Xbox One's potential to change advertising

I recently came across this article about how the new Xbox One could change TV advertising and the way consumers shop at home. I've posted the paragraphs I found most interesting below, but the thing that really jumped out to me was how much this reminded me of parts of The Search, and how this could have the potential to make TV advertising both more effective, and easier to measure the impact it is having on a company's bottom line.

One of the biggest issues with TV advertising I see is that unless you're selling directly to consumers via the ad (as seen on tv products for example), you'll run into attribution challenges more often than not. If the Xbox was able to more accurately serve up relevant TV advertising, it could switch from a CPM model to a pay per impression (which would be targeted to specific audiences) or pay per click model (when a person wants more info or navigates to a pop-up product page). In my opinion this would have marketers lining up to bid on those potential impressions for specific products, in addition to the brand advertising they could keep running during TV episodes.

The advertising revolution the contributor mentions may never actually happen, but it's interesting to think how some of the marketing tactics that are currently available online could be moved into a new channel, TV.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/willburns/2013/05/27/how-xbox-one-will-change-advertising-forever/?partner=yahootix

All TV Will Be Direct-response TV.

Okay, let’s push this platform a little, and let’s say an ad for a new John Grisham novel comes on the TV. No reason why Microsoft MSFT +1.75% couldn’t allow you to shout, “More info,” at any point during the ad which would automatically drop the ad into a smaller screen on the left while a custom-made fulfillment web site pops up next to it. The ad pauses when it ends (also pausing the show you’re watching) and allows you to navigate the pop-up site for more information on the new Grisham novel. With your profile pre-loaded with your credit card information, you can shout, “Purchase,” and the book is automatically downloaded to your Kindle. And on with the show.

Know Your Audience ADNC -0.64%.

Now let’s go a step further, beyond what the Xbox One can do today. We know the Kinect technology is so sensitive it can detect a person’s heart beat. That means facial recognition can’t be far behind. That being the case, the Xbox One will one day know the genders and rough ages of those watching and then be able to serve up appropriate advertising for that mix of people. Even if it’s just one person.

I’m only scratching the surface here, but you get the idea.

Microsoft did not mention any of this during their Xbox One debut, but it doesn’t take a futurist to see where it’s going. Assuming we can get past the privacy issues that some of these ideas will raise, this is going to be big. The time is now for all of us in marketing and advertising to start planning for this exciting interactive sell. I’ll wager that the ideas marketers come up with to take advantage will be as exciting as the technology itself.