An alternative approach would be to extract features (keypoints) using the scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) or Speeded Up Robust Features (SURF).
You can find a nice OpenCV code example in Java, C++, and Python on this page: Features2D + Homography to find a known object
Both algorithms are invariant to scaling and rotation. Since they work with features, you can also handle occlusion (as long as enough keypoints are visible).
Image source: tutorial example
The processing takes a few hundred ms for SIFT, SURF is bit faster, but it not suitable for real-time applications. ORB uses FAST which is weaker regarding rotation invariance.
The original papers
- SURF: Speeded Up Robust Features
- Distinctive Image Features
from Scale-Invariant Keypoints - ORB: an efficient alternative to SIFT or SURF