[m]spark: What makes your solution possible? What are the main characteristics of your product? What are the benefits of it to use?
RealEye: We have created our own online solution that allows you to conduct such research remotely, using only publicly available webcams for this purpose – www.realeye.io.
Because of the situation that this technology has long been used in marketing research (A/B creation tests, shelf testing, etc.) we came to the conclusion that we should go a step further and provide customers with ready-made reports on the visual attractiveness of their creations (OOH and digital ads). So, we provide not only the technology, but our analysis of the collected data and recommendations, which allows clients to get additional insights. It makes life easier for people who are not familiar with such technologies.
But to the point is that we perform two types of analyses: attention score and design score. Attention score is a tool for comparing the level of attractiveness of ads. We place creations on virtual placements and analyze several aspects: how many panelists saw them, how fast and how long they watched them. From this data, based on the methodology developed by us, we extract the result for each creation, so you can easily compare them with each other. Placements for OOH ads are standardized, so you can compare to our entire database.
The second type of test is the design score. The customer provides the creation with the level of attention that the individual elements of the creation (logo, slogan, visual) should attract. Our task is to check how is it in reality. If the customer wants the logo to attract 10% of the total attention of the recipient but attracts only 3%, this may be a signal to make some changes. Of course, the final result includes all the elements and it can be used to determine whether the ad meets expectations, but requires some improvements.
[m]spark: What are your competitive advantages?
RealEye: There is no similar service on the Polish market (and possibly on the international market).Of course, some agencies use eye-tracking data in their research. However, these are basic A / B tests without creating and comparing to historical benchmarks to determine the potential of creations compared to others.The closest solution is eye-tracking glasses and the research of ads “in the field”. However, this solution (I am a fan of this technology) has several disadvantages compared to ours.Firstly-each panelist must be invited and prepared for the study, explain exactly what it is-this dramatically increases the time of the study.Secondly, such studies cannot be carried out remotely, which, as the present times show, can be problematic.Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the research is carried out on an already promoted campaign, that is, after spending funds to print creations and rent advertising space. Usually, the study of OOH ads has some limitations to measure how many people pass by billboard, or, in the case of digital, how many people have entered the website. Our tool simplifies and improves the whole process, allowing you to conduct such tests quickly, remotely and before spending of money.
[m]spark: Who is responsible for creating the solution?
RealEye: The tool was created with support of the [M]spark acceleration program. Our entire team collaborated with Lukasz Koldys and Lukasz Pytlewski from Wavemaker. They needed a similar tool, and fortunately we had the basis for creation of this tool, which is our platform. Then we started to think about what is the best way to analyze the data, how to compare it and we consulted with Wavemaker regarding this question. Thanks to the fact that so many experienced people have confronted this solution, I think it is reliable. Moreover, we carried out several researchers in the same group, and the results only confirmed my earlier conviction.
[m]spark: What was the most difficult part of creating this solution?
RealEye: Fortunately, the main problem was solved. Our online eye-tracking platform has been operating for a long time. So, it just remains to come up with an idea how to interpret the data obtained and what questions we want to answer. After consultation, among the above-mentioned group, we were able to develop a methodology and models that best describe the level of attention of the audience.
[m]spark: What are the plans for further development?
RealEye: Build a benchmark, add new placements and formats to our database. The difficult challenge is to make the market aware that such a tool is, works and can be used very easily. Like any new technology, we are faced with the fact that people may not understand the value behind it.
[m]spark: How do you assess the MarTech industry in Poland?
RealEye: You can definitely see a very big acceleration in this area. In recent times, a lot of different acceleration programs have been created, which operate “under the wings” of larger companies /corporations. Our solutions (OOH analysis by attention and Design score) are also the result of cooperation with GroupM. During the acceleration, we saw several interesting solutions, starting from advertising screens in Uber/bolt, through solutions for monetizing streams on Twitch, to powerful projects for analyzing consumer data. The only thing is that’s just about one batch of one of the many accelerators.
Adam Cellary – Co-founder and CEO of RealEye. Previously, he was a co-founder of several Polish and American VC-supported startups (including UnStock, acquired in 2018 by Slidly, mybaze or Elly), which eventually led him to the founding of RealEye. He is passionate about developing new technologies to make them more accessible to the public. He is a member of Founder Academy of Member Google Startups.