How to Analyze Emotional Responses to Content and Ads Using AI

What if you could use artificial intelligence to measure someone's attention and response to content and ads—by analyzing their facial expression?

AI from a company called Emotiva can help.

Emotiva uses computer vision and machine learning to assess a person's emotional response to content and ads, helping marketers get better insights into campaign performance.

We spoke to Andrea Sempi, CMO and cofounder at Emotiva, to learn more about how this AI-powered marketing solution works.

In a single sentence or statement, describe Emotiva.

Emotiva is a deep tech AI company able to measure and recognize affective and attentive states in human beings.

How does Emotiva use artificial intelligence in its products?

We develop computer vision and machine learning algorithms to detect and classify face muscle activations encoded as Action Units (AUs) that configure different types of expression of emotion and the attentional and span level through a standard webcam.

What are the primary marketing use cases for your AI-powered solutions?

Emotiva's EmPower solution measures audience attention levels and emotional responses to a piece of content, enabling marketers to make more accurate decisions to reach and engage the right audience thanks to clear insights.

What makes your AI-powered solution smarter than traditional approaches and products?

Marketers can only glean so much from advertising metrics, as most come after an ad is live and it’s too late to make changes. However, ad testing enhanced with AI can help narrow down on the most profitable ads. Attention and emotions combined with AI can help marketers achieve their goals by analyzing, in advance, the content for marketing campaigns. Predictive analytics, through data obtained in a pre-test analysis of content, identifies the probability of future results.

Are there any minimum requirements for marketers to get value out of your AI-powered technology? (e.g. data, list size, etc.)

There are no special requirements. The EmPower platform can be purchased through analysis packages, with a minimum of five videos, or through a custom service in which Emotiva takes over the entire dashboard set up and delivery.

Who are your ideal customers in terms of company size and industries?

Emotiva primarily serves for-profit companies, with 500 and up employees, annual revenues of up to €50 million euros ($49.7 million), and in the retail, media, healthcare, entertainment, marketing/advertising, and automotive industries.

What do you see as the limitations of AI as it exists today?

The limitations of AI are the lack of its awareness.

What do you see as the future potential of AI in marketing?

Artificial intelligence enables many punctual insights through continuous consumer measurement. AI gives marketers increasingly powerful tools to avoid wasted budgets and higher ROI on each marketing campaign. The future of marketing will be bright.

Any other thoughts on AI in marketing, or advice for marketers who are just getting started with AI?

Marketers need to be ready and open to innovation. AI certainly will not replace humans at work, but it will increasingly be fundamental support for activities. Besides, a field like marketing should be open to innovation by definition!