Popular mobile barcodes, such as QR codes and SnapTags, are designed to drive offline-to-online engagement.
In the last several years, mobile barcodes have begun to pop up on beauty product packages and ads. While QR (“Quick Response”) codes—specific matrix or 2 D barcodes readable by smartphones—lead the way, others like SnapTags are making in-roads.
Market ImpactMobile codes started gaining momentum in the U.S. just a few years ago, and now a new report by
SnapTags are accessible on any mobile phone with a camera. |
InfoTrends estimates that more than 180 million Americans have familiarity with mobile codes, and over 50 million Americans have interacted with mobile codes in the past year. The category of mobile response technologies, including QR codes, Microsoft Tag, image recognition, digital watermarks, and SnapTags, are designed to drive offline-to-online engagement.
The report notes that ease-of-implementation has driven marketers and advertisers to embrace the use of mobile codes, resulting in widespread awareness and increasing interaction among consumers. Use of mobile codes by marketers in their campaigns grew 194% from 2010 to 2011, and overall awareness improved from 64% to 88%, according to InfoTrends.
“While the mobile channel continues to evolve and grow, print and other traditional media platforms continue to be an important element of the media mix,” explains Bryan Yeager, InfoTrends senior consultant. These offline platforms can be used as a springboard for online engagement with the use of mobile technology, he says. However, marketers and advertisers need to know their audience, deliver clear value, and provide a superior end-to-end experience to prompt engagement and sustain consumer interest.
Another recent study from comScore Inc., found that in June 2011, 14 million mobile users in the U.S., representing 6.2% of the total mobile audience, scanned a QR code on their mobile device. The study, which looked at use on mobile QR code scanning based on data from its comScore MobiLens service, found that a mobile user that scanned a QR code during the month was more likely to be male (60.5 % of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18-34 (53.4%) and have a household income of $100k or above (36.1%).
“QR codes demonstrate just one of the ways in which mobile marketing can effectively be integrated into existing media and marketing campaigns to help reach desired consumer segments,” says Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “For marketers, understanding which consumer segments scan QR codes, the source and location of these scans, and the resulting information delivered, is crucial in developing and deploying campaigns that successfully utilize QR codes to further brand engagement.”
A recent white paper “Mobile Barcodes: an Overview for Marketers” from the Mobile Marketing Association, also highlights the trend. The white paper explains how marketers can leverage mobile barcodes to give their customers access to information, multi-media content, promotional opportunities, retail store locations, discounts and coupons and samples. “The use of mobile barcodes as a mass-market medium for consumer engagement is increasingly prevalent, but not every marketer is well versed in the great potential it represents,” says Alberto Benbunan, founder and managing director of Mobile Dreams Factory and co-chair of the Mobile Barcode Task Force.
Nicole Skogg, co-chair of the MMA’s Mobile Barcode Task Force and CEO of SpyderLynk, a mobile activation and marketing platform company, says: “Mobile barcodes make static media – like packaging, print ads, broadcast TV and billboards – interactive, and our white paper explores the many possibilities of mobile activation functionality.”
SpyderLynk reports that 20% of the top 100 U.S. advertisers have used a SnapTag. Brands like Dior, Cover Girl, Revlon and L’Oreal, have used the technology in marketing campaigns to offer exclusive content, scavenger hunts, recipes, previews, gift cards, coupons and discounts.
“Consumers with smart or standard camera phones can activate SnapTags placed on packaging, advertising, signage or screens. A smart, algorithm-driven platform powers campaigns ranging from simple to sophisticated, accelerating purchase cycles and driving marketing results,” explains Skogg.
Both SnapTags and QR codes allow mobile activation, geolocation, social networking and options for reporting and data tracking. “However, SnapTags are accessible on any mobile phone with a camera, whereas QR codes are accessible only to those who have downloaded a QR code reader. SnapTags provide wider mobile access, more options for branding and a more comprehensive means of reporting,” she says. “SnapTags excel in several areas including dynamic responses, accessibility, database building, complex analytics and reusability.”
To view “Mobile Barcodes: an Overview for Marketers” visit: http://mmaglobal.com/whitepaper?filename=MobileBarcodesWhitepaper.pdf
While mobile barcode readers are a relatively new technology, barcodes for packaging are an industry
Cognex’s DataMan 500 is used for packaging inspection of beauty products. The system reads 1-D barcodes, codes presented in any orientation, multiple codes within the same image, and 2-D codes such as Data Matrix and QR codes. |
staple that keeps advancing. For example, new technology from Cognex is used in beauty packaging for a variety of purposes, including inventory control and inspection. Cognex’s full line of handheld ID barcode readers are typically used on the inventory side, and the fixed mount ID readers are generally mounted on equipment. The coders are used for marking, coding, and packaging equipment such as bottle fill, cap and seal machines, cartoners, and form fill and seal machines. In these applications they read the barcodes for product identification; inspect the barcodes for quality; or validate that the information that is encoded in the barcode is correct. The barcode readers are frequently used to prevent mislabeling and packaging mix-ups by verifying that the right product is placed in the correct package.
For example, Cognex’s fixed-mount barcode reader, DataMan 500 is used for packaging inspection of beauty products. It is the first ID reader powered by a Cognex VSoC vision chip. The system offers reliable reading of 1-D barcodes that lasers cannot read, including damaged, distorted, blurred, scratched, low height and low contrast codes. It also reads codes presented in any orientation, multiple codes within the same image, and 2-D codes such as Data Matrix and QR codes. A wireless version is also available (DataMan 8000 wireless).
The company also recently introduced a line of new position tools, colored lighting and filters, and a new sensor model, Checker 4G7X, to expand the applications of its Checker 4G line of machine vision sensors. A new pattern-based position tool supports 360-degree rotation to verify object location regardless of its position on the production line. Other new position tools integrated into Checker perform a variety of important applications such as inspecting beauty product packaging, label position, fill level, web position and component placement.
“These accessories allow production line operators to get the most from the Checker 4G platform,” explains Joerg Kuechen, Cognex Vision Sensors business unit manager. “More tools, more lighting, and more options integrated into the device give users the ability to customize the inspection process and greatly expand the types of applications vision sensor technology can perform.”