'FeelTheReal' is a print ad campaign that uses digital engagement to measure how much of a digital marketing budget actually reaches real people compared to robots, fraudulent computers or no one at all.
The print ads are plastered all around New York City, designed simplistically with bold red and black letters against a plain white background. The signs read various versions of phrases like "This ad is real" and "Does this ad feel real to you?" They feature binary codes and website URLs and invite viewers to answer a survey of questions that check to see if they are, in fact, real people.
The results are staggering; the campaign reports that a minuscule 8% of survey respondents are human. More results often means more money for digital engagement-based marketing firms. This outdoor ad campaign aims to raise awareness of the problem of false responses and robotic interference in such marketing data collection, instead promoting out of home ads.
Outdoor Ad-Testing Campaigns
This Campaign Highlights the Problems of Digital Engagement Ads
Trend Themes
1. Anti-fraud Advertising - Creating campaigns that specifically target fraudulent engagement by bots or non-human entities.
2. Outdoor Marketing Reinvention - Revamping outdoor marketing strategies in order to stay competitive and on trend, prompting more interaction and response from customers.
3. Digital Humanization - Using digital engagements to really identify and target consumers' needs through a more humanized approach.
Industry Implications
1. Marketing and Advertising - Creating new types of advertising and customising campaigns to meet the modern customer in a more authentic way.
2. Outdoor Advertising - Providing new advertising opportunities by exploring new avenues of engagement and interaction through outdoor advertising.
3. Survey and Data Analytics - Using survey and data analytics to develop new targeting techniques more specifically to the humanized interests of actual viewers.