MaRS

Consider the following shopping experiences:

• Waiting in a long check-out line while numerous cash registers are unattended,
• Having trouble finding a sales associate to help you, or
• Watching digital advertising that’s not relevant to your gender or age bracket.

These situations are frustrating for shoppers, but they’re frustrating for retailers too. Running a store requires a fine balance: the right number of employees, the right number of cash registers, the right kind of layout. In this day and age, customers are looking for satisfaction; if they don’t find it, chances are they’ll tell their friends (and anyone else who will listen). Reduced customer satisfaction levels can lead to lower sales and lower profits, but it’s difficult for retailers to accurately measure how customers experience their stores.

Similarly, digital advertisers have struggled for years to find a reliable way to measure the effectiveness of their media displays—unlike online or broadcast media, there isn’t a simple way to measure the reach of these digital signs (think in-store signs, product displays and subway news screens). Digital signage is a relatively new player in the marketing game, and advertisers and clients have been reluctant to jump on board without a reliable set of metrics to measure the return on investment.

Enter MaRS client CognoVision Solutions Inc., a Markham-based provider of real-time, in-store intelligence solutions for the retail and out-of-home advertising industries. CognoVision has developed and built a system that uses anonymous face-detection and people-tracking video analytics technology to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing and to improve retail execution.

CognoVision’s Anonymous Impression Metric (AIM) system allows retailers, digital signage operators and advertisers to make data-driven decisions. With the AIM system, digital signage networks can effectively measure audience engagement levels in order to improve ad campaigns, increase ad revenues and boost return on investment. Retailers can use traffic data to create staffing efficiencies, increase sales, reduce customer wait times and optimize store layouts to improve profit.

This technology has the potential to significantly change the way digital advertising and retail operations work. “Digital signage is the second fastest-growing marketing medium, after the Internet. The biggest hindrance to the growth of the industry has been the lack of metrics—advertisers weren’t understanding if their ads were effective,” says Haroon Mirza, Director of Business Development at CognoVision. “With respect to retailers, watching the bottom line is key—almost any retailer can benefit from metrics to help optimize labour costs or increase revenues to improve profit.”

CognoVision’s AIM system provides analytics instantly; users simply log into a dedicated website to obtain actionable business intelligence. They can track how customers move in their stores, see how digital signage content has been targeted to viewers and much more.

CognoVision launched the AIM system in February 2008. It received a fantastic reception, including coverage on the front page of Digital Signage Today, the digital signage industry’s leading trade website. Since then, CognoVision has received numerous awards, including the 2009 rAVe DS Award for Most Innovative Digital Signage Software Product and the 2009 DIGI Award for Best New Audience Measurement Package. Most recently, the company was named Canada’s 2009 Innovation Leader at the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX), an award that recognizes CognoVision as Canada’s most innovative company. It’s also secured partnerships with key industry companies such as Telus, NEC, LG and Intel.

MaRS has supported CognoVision through a number of different programs. Mirza completed CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101, MaRS’ flagship education program, in 2007. At the conclusion of Entrepreneurship 101, CognoVision’s trio of founders (Mirza, Faizal Javer and Shahzad Malik) placed second in the Upstart Competition, MaRS’ business pitch competition, then became clients of MaRS advisory services.

In a very short period of time, CognoVision has established itself as a leader in the digital signage and retail industries. But its founders aren’t satisfied just yet—even with the international support from huge IT companies, they’re still working towards a major goal. “We’d like to be the standard for digital signage and retail measurement,” says Mirza.

So next time you’re in a store and able to find an associate to help you, speed through queues and watch relevant digital advertising, it might be thanks to CognoVision’s AIM technology.