Having a car that turns heads is every auto aficionado's dream. Mazda decided to prove that this is exactly what their would-be customers could get with the new MX-5 RF by creating an interactive digital billboard that loops a 15-second video ad, one that quantifies passers-by reactions. Using a hidden camera and crowd detection and facial recognition softwares, the Mazda ad can detect each time a passerby turns their head to take a look at the car.

With an objective to create something as innovative and engaging as the vehicle itself, the agency hand-picked a high-traffic video wall in the heart of the financial district and opted for a simple headline, supported by a counter that keeps track of all heads that turned to look at the billboard.

It's the first time Pattison Outdoor has done a campaign like this on any of its signs. The ad agency, J. Walter Thompson Canada, created it with the help of Pattison's digital and interactive division, Fourth Wall, which is charged with bringing new ideas to billboards, transit ads and other signage Pattison sells to advertisers.

Using an innovative combination of crowd detection and facial recognition technology, it identifies when someone is in the vicinity of the board and then, through a number of separate algorithms, determines that a person has turned their head towards the hidden camera embedded within.

Installed in the retail concourse of Toronto's Royal Bank Plaza, the digital sign is part of the advertising leading up to the Canadian International Auto Show. It will be up for a month and if it manages to keep the current pace, it could turn even more than 150,000 heads.

Quite the head turner indeed!