How Much Does Tivo Know About Me?
As I am in the job advertising business I try to keep tabs on new advertising vehicles to see what’s new and what’s coming down the road. What happened to me last night coupled with a interview I read this morning (very strange that this came to me today) with my Tivo got me to really thinking how much does my Tivo know about me and how can it be used by advertisers.
I was watching some show last night as the name escapes me and a advertisement came on about Crystal Light. The ad was unusual as my green thumb on the Tivo came up asking me to click on it to learn more information. If your not familiar with Tivo, when a show preview comes on and if Tivo thinks that it’s a fit for you (based on previous behavior) it will give you the green thumbs up so that you can record the show. So to see the green thumb for a commercial was something that I had never seen before.
Being in advertising I had to know what this was about so I clicked on the green thumb and it then asked me to wait a minute and then I was directed to a text screen that said something like “Thank you for your interest in Crystal Light. You will be sent a free sample of Crystal Light and you will receive it within 2-3 weeks.” It then went on to say if you had any questions or wanted more information it gave a 800 number to reach Crystal Light. After this was displayed it then returned me to whatever I was watching. Needless to say this really blew my mind and here is why:
I have owned a Tivo for about 5 years and that’s a lot of data that has been accumulated about me including…what I watch….what my preferences are….what type of movies I have bought….how long I watch commercials
….and all my personal information including my direct tv subscription and address (remember that I didn’t have to input any information to get my free trial of Crystal Light).
Tivo does it admit that it does this to users and is part of their business model, however the idea of it is much bigger than the sales of the product
"No, the business has not gone as well as the (phenomenon)," Rogers said.
If your not familiar with this type of advertising it’s consider behavioral advertising. This is used everyday on the internet as you visits sites a cookie gets placed on your browser and based on your history it recommends products and sites to visit.
As the Tivo technology evolves it will learn more and more about you and serve you the exact commercial at the right time for your buying and spending habits.