St Louis Web Marketing

Posts Tagged ‘mobile marketing’

Picture a barcode at your local grocery store. The code consists of lines and numbers, which when read by the proper application, relay product information and cost. Now, take that concept and apply it to Internet marketing and mobile applications and you get a QR code.

QR is short for Quick Response (they can be read quickly by a cell phone). The QR Code is a two-dimensional code, which when scanned by the appropriate device, drives mobile users to an intended location. They are used to take a piece of information from a transitory media and put it in to your cell phone. You may soon see QR Codes in a magazine advert, a web page or even on someone’s t-shirt. Once it is in your cell phone, it may give you details about that business (allowing users to search for nearby locations), or details about the person wearing the t-shirt, show you a URL which you can click to see a trailer for a movie, or it may give you a coupon which you can use in a local outlet.

According to Jeff Weidauer in his Retail Customer Experience report, he points to research that predicts that “two-thirds of retailers are planning a digital mobile initiative launch before the end of this year, and many of these will include a QR code capability.”

Your business, no matter how small or large, could use QR codes in a number of ways. You could add one to your business card containing your contact details so it is easy for someone to add you to their contacts on their cell phone. You can also add them to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, tv ads with the inclusion of Facebook and Twitter IDs, links to YouTube videos, event details, contact information, etc…
In conclusion, QR codes are another example of the blurring of the edges of media, as we all rapidly enter this totally connected world. It is the blurring of the lines between our cell phone and the Internet, always on Internet connectivity wherever we are, whatever we are doing and whatever device we have on hand –whether it’s a cellphone, netbook, laptop, pc, camera, or TV.

Just as Google is currently dominating desktop computers, Apple’s iAd will work to dominate the mobile world. Weeks before its scheduled launch on July 1^st, Apple has already taken more than $60m in bookings for its new iAd mobile Web marketing platform.

The service – which will offer advertising inside mobile apps, initially on the iPhone and iPod Touch – promises to combine the emotion of TV advertising with the interactivity of internet advertising. Apple says the deals it has already secured represent almost half of the total forecasted mobile ad spend in the US for the second half of 2010.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said: “iAd offers advertisers the emotion of TV with the interactivity of the web, and offers users a new way to explore ads without being hijacked out of their favorite apps. iAds will reach millions of iPhone and iPod Touch users, a highly desirable demographic for advertisers, and provide developers [with] a new way to earn money so they can continue developing free and low-cost applications.”

Apple, which launched the fourth generation of the iPhone yesterday, has attracted brands including Unilever, AT&T, Best Buy, Campbell Soup, Chanel, Citi, Nissan, Walt Disney and Turner Broadcasting.

The new mobile advertising platform is designed to allow web developers to create in-app advertising. Currently anyone who clicks on an advert in a downloadable app is bounced out of it and on to the advertiser’s webpage. A Web development can keep 60% of all the revenue that is made through the use of iAd and Apple will get the rest.

The mobile advertising market represents a massive revenue stream, and the $60 million stat only reinforces the potential takeway that Apple could pocket from their move into the arena.

Do you think these big name advertisers are making the right move?