A slew of new companies have come out with camera phone-based technology. You snap a photo of a product or promotion and receive information on the item in return. But how viable is this form of mobile marketing?
To assess the potential for mobile marketing just check the data. Metrics company comScore reported in March that the number of consumers who used mobile broadband technology to access the internet increased by an astounding 154 percent in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same period in 2006. JupiterResearch predicts mobile marketing will grow from $708 million in 2007 to $2.2 billion in 2012. But these numbers belie the fact that marketers still have a big hurdle of consumer perception to overcome. Unlike the computer, where pop-up and banner ads are commonplace and even expected, mobile users continue to view their cell phones -- and cell numbers -- as extremely personal. In that context, marketing efforts can have the unfortunate result of coming across as invasive, violating a consumer's privacy. In short, not the greatest way to build a brand.
But fortunately for marketers, a few new technologies for mobile are emerging, designed to help consumers cross the barrier between the real world and the virtual realm. These tools try to anticipate consumer desires with their ability to interpret images and codes from the world at-large via camera phone; they then return a variety of product and promotional information to consumers. Here, a roundup of the techniques and a few sample campaigns:
2D barcodes or "QR" codes
Mobile users can now convert visual images, for example from magazines, photos, or billboards, into detailed product or brand information. Consumers with camera phones can snap photos of the two-dimensional barcodes produced by companies such as Scanbuy, Tagit, and Mobile Discovery. With the help of downloadable software, the phones communicate the codes to databases that return information or special product offers to consumers.
Mobile Discovery has already conducted test campaigns with its codes in Wired and Billboard magazines.
An ad in Wired:
From Billboard:
In late March Mobile Discovery launched yet another campaign with QVC and Gannett, turning Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, into an immersive marketing environment. The company posted barcodes on billboards, flyers, posters and bus stops, so students could upload codes to find campus activity information, subscribe to a Gannett newspaper, find a bus schedule, or enter a QVC contest.
Unlike the American public, Japanese consumers have been familiar with this form of 2D barcode for the past several years (also known as QR or Quick Response codes). Companies as mainstream as McDonald's have used the codes to pass along information, such as a breakdown of nutritional information to customers. After purchasing a burger or other fast food product, Japanese consumers can scan the barcodes on the food packaging with their phones to learn what they're really eating.
Simple photos
Another type of image recognition technology relies on simple photos, instead of codes. Companies such as Fotolink, Daem Interactive, and Mobot all allow consumers to take pictures of advertisements or brand logos and send the photos over any carrier's network. In response, the companies send ringtones, coupons and other promotional materials to the users.
To celebrate its launch, Fotolink conducted a campaign for PepsiCo's new Mint Mischief Frito-Lay chips in India. The company set up bluetooth kiosks in malls throughout the country, where mall visitors participating in the campaign could earn ringtones, wallpaper and product coupons. This type of technology may have a broader appeal than the barcode-based recognition programs since it does not require advertisers to develop or incorporate special codes into their ads.
Spain-based Daem Interactive has also conducted trial campaigns of its self-described "augmented reality" technology. In one example, owners of Daem-approved phones could snap pictures of photographs appearing in Barcelona newspaper El Periódico. Participating readers received more information about the photos, along with a promotional text message from the country's Professional Football League.
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