Renault launches car recognition billboard technology

Renault has launched a billboard that can recognise passing cars’ characteristics and tailor the advert's content for occupants.

The billboard uses strategically positioned cameras to recognise the make, model and colour of a nearby car using its number plate and then changes the text of the advertisement accordingly.

Ocean, the advertising agency behind the campaign, stresses that although numberplate recognition technology is used, no personal data is recorded, stored or displayed and that the cars being targeted by the advertisement are stationary, so there is no risk of distracting drivers from the road and risking safety. The billboards are placed opposite traffic lights.

Nevertheless, using demographic information based on the type of car, the system makes a profile of the driver’s age, gender and interests, which it uses to choose the advert most appropriate for the chosen vehicle.

The first of these billboards is positioned at the Holland Park roundabout in London, although the campaign will soon spread to billboards in Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle.

The advertisements will display personalised adverts featuring the new Mégane and are the first campaign to be used with the technology in the UK. 

The adverts are particularly effective, claims Ocean, because “costly media plans, ad blocking and the need to stand out among all the advertising noise require a new way of thinking and engaging with audiences”.