Commentary

New Software Erases Brands And Logos From Your View

It's been nearly four years since the city of São Paulo, Brazil, voted -- nearly unanimously -- to ban advertising in public spaces.

While the U.S. advertising industry was indifferent to this far-away backlash, I thought it was intriguing. In a May 2007 column, I wrote that it's a good idea for the advertising industry to voluntarily rein in its own addiction, and begin instituting boundaries, particularly in public spaces.

My rationale was that it's one thing for advertising clutter to overwhelm opt-in media channels, like television, Web sites, radio channels or print. In these venues, people can simply choose to opt their attention out. But advertising clutter in public spaces is often unavoidable. Many media venues have become an advertising tragedy of the commons, yet public spaces have the most potential to be invasive.

I haven't thought too much about this ban on advertising until recently, when I read a column in The New Scientist on efforts to use technology to remove corporate logos from view.

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According to the piece, several technology-inspired artists and innovators are subverting corporate branding with augmented reality, a technology by which virtual information is overlain on the real world through smart glasses or other means.

For example, Unlogo, an open-source Web service, eliminates logos from videos. According to Unlogo's Web site, "it takes back your personal media from the corporations and advertisers...[it] gives people the opportunity to opt out of having corporate messages permanently imprinted into the photographic record of their lives."

Then there's Artvertiser, another open-source project which replaces billboard advertisements with art in real time through a pair of smart glasses. According to Artvertiser's Web site, it works by teaching computers to "recognise" individual advertisements so they can be easily replaced with alternative content, like images and video. 

Finally, there's Jan Herling from the University of Technology in Ilmenau, Germany, who introduced Diminished Reality, a software system that deletes entire objects, such as logos, from video.

These technologies -- so far -- are niche science and art projects. But like the backlash in São Paulo, their emergence and passionate developers reflect underlying dissonance. And the simplicity and grass-roots mobility of these technologies suggest a low barrier and some likelihood of breaking into the mainstream in some form.

For advertisers, this trend underscores how increasingly important it is to build a beloved brand that people want to opt into -- versus tune out, or erase altogether.

6 comments about "New Software Erases Brands And Logos From Your View ".
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  1. Jonathan Gardner from Vibrant Media, November 5, 2010 at 10:50 a.m.

    This is a great post and you do a great job of emphasizing the overarching importance of *adding value* not clutter and noise to engagements with consumers. The guys at Dentsu London put up a great video of their ideas on context and advertising media, how in the future ads/messages may blend more *naturally* into environments and experiences:

    http://vimeo.com/16423199

  2. Shawn Riegsecker from Centro, LLC, November 5, 2010 at 12:06 p.m.

    Max,

    Our industry is in a pretty bad state of creative affairs when people are spending time and money to block advertising. Many of the greatest artists in our generation work in advertising yet today's advertising doesn't reflect it. In fact, I believe advertising today, from a creative standpoint, is at an all-time low -- especially on the web.

    Until artists inside agencies are placed at the top of the organization, we'll continue to get mediocre to bad creative most of the time.

    The rebellion from artists, engineers and consumers is beginning to happen. The next ten years in our industry will be remembered as the "rise of the creatives" as they will start irreverent creative shops doing things they love, that work for brands and that consumers enjoy seeing and being a part of. Those brands who follow these geniuses will benefit.

    Success in marketing always has, and always will be, about creative. It's about the art in advertising. Everything else in our industry is just a sideshow.

  3. Carolyn Micheli from E.W. Scripps, November 5, 2010 at 1:49 p.m.

    Shawn's comments are interesting. I like the idea of the rise of creatives in increasing quality of form and message. And it complements Max's point that we need to create brands that people seek out.

    It also occurred to me while reading Max's piece that as a consumer I often feel overwhelmed by the volume of advertising messages I see, especially in virtual public spaces that appear to be personalized, such as Facebook ads.

    I hope that the rise of hyperpersonalization will allow us as consumer to control the volume, so people don't simply tune out.

  4. Robert Formentin from *, November 5, 2010 at 2:38 p.m.

    Max, I would encourage you to do a follow up story.

    Having lived in Europe where advertising is controlled, I can tell you that as a consumer I missed out on benefits that ad dollars bring. One example: TV programming in Italy is weak because there are fewer ad dollars to support program development. I can provide more examples.

    So my challenge to you: What is the impact on consumers in countries that seriously curtail advertising. Does the benefit of less visual pollution outweigh things like product availability, lower pricing, product choice, inventiveness and the creation of new market segments?

    My bet: Advertising may at times be annoying, but it does more good than bad - by a mile.

  5. Martin Betoni from Specless, November 5, 2010 at 3:36 p.m.

    That we've come to a place where a municipality not only considers but actually adopts a ban on advertising itself painfully illustrates just how far our flock has strayed when it comes to what we're comfortable peddling as good advertising.

    It pains me to think of our roots in this medium, luminaries like Mucha and Toulouse-Latrec, whose work today hangs in musuems, galleries and private collections worldwide. Great advertising has always been about it's ability to make an emotional connection with the consumer. Our advertising does not, and the worst part is that we have ourselves to blame - us that have stood by complacently while the mathemeticians and technologists tell us over and over again "No, no, no - this is the interent, you can not do that."

    I believe that this time is coming to an end. I believe that now our industry needs to prove that we can actually can connect with consumers. Not because our ads are laser-targeted, or hyper-accountable or over-analyzed but rather because people respond to them. Ads are impactful when they make you laugh, amaze you, raise your curiosity or even make you cry. Ads are powerful when you remember them, talk about them and share them with the people around you. Ads are monumental when they last.

    Once we figure out how to make our advertising beautiful, the rest of our measuring sticks become, well - academic.

  6. Max Kalehoff from MAK, November 7, 2010 at 1:09 p.m.

    @Shawn: I hope so!

    @Carolyn: I always think that less is more.

    @Robert and @clint: I don't think advertising is bad. In fact, I think it's central to democracy. My livelihood is tied to a healthy ad industry. But I do think less is more, and that it can be more beneficial and effective when it is more thoughtful, decisive and valuable.

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