mobile media marketing

A video by Radian6's CEO Marcel Lebrun on how the social web will potentially have more impact in the way business communicates since the introduction of mass media.
Do conversations lead to stickiness?
Is your brand the sum of all the conversations that people have?
How do you deal with the shift in power from having a controlled message to one where the customer's voice is on the same playing field?

I was having a conversation with a respected colleague of mine, and he pointed out to me that QR codes were nothing more than a gimmick, fad or pretty much too hyped up.  Wouldn't you just achieve the same result by having a web address e.g " www.seemoreinfo.com" ?

So to address this particular question which I hold to be very valid, I would just like to point out some of the simple and real benefits of having a QR code outweigh the reasons not to.

1. Convenience
   (the willingness for a user to press one button as opposed to typing in text)
2. More bang for your buck
   (physical advertising space is expensive, your costs go down dramatically in the digital space)
3. Ability to measure  the effectiveness of your Advertising spend
   (collect data, have opportunities to build qualified relationships with relevant customers and see if your message is connecting with target demographics)

Now to show a glimpse into possible future uses - from some of the activities happening in Japan

" For example: when you commute by train in Japan, many advertisers on trains include QR codes on their in train ads and a commuter who is standing in the train can easily scan the code on the ad with their mobile phone and be taken directly to the advertisers website without typing in a URL.It is quick, simple and convenient.

Local community magazines in Japan which are delivered to all households in an area each month, provide a range of advertisers for local services and businesses.Each business that advertisers in the magazine which is freely distributed, has a QR code under their advertisement and it is rare not to have a QR code as competition is so fierce.
"
via Peter Hanami

Listen to some music whilst sitting on great modern-looking chair via its QR Code

via unplggd.com

Another easy to watch demo on how to use your mobile phone to read a QR Code magazine ad.

Just stumbled on this and thought it would look great featured in Times Square New York - an oldie but a goodie.

View on screencast.com »

thanks to  Roger for his Japanese connections.

From forward-thinking Berlin based artist sweza demoing the ability to traverse back in time using QR Codes

Experiments from Jack Morgan

Work from Patrick

Another awesome design by the Tokyo based creative agency SET

View on screencast.com »

QR-JAM MAKER ver.1.02 image courtesy of Roger

We here at QMCODES love music and enjoy collaborating with bands to use the mobile channel in innovative ways to spread the love.

Fosterthepeople
Promotional tool for SXSW 2010
What we did:

• raise awareness of their performances around SXSW 2010 with listing of times and venues around Austin
• allowed people to listen to special preview track audio streaming straight from iPhone in real-time
• collect emails of interested listeners

Deftones Diamond Eyes - Warner Music
Upcoming release of their new album
What we did:

• created QRCODE that unlocks mobile site to reveal original artwork for the latest Deftones "Diamond Eyes" album
• Custom designed mobi site with optimisation for multiple mobile devices
• allow fans to instantly access lyrics to the songs and purchase them from iTunes,
• find out when and where they are touring
• join an emailing list

all from the comfort of where ever people were, on the bus, in the supermarket, hanging out with friends.  We made it easy for fans to connect with their music and favourite bands.  They also showed their continuing support via purchases and subscribing to be on a emailing lists.

So the question is.. how easy do you make it for your biggest fans, customers and clients to connect with you with style?

(download)

Click here to download:

Deftones_mobile_site_and_Foste.zip (143 KB)

“Hello, world!” is a real installation for the virtual globe of the software Google Earth. A Semacode measuring 160 x 160 meters was mown into a wheat field near the town of Ilmenau in the Land Thuringia. The code consists of 18 x 18 bright and dark squares producing decoded the phrase “Hello, world!”. The project was realized in May 2006 and photographs were taken of it during a picture flight in the following month."
courtesy of  Kyle Studstill

Even the farmers are getting into QR Codes, the next iteration of crop circles with intelligible information. Can't wait until spring time when it all flowers  ...now that's a cool experiment - flowering QR Codes!

Although Google's PlaceRank is not new, when combined with QR Codes, it makes for an exciting window on the future of combining location-based needs and real-time information.  To demonstrate how serious Google is about this, it has further embraced QR codes by integrating them into its URL shortener.

Google joined the myriad other companies that offer link shortening services with the launch of Goo.gl, the official Google URL Shortener. Today, it’s gotten a nifty new feature: add “.qr” to the end of any shortened link, and Google will generate a QR code for it. For example, the link http://goo.gl/SJhz would become http://goo.gl/SJhz.qr. The new trick was tweeted about earlier today by Google’s chief spam fighter Matt Cutts.

via Jason Kincaid

According to Google, PlaceRank is like PageRank for places. The service attempts to figure out how prominent a place is based on factors such as references on the Web, reviews, photos, how many people know about it, and how long it has been around.
More on Favourite Places (using PlaceRank) via Google

So real-time demand for when you are lost and real vunerable!

Does changing the revenue share model for content providers create possiblity to higher engagement with end consumers?

Is the shift in cultural behaviour significant enough to allow traction for new mobile service offerings that is measureable in $ terms?

- payments, use of coupons, VoD (Video on Demand)

Nice video by CBS to introduce the ways QR Codes can be used for advertising, whilst Starbucks has now the confidence to spread its Starbucks Card Mobile iPhone app program further.  Paying for coffee couldn't be any easier. Clearly QR Codes are going to be as pervasive as the amount of smart phones  penetrating the mobile market.
How can your company make it easier to pay for your product or service?
How much of an influence will ease of use have on the consumer uptake of your offering?
One just has to look at the Apple iPhone to see that even a child can figure out how to use it, to see what is possible and the impact on its popularity.