A new ad effectiveness measurement system using facial recognition comes from Fuji TV.

NEC, owners of Fuji, say that the facial recognition technology detects consumer attributes such as age and gender to display ads tailored to the viewer. Naturally, the project also gathers measurement data. The system is in demonstration in Japan from July 19 through Aug. 31 at a themed store opposite Fuji TV’s headquarters (as far as I can make out; hey my Japanese isn’t that great). NEC claims the facial recognition technology ad delivery system is a first for Japan.

A camera is used to enable visitor age and gender identification and a database works out which ad to send to the screen. At the same time, mobile phone users can get electronic coupons sent to their phones, tailored to the attributes identified. This uses the FeliCa e-money system. These are used instore and their redemption rates helps the team determine overall ad success rates. Check out the diagrams drawn by NEC and see if you can work out some more.

Car purchases in Japan are being subsidised by advertising. Asahi Shimbun reports that Toyota are offering 60,000 Yen (about $550) for a three month campaign for online video and a tv channel. The campaign is restricted to three models aimed at first time car buyers as a way of softening the cost of getting into the car market when you’re a poor youngster.

Just 65 cars will get the treatment and it’s restricted to a couple of Japanese provinces. So it’s clearly a test. The online video participant is Usen Corp.’s free online video service, GyaO. They get 50 ads in Kanagawa Prefecture, whilst Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co are sponsoring just 15 cars in Hokkaido.

The exercise is clearly a test campaign. If the results are good after we’ll see the idea appearing again on a much greater scale. I’ve always thought that private cars are an amazing opportunity for advertising; it’s just a little difficult to manage in terms of sticking to campaign periods and keeping the cars nice and clean.

The world of OLED is looking pretty groovy. OLEDs are organic light emitting diodes. To you and me that means really thin, easy to use, low energy, cheap, light sources. And now they can be printed out on a roll, like a newspaper. The possibilities for this stuff are fabulous. Imagine a wallpaper that glows. With ads that can change. Where would you put that? Yes, pretty much anywhere.

Researchers at GE have come up with the latest production developments.