“I Am Your Number One Fan,” Says Artificial Intelligence
Introducing Branded Fan Facsimiles (BFFs) for Advertisers Using A.N.D.R.E.
What if COVID-19 could be the best boon for sports advertising since the World Cup or the annual Super Bowl? And the key ingredient is the lack of fans in the stands.
For the United States, the Super Bowl attracts two audiences — those that watch the game and those that watch the commercials.
As Business Insider highlighted, “Since 2017, the average cost of a Super Bowl ad has continued to skyrocket. In 2018, the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial was $5.2 million. In 2019, the average cost of a 30-second ad raised to $5.25 million.” Advertising and branding are what make the world turn for any and all sports teams.
But because of the postponement of games around the world, most fans have gone to playing games online or watching them via online-game streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. In 2019, revenue in the online games segment reached $16.9 billion.
With stadiums empty, sports channels are plugging CGI characters into the seats to wave flags, hold up cardboard squares of color, and to distract from the eery sensation that no one is there. Because the definition of these characters is hazy and vague, the fans that are watching from home or online are hating on both the “virtual fans” and the generated “crowd noise.” Those watching the Coppa Italia final exploded on Twitter with hundreds of memes about the fake crowds being used during the live broadcast. Major League Baseball fans are complaining that live play reminds them of playing retro-arcade games.
But what if that’s the “secret sauce”? Instead of creating “white noise” during a game, create engaging content that happens behind the action of the game.
What if advertisers using A.N.D.R.E., which stands for Ad Neural Detector of Real Estate, could be allowed to buy sections of the stands in the stadium and render branded stories using CGI generated fans.
Think: “The Sims” sitting in the seats behind the action.
Although camera shots cannot be determined beforehand because of the action on the field, the sections could color-coded to automatically render graphics behind the players. Bidding on these stadium sections in real-time based on the real-time demographics of the audience via the app, online streaming, or otherwise.
And more than just rendering fake fans, giving these branded fans a personality. Playing with the idea that it’s all fake but poking fun at itself.
Or those athletes that have advertising contracts, being rendered in the stands as their alternate selves, or retired athletes cheering on their former teammates.
Imagine going to commercial during a game is simply a pan into a section of seats in the stadium to watch a piece of content playout.
Think the 1980s Burger King advertisement campaign, “Herb The Nerd”.
And allow online viewers to buy “virtual tickets” to interact with these branded fans. Sure, it could get out of control: Doing the wave but using obscene gestures. Stadium wide fights. But “virtual ticket” holders can be blocked or booted out of the stadium just like they can in real life.
But combining both the real world of the stadium and the online gaming frameworks to fill in the spaces, allows advertising to create true branded content. And it caters to what the Super Bowl has always catered to — those that watch the commercials and those that watch the game.
Finally, when the curve truly flattens, and fans are allowed back in the stands — but socially distanced, using augmented reality to allow physical spaces to become branded CGI fans and content via a wave of a mobile phone.
On Friday, 28 August, Part 2. Turning Empty Sports Stadiums Into An Advertising Utopia with Artificial Intelligence with QLX-C (Qualex Consulting Services) partnering with the IBM Maximo Visual Inspection and Mapsys. This will be a hands-on session to debut the API with A.N.D.R.E. and how advertisers can create their own real-time advertising BFFs.
