What Happened
The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) launched an online campaign that leverages facial recognition technology to gauge prospective travelers’ interests and offer personalized recommendations. Working with travel booking site Expedia, the HTA created a “Discover Your Aloha” microsite with video content showcasing the natural beauty and vacation activities that Hawaii has to offer. With users’ permissions, the custom-built facial recognition software tracks viewers’ reactions as the videos play, pinpointing the sights and activities toward which they respond positively. The algorithm identifies the personal preferences of each viewer and presents them with a personalized, discounted Hawaii vacation package that they can book directly via Expedia.
What Brands Should Do
This interesting campaign showcases how brands can leverage facial recognition technology to gather real-time feedback and provide customized offers accordingly in their digital campaigns. Increasingly we are seeing brand marketers incorporate the use of camera input in their campaigns. Whether it’s the kind of social media campaigns that reward selfies with special offers or an OOH campaign that uses camera input as the source for behavioral targeting, more brands should start thinking about how they can leverage the ubiquitousness of cameras to learn more about their audience.
Source: Expedia Blog
