Millward Brown Deal Makes Facial Coding 'Standard'

Millward Brown has signed a multi-year deal with emotion measurement specialist Affectiva to integrate the latter's Affdex automated facial coding as a standard feature in all MB's 'Link' ad copy testing services.

Link technology combines expertise from Millward Brown's Neuroscience Practice with Affectiva's Affdex webcam-based solution, which records respondents' faces while they watch ads within a normal survey environment, and automatically interprets their emotional and cognitive states at each moment.

Link has been used on more than 100,000 adverts since its inception, and Millward Brown says the latest move will make Affdex the 'most widely used' neuromarketing tool globally.

Graham Page, Head of Millward Brown's Consumer Neuroscience Practice, comments: 'By integrating this technology with our established survey based research we are able to deliver a level of emotional insight simply not achieved by either approach alone. It's been interesting to see that measuring people's facial expressions in response to an ad seems to be able to capture subtle negative responses that are not necessarily reported elsewhere in Link, but which end up being really important to the ad's success in-market.'

Web sites: www.millwardbrown.com and www.affectiva.com .