AppTech is uniting brilliant minds around this idea. With the launch of ReconAge, we intend to introduce the usefulness of biometric algorithms applied to mobile devices in the field of marketing. The possibilities are virtually limitless.”  (SOURCE:  http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9509/).

My Take

Now, it should be noted that the downloadable app is not a new biometric technology known as “Age Recognition”.  Though, this concept has been tested before.  Rather, it is Facial Recognition which is the brawn behind this app.  Rather, as you can see from up above, the main purpose of this is to be used by marketers in order to make sure they position they products and services appropriately to the right target audiences, namely the people who have downloaded this app.  In a very crude way, this is analagous to cookies on your computer.  Notice whenever you visit a particular website, all of a sudden you see various click ads of products and goods and services you may have an interest in, and even websites of vendors you have seen or bought before online??? 

This is truly a slick way of marketing, as advertisers can now get data in real time about their potential customer base.  Best of all, it is low cost (as the app is a free download, I am assuming), and the advertisers can reach millions of millions of potential customers not just here in the United States, but possibly even abroad as well.  And this trend is only going to continue to grow. For instance, according to the press release, the Android market is now almost at 53%, and this app will soon be made available for the iPhone and the iPad.  And guaranteed, these two alone probably command a bigger market share worldwide.  So, this is almost cherry picking season for the advertisers, of all kinds and types. 

While this is good news in terms of new customers and revenue, I have serious trust issues as to how all of this data will be disseminated.  Granted, there will be privacy statements issued by the advertisers, who is to say where our private and confidential is going to whom and where???  And what if it is an ID thief on the receiving end???  This is an especially important issue to consider here, as encrypting the wireless airwaves now becomes of prime concern to everybody.  If it was me, I am rather old fashioned.  I would rather take my own time and research to see the various websites of the different online merchants.  I personally have a problem even with cookies on my laptop, and those annoying click ads come up.  I feel like I am being watched, and even stalked at my times. 

And add to the fact that Facial Recognition is being used, privacy rights issues are sure to abound.  But, I could very well be proven wrong.  Given how “plugless” our society has become, who knows, this whole concept may very well be embraced, especially if people win prizes and money (this is also one of the objectives of this app).  To me, I like things simple and easy to use.  I don’t get into downloads, and all of the fancy Smartphone technology. 

Hmm, maybe I am the one behind the times then.  Will I ever get a Smartphone and be a part of this plugless society???  Not for a long time to come, that I can guarantee you.  I am a brick and mortar kind of person, I need to touch and feel things.  In this regard, I am probably still a minority.  Hmm, maybe as a result I will still shine in the end, because I am not following the populace at large??? Only time will tell.

Comments

[Steve Ricketts]

There's really no easy way in determining the age of the application user or downloader.

[Wiliam Raymonds]

This is a rather interesting application if it will work accurately. I mean is facial recognition an effective and fool-proof way of identifying a person's age? This can backfire anytime. I don't mean to sound pessimistic. I guess like you, I'm not that big of a techie too. What about other mobile strategies though? Do you think that can be a good alternative for this?