In pictures: Microsoft unveils ‘UK first’ billboards which give advice to commuters

Microsoft has announced a new data-powered digital billboard campaign to promote its Cortana voice-activated personal assistant app, which will draw on local weather and events to provide passers-by with advice.

There will be 241 billboards nationwide that will change in real-time to assist locals, with the digital posters generating a total of 9,640 variations.

Microsoft is keen to build awareness of Cortana, which was launched last year for Windows Phone users as a rival to Apple’s Siri personal assistant for iPhone users, with the app expected to launch on Android and iOS devices later this year.

“This campaign is personal, flexible, and hyper relevant to the context against which the ads are served, using location, date and time data,” boasted Paul Davies, marketing director at Microsoft.

With nearly 10,000 variants, we believe we have created the UK’s first truly bespoke outdoor campaign that adapts to its current environment with a dynamic complexity never seen before.”

Back in March, Women’s Aid revealed its own innovative digital billboard campaign which featured the image of a bruised domestic abuse victim’s face and the tagline ‘Look at Me.’

The creative used facial recognition technology to measure how many people looked at the image. Subsequently, the woman’s bruises would heal based on viewer totals.

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