Kantar Adds New Generation of AI Features

Kantar has announced a 'broad expansion' of AI capabilities within its brand strategy and creative development portfolio. They include Link subscriptions, to help stretch ad testing budgets; celebrity recognition in Link AI testing; predictive eye tracking; big data for threat detection; and help with 'sonic branding'.

Link subscriptions dynamically combine survey-based and AI-based creative testing into a tailored package, allowing clients to test more assets wth the same budget, and to combine scale and speed with responses from real people. Meanwhile TV ad tester Link AI now uses celebrity recognition to help clients evaluate the effect of featuring public figures in their ads - in addition to using facial recognition to identify them, the package determines the expression on their face and analyses their connection to the brand via online mentions.

The predictive eye tracking feature shows which details of an ad are likely to draw viewers' attention, and is built on a training database of real tests, delivering a second-by-second heatmap. These features are all available on Link AI and LINK+ which in turn can be accessed via the Kantar Marketplace.

BrandDigital, Kantar's customisable insight solution for brand managers, now uses proprietary AI to interrogate '8.5 billion Google searches by 4.3 billion digital consumers across all categories, languages and countries', spotting consumer trends, potential disruptors and market shifts and providing dashboard access.

The AI toolkit collects and organises unstructured search data into topics or themes and applies advanced analytics to understand brand interest or salience, share and growth.

Kantar's NeedScope is a framework identifying 'emotive needs' in a category to inform brands' positioning strategies. The firm has now launched NeedScope AI for Music, which uses machine learning to understand the emotion in audio assets, including sounds, music, jingles and others, 'aligning music and sound tonality with a brand's messaging and identity', according to Kantar - and helping marketers to build recognition and memorability.

Chief Product Officer Ted Prince comments: 'Our innovation in AI is opening new frontiers in the collection, interpretation and application of human data. It enables the deepest understanding of how people everywhere think and act - and allows us to generate brand-defining insights at ever greater speed and scale. When combined with our industry-leading advantages in data and brand expertise, our application of AI unlocks profound new possibilities to shape the future of brands. Our industry has an excellent reputation for technological innovation, and at Kantar we are committed to leading the disruption'.

Web site: www.kantar.com .