Facial Recognition and the Future of Personalized Marketing

A Face in the Crowd: Say goodbye to anonymity

Recently, I saw the report above from Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes. She made the point that facial recognition is becoming a reality for marketers. It’s no longer Big Brother that we have to worry about but social sites like Facebook which has more photos of people than the government does. The piece also highlights redpepper, an ad agency that has developed Facedeals.

Here’s the way they say it works:

“Facial recognition cameras are installed at local businesses. These cameras recognize your face when you pass by, then check you in at the location. Simultaneously, your smartphone notifies you of a customized deal based on your Like history.”

This could be scary stuff, but it also left me thinking… What are the implications for associations and nonprofits? What is the applicability of this technology for conferences and events?

What are you seeing? Please share your thoughts with me below or on Twitter or Facebook.