Hershey Uses Tech To Get Consumers Down Grocery Aisle
“People are really unreliable when it comes to what they like or don’t like,” said Rana el Kaliouby, chief science and strategy officer for Affectiva at Ad Age’s Small Agency Conference in Boston. But luckily, it has a solution for that.
Affectiva’s technology reads and analyzes human emotion from a single expression. The obvious use is for market research, but Hershey Co. had a different idea. The confectionary giant, working with tech firm Wild Blue Technologies, wanted to use the technology to drive consumers down the grocery aisle. The company invited consumers to walk to the middle of the aisle, where they would find an Affectiva-powered kiosk prompting them to smile into the machine for a free sample.
“One point of conversion down the aisle is $100 million,” said Frank Jimenez, senior director, insights-driven performance and retail evolution at Hershey.
