Ad technologies these days revolve around brands making the jump from intrusion to permission by being invited onto that most personal of computers, your smartphone. The barrier here is your own laziness: how do marketers get you to “pick up their flyer”?
Almost half of the Super Bowl TV advertisers will be Shazam-enabled with several Fortune 100 brands choosing Shazam to add interactivity to their ads or sponsor key game elements. When people use Shazam to tag ads from the following brands, they will unlock exciting offers and content.
How is interactivity being “added” by the Shazam app? The process is called “audio tagging” and it’s extremely similar to QR code functionality, but it uses aural cues—sounds your phone can hear—instead of a physical barcode your phone can read visually.
@secretsushi @coryobrien @solomoshow Shazam-as-audio-mobile-tag is blowing my mind! I had no idea this was happening—huge potential.
Mindblowing enough, but to my mind Shazam’s audio tags still present the same challenges QR codes. They need the user to:
download and activate software
understand what to do & when to do it (requiring visual cues, explanations, etc)
overcome platform restrictions (operating system, phone quality, signal clarity & other compatibility issues)
If QR codes had’ve caught on with anyone but marketers, barcoded mobile tagging may have settled down to a commonplace activity, like it was in Japan in the last decade.
Instead, innovation is pushing past the phone’s eyes and taking advantage of its ears.
@CoryOBrien It's not clear on @Shazam's site, but how do advertisers produce "Shazam-enabled" content, allowing offers etc?
SonicNotify works both with software—your iPhone can be the sound-generator at an event—or with physical beacons that make noise until their batteries die (think “transmitter taped to a light standard guerilla-style”).
The nifty—or terrifying—or annoying—thing about SonicNotify is that you don’t have to launch an app to receive content. As long as the SonicNotify SDK is built into an app that’s running in the background or loaded from a previous run, content comes through.
“Content”, much like with QR codes, means anything your phone can do—dial a number, visit a web page, receive a text message, activate GPS, play a video. There’s a lot of creative potential there, for marketers and hackers alike.
On the bright side, this technology overcomes the user confusion-apathy-laziness issues of QR codes AND the short range, hardware-dependant issues of RFID. The only smoother delivery I can imagine is if the software were integrated directly into the phone’s OS (long a fantasy for QR code readers embedded in phone camera software).
A few creative ideas for audio tags, technology pending:
Radio DJs could send listeners to contests or to vote on what song to play next
Retail stores could deliver coupons for nearby items
Bands could link to the iTunes store during shows so fans can buy their tracks
Nonprofits could ask for donations in areas directly affected by the problem they’re solving
Restaurants could broadcast specials & happy hour discounts
Filmmakers could push trailers and second-screen content like SideShows
TV producers could link to episodes to purchase on the iTunes store or webisode content online
There’s a powerful convergence of location and context with audio tag technology that has a ton of potential, if the experience ends up being delivered smoothly. Time will tell if this more frictionless hardlink catches on.
Among all the nitpicking & general confusion around the new Twitter UI, it’s comforting to see our old friend, the ‘Twitter Go Mobile’ ad still greeting us inanely upon signout.
This drives me nuts because I access Twitter about 150,000 times/day from mobile. How can they not know that?
I have a better idea for this space: “Hey, we noticed you’ve signed out more than once today. Got several accounts? Here’s how to easily switch between them* without enduring the godforsaken clusterdance that is Twitter’s password autofill.”
And then present me with that helpful ability instead of the ultimate in rage-inducing untargeted advertising.
*Just realized this may be a feature & not a bug. Wrong-piping would surely spike if I was merrily flipping between accounts all day. Wouldn’t want to end up on next year’s 21 Most Horrific Social Media Facepalms.
While I’m kinda past reviewing every QR code campaign that happens, I’m interested in the spread & convergence of mobile, marketing & smartphone adoption. As such, I gotta report the QR code counter topper spotted whilst purchasing the most darling Roxy purse at Boathouse.
I mean, frankly, yes, I’m curious. Mainly because you didn’t tell me anything and you put it right on the d@mn counter where I have to scan it in front of the staff. #awkward
Picked up this flaming hot piece of fall suiting at Dynamite over the weekend. (“Striped Boyfriend Blazer”, poly/rayon/spandex, ultralightweight stretchy fitted with 3/4 sleeves & satin cuff detail. Garage colour “Beluga” by Behr).
Dynamite offered a 20% discount for texting “friend” to 369369. I grilled them on whether this was signing me up for a lifetime of mobile advertising or a $19.95/month lonely singles service, and the girl assured me it was not. Upon further discussion she admitted I may receive “two messages” that I could put a stop to with a return “stop” text.
Businesses, want to build up your mobile # database (the new “email list”)? Offer a chick 20% off a super cute blazer. I can’t give you my number fast enough!
Well, not my number. I had a convenient iPhone malfunction so my husband would have do it for me from his phone. Enjoy those retail promotions, Kevin, xo.
Good question. Let’s ask somebody who knows what they’re talking about. Somebody like Erik Goldhar and Ted Geatros at Toronto’s Qre8, a full service QR code strategy and execution agency.
How widespread is QR code use in Canada? Are phone carriers pre-installing scanner software here yet? What leads you to think widespread adoption is coming?
When we started QRe8.com in June of 2009 tracking down interesting and truly functional illustrative examples of QR Code applications was a bit of a challenge in Canada.
Consumer brands like Stella Artois pioneered some exciting but limited promotional tactics. Today, we have too many to chose from. Brands such as Ford, HBO, XM Satelite Radio, Air Canada, Facebook, Google, Blackberry, GMC, and many more have implemented campaigns using QR Codes.
At QRe8, we have several campaigns about to launch in 2010, including our very own real-estate industry specific marketing service, Clikbrix.com which integrates QR technology to link prospective buyers to agents and brokers.
So, QR adoption in Canada is no longer in its infancy—in fact we believe it’s now at the ‘toddler’ stage and growing fast. There are a lot of signs that support this. Read the rest of this entry »
Whether your goals are advertising, informing, galvanizing advocates or garnering Facebook ‘likes’, the QR code is ready to link up your audience to convenient, tailored, local, on-demand info, interactivity, and reasons to think you rule!
Artists
The crafty artist might link:
from your band’s gig poster to an mp3 of your best track, or a secret remix/accoustic jam
from your opening’s flyer to your portfolio
from your art’s title card to your online store
from your ad to your represenation
to tickets for your showto a behind-the-scenes video of your process or installation (visual artists), live show (bands), movie shoot (filmmakers)
to a trailer for your next film
to a map of your street art installations
from your poster to your eBay auction
from band t-shirts to your music on iTunes
from your band’s gig poster to your online t-shirt store, with 15% discount
from street art to your manifesto
from stickers to social critique
from show flyers to your work on Flickr
from posters to your Facebook fan page
Self-promotion/branding
The schmoozy future star might link:
from your business card to your Facebook profile
from your business card to your Twitter stream
from your business card to your Linkdin account
from your business card to your blog
to a video interview with you (talent show!)
from your avatar to your blog
from your power point to your preferred social profile
from your t-shirt to your blog’s RSS feed
Business advertising
The savvy business might link:
to a coupon for %10 off the first visit
to a contest
to a useful branded app
to your in-store card to allow payment at checkout
from a sign in your window to reviews of your establishment
to a video testimonial from a happy customer
from an ad to your 1-800 order hotline
to a Google map to your nearby locations
Products
The intriguing product might link:
to a coupon for a freebie/sample
to a video product demonstration
from product to a fabulous recipe, cooking demo, or glam serving photos
from ads to mobile shopping
to clues for a treasure hunt
to comparison shopping among major retailers
to a gallery of stars (or the not-so-famous) caught using your product in public
from your product to your customer service line
from properties/items ‘for sale’ sign to a sales agent
from product packaging to a mobile registration site
to read/write a review
to a mail-in rebate
to nutritional info, drug interactions, or material safety data sheet
to order refills online
link to a video of your product being destroyed in a hilarious manner
to a survey about your product (with a reward, natch)
to your inventory, so you, your staff or your customers knows what’s in stock
to a customer service or fan forum
Non-profits
The community-connected non-profit might link:
to a donation page
to an interactive map of your org’s work throughout your city
to an augmented reality view of your city’s issues
to sponsorship opportunities
to a video of a successful user of your org’s services saying thanks
from notable landmarks to informative videos of your city’s history
to mobile updates on disaster situations
to requests for supplies and volunteers
to a petition
to contact your government about an advocacy issue
If you’re reading this from Japan, you’re going to roll your eyes at me being Betty Rubble and living in Bedrock over here, but I’m getting intrigued by QR codes and am praying for their widespread adoption in Canada sometime soon.
Print advertising—magazines, direct mail, transit—has always engendered a sinking feeling of futility in my conversion-sensitive stomach. Creative teams bust their balls to conceive and execute an idea meant to motivate an audience to do something, but the disconnect between seeing an ad and acting on it is just hopelessly huge in these attention-starved times. I am just not going to go home and type in a URL I saw on a billboard. I don’t remember it and I don’t care about it anymore by the time I’ve got the leisure to look it up.
Groovy little portals to the future
Enter the QR code, a simple bar code readable by any phone with a camera & a scanner App. Spy a code on a flyer, tv show, magazine or poster & with a quick wave of your cell, you’re whisked to a mobile site providing the instant opportunity to:
Make a donation to a cause
Buy tickets to an event
Watch a movie trailer, documentary clip, or interview
Like a Facebook page
Enter a contest
Get a map
Download an app
Read current information about a person, place or thing
Wow, hey? No more barriers to conversion. Act now while you’re in the mood! The best example I read, and I’m pretty sure this is fantasy island stuff except in Jetsonsesque Japan, was the ability to stand around a movie store scanning boxes and watching movie trailers. I’m not sure there’ll be movie stores by the time this technology is widespread in North America, but you get the picture. Literally, ha.
QR Code 101: the Basics
Here are some neato things I’ve learned about QR codes.
QR codes link real world objects (anything that can be printed on or scotch-taped to or broadcast) to online destinations
A link from the real world to the internet is called a hardlink, which sounds cool
The practice of using these things is called mobile tagging
In Japan, phones come with scanner Apps. That’s kind of the holdup in North America
Your phone can read a code off a computer, tv screen, or LCD/LED billboard, along with printed codes
Designers: the white space around a code is part of the code. Don’t be croppin’ it
While the code reading experience is nifty, and marketers’ll be able to capitalize on sheer novelty for a while, the mobile experience the person is taken to is 80% of the interaction. You must not suck here. You must not make someone drag out there phone to get “more”, and give them less (ie, your not-even-a-mobile-site-totally-normal-website. That would be bad).
At the very least have your website streamlined for mobile by a cool interactive agency. With 23,000,000 mobile phones in Canada, this is gonna become an issue shortly anyway.
Not having encountered QR codes in Winnipeg, I couldn’t imagine why such a groovy, futuristic technology that finally, finally married the internet to real life wasn’t super enormous, so I asked cool Toronto QR agency QRe8 what’s going on. I hope to have an interview with them up shortly.
I’ve always liked Salvation Army’s advertising. It’s stark, a bit shocking, makes you uncomfortable. It’s about poverty.
Fundraising advertising needs to conjure up a pretty powerful scenario to be effective. Something like:
What if you were out getting a bagel at lunch, walked under a bridge and someone lived there? There you are, talking on your iPhone, strolling through somebody’s bedroom. Confronted by your own comparative wealth. You’d probably feel moved to make a “donation” right there.
During a fundraising campaign, advertising tries to recreate that feeling. Salvation Army is trying to bring you into that moment, and remind you there’s a way to help.
The potential donor must then sustain that generous urge until they can get themselves to an envelope, or a hotline, or dig out their credit card and start typin’. A lot to ask of a piece of advertising.
Generation X and the Millennials don’t want to go through the trouble of entering a 16-digit credit card number to make a $25 donation.
Melissa Brown, associate director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
This became crystal clear when $1 000 000/day was raised through texting in the week after the Haiti earthquake.
Charitable giving is a dopamine bonanza, and the speed with which mobile can deliver the hit makes it extra rewarding. We give because it feels great, but we need instant gratification.
Mobile usage in Canada is at least 22 million (2008), or about 65% of the population, with no doubt increases in the years since and to come. This represents a huge opportunity for non-profits to have a conversation with donors at the right time and in the right place. When need strikes, the solution can be presented quickly—a win win for everyone.
Ideas for transforming giving with the mobile web:
Mobile reporting from disaster areas on Twitter. Include a text-to-give number for immediate relief & relay the results.
Foursquare check-ins at volunteer or fundraising events. Connect with a sponsor who will donate 25¢ for every check-in.
iPhone App-guided tours of your work with simple examples of the benefit a $5 donation can make, and the ability to make that donation. Seeing the connection between good work and a few dollars in the flesh can be very compelling.
Requests for donation of Twitter and Facebook status with text-to-give info when need is great.
Early adoption of the mobile web can get attention for your cause if it’s creative and picked up by the social media marketing community. More than that, it provides a better experience for donors who want to engage with your org. Have a mobile site created that streamlines an informative donation process for them. Attention is so scarce that anything less is a roadblock to giving.
Despite all the moaning about dying print publications, people are still eager to absorb daily news. What they expect out of the experience has changed, though, according to a new Pew Research Center report. Now people want multi-platform news on demand, customized, and spreadable.
Portable: 33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.
Personalized: 28% of internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.
Participatory: 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. From Understanding the Participatory News Consumer
As part of your marketing efforts, you may be pushing news out to customers, using Facebook or Twitter to reach them. Your own site’s blog is also a key source of news (you have to link to something, unless you’ve mastered the 140-character press release). How can you make sure you’re accomodating the inclinations of today’s newsumer?
Portable: Consider an iPhone app. Creating branded mobile content, on your own or with local partners, can get you in front of your customers when you have something interesting to say. Throwing in a little location-awareness and well-timed news on the go might even turn to sales conversions.
Personalized: Opt-ins allow people to select only the type of news they need, so allow RSS & email updates on specifics (sales, new products, events). Allow gravatars, Twitter & Facebook login so user’s cute little faces can accompany their experience.
Participatory: Remove barriers to interactivity. Let people comment, and for god’s sake don’t make them log in to do so. Integrate Facebook Connect, Tweetmeme, and whatever other social software makes sense for your audience. Quickly sharing and commenting is appreciated (nay, expected) by today’s consumers, and the viral possibilities when you release really nifty news are huge.
The spread of smartphones and location-aware mobile technology is opening up a (smaller) world of local marketing possibilities.
3 words: location, location, location. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
You’re the CEO, Senior VP of Marketing, and Chief Janitor of your very own local small business. You typically place an ad in the yellow pages, stuff a few dayglo flyers in mailboxes, and have a brochure website with an infrequently-updated ‘news’ section (because frankly, you can’t think of a whole lot of news with which to fascinate the public). You’ve heard of this new-fangled socialized media thing, but near as you can tell it’s all retired ladies stalking their in-laws and teenagers sending untoward photos to each other. But you also hear it costs less than fluorescent photocopies.
