Today we step up our coverage of the mobile code space with Laura Marriott, the acting CEO of NeoMedia Technologies. You may recall Laura’s take on barcode trends and her list of 2011 industry predictions, which we published here in late December as part of the popular and viral Five From Five series showcasing the top five mobile code predictions from five of the leading barcode companies.
I caught up with Laura to discuss her view of the market (she predicts exponential growth of mobile codes and some agreement around methodology and standards) and get the inside track on progress with recent partnerships (including an update on the the tie-up with Buongiorno).
Barcode opportunities
Overall, IP licensing continues to be a focus area for NeoMedia. But the growth may well be in applications (beyond mobile marketing and advertising) that streamline workflow and connect the enterprise.
As Laura observes: “We are seeing significant uptake in enterprise deployments as well, for example, in workflow management [and] inventory control. And if we look at our scanner business…out of NeoMedia Europe, and their business is focused around couponing, ticketing, loyalty, transportation, we see a lot of uptake with the mobile barcode scanner business in those specific verticals.” Interestingly, Laura is also bullish about use cases and scenarios in the government and public sectors, where barcodes can simplify data entry and inform citizens of where their documentation is in the application and approval process.
Nonetheless, much of the activity is around marketing and promotion. A prime example of this is a holiday campaign by the Austrian Postal Service (APS), developed in collaboration with NeoMedia and Austrian mobile marketing agency IQ mobile.
The campaign, was designed to promote APS’ online services and deliver people exclusive offers and deals from brands. Specifically, a letter-sized advent calendar containing 24 windows was sent to 3.5 million households in Austria before the start of the holiday season. Each window contained a brand logo and a web address, and most windows featured an embedded 2D barcode people could scan to access deals, discounts and sweepstakes. (The campaign also provided people a SMS short-code that they could text to get a link and download NeoMedia’s NeoReader barcode scanning application.)
Barcode best practice
There is no official list, but Laura outlined what she believes is essential to using barcodes effectively, regardless of the campaign objective.
- No one-offs: Mobile barcodes should be an integral part of the overall campaign and incorporated into digital and traditional media as a key element of the campaign rather than being added as an afterthought. This will help to ensure that the vital element of interactivity is brought to the campaign. A plan for longer term consumer engagement should also be established as part of the overall campaign objectives. There is no point in establishing an interaction and then not following up and maintaining the dialogue with the consumer once the link has been created.
- Offer value: Consumers generally only opt in to receive communications from brands when they perceive that it will be of value to them – whether that be in financial terms by means of giveaways, discounts or in less tangible services based on entertainment and utility. Access to relevant content, discount coupons, or exclusive information can all work well to grab consumer attention and encourage interaction. This tried and tested marketing strategy is a great way to increase your user base and will promote user participation in your campaign. Thus, ensure that your integration of 2D mobile barcodes includes value for the consumer in a manner that is suitable for your brand and campaign.
- Design matters: To ensure a strong response from consumers, the design of the advertisement is of paramount importance. The barcode itself should be given as much consideration and attention as other elements of the ad’s overall design. In order to grab consumer attention, the placement of the 2D mobile barcode in a position which makes it easy to identify and scan is key. The barcode should be placed in an area of prominence on the page, on a flat surface and avoid placing the barcode between folds in the magazine as this will hamper scanning. If at all possible, the barcode should also be printed in black and white to ensure ease of scanning with the majority of mobile devices and barcode readers.
- Standards are paramount: To ensure the user experience is as good as it can be, it is important that brands and agencies work with global, open standards in their barcode deployments. The deployment of proprietary solutions may limit consumer access or market penetration.
- Educate and explain: Generally, consumers are willing to engage with new technologies but marketers must be ready to educate and make the move into the ‘perceived’ unknown as simple and straightforward as possible. The newness of barcodes to the mass market means that brands need to consider placing descriptive copy next to the barcode, explaining what the code is, how it is used, how to download a reader to scan the code and what it will provide them with. This will help to facilitate and encourage consumer participation.
- Test the experience: Consumers will be deterred from using barcodes if they have an initial unsatisfactory experience. There have been instances where links from barcodes have resulted in no content being displayed which is damaging, not only for the campaign, but for the future of barcode marketing. To ensure the greatest degree of success and ongoing consumer participation, the barcodes that are generated for a promotional piece should be tested using a variety of scanning software and mobile devices. It is also essential to ensure that the mobile pages and/or application that are linked to a code are optimised for mobile viewing to guarantee consumer satisfaction.
- Get the numbers: Leveraging analytics can provide vital insight on the campaign including usage at specific times of day and locations; allowing brands to make better advertising purchase decisions and ensure optimal utilisation and communication of their message. The importance of tracking 2D barcode campaigns for marketers should not be underestimated. The ability to measure and analyse the data determines success rates and ROI helps to shape future campaigns and ensure consumer engagement.
Giving marketers the ability to capture and analyse consumer behaviour in real time means that future campaigns can be based on intelligence and ensure that the consumer receives relevant content. Consumers can easily be moved up the marketing ladder from call to action to sale and loyalty but if the campaign is mismanaged then the results will be ineffective and damaging to future campaigns.
Agenda 2011
In addition to its strong IP position, NeoMedia is focused on industry education. To this end NeoMedia has recently released the first in a series of white papers outlining barcode basics. As Laura points out: “In the CEO position one of my first remits was to develop a leadership strategy and start to make some significant strides in terms of industry education.”
In parallel to that NeoMedia has stepped up efforts to build the “direct business and that means going direct to brands and agencies rather than relying exclusively on our re-seller partners.” No doubt this is where Laura’s contacts and background in the Mobile Marketing Association have come into play to help drive sales activity direct to brands and agencies.
What has NeoMedia achieved? Laura says there is “a lot of activity” on all fronts. “Whether it’s an advertising initiative, whether it’s vertical applications, both direct and to our partners we are seeing a flurry of activity.”
(Note I spoke with Laura just hours before the news broke about eBay. Specifically, NeoMedia granted a five year, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable license to eBay. The agreement states that the license to the NeoMedia’s Barcode Technology and optional license to the company’s Search Technology may be extended for successive 3 year terms for additional license fees from eBay. By way of background, eBay has been active in barcodes, acquiring RedLaser (a barcode-scanning, price-comparison app for the iPhone) and incorporating the technology into the latest update of eBay’s own mobile app. As a result, eBay joins the list of web giants (Amazon, Google) embracing barcode scanning schemes to boost commerce. At NeoMedia’s news of this and other deals saw the company add significantly to its market price.)
One partnership that stands out is with Buongiorno. Under the terms of the agreement, B! Digital, Buongiorno’s mobile marketing and advertising division, will employ NeoMedia’s NeoSphere barcode creation and management system to create and manage mobile barcode campaigns globally, with an initial focus on the North American and Western European markets.
As Laura sees it: “The fit is that we are enhancing the digital solution with NeoMedia’s barcode management and infrastructure product.” The partnership is “having some success,” and we can expect some significant news in 2011.
My take:
Laura is predictably tight-lipped about details, but she does confirm that IP licensing is and will continue to be a strong focus of NeoMedia. (Against this backdrop, the eBay agreement to license NeoMedia technology makes some sense — and I’ll have more on that from the source.) Meantime, it’s clear that outreach to verticals (specifically the enterprise), has also moved up the agenda for 2011. We can expect increased activity — and the partnership with B! Digital is also reaping some successes (with announcements in the pipeline). Laura also speaks candidly about her personal goals, objectives that also speak volumes about the company agenda. (Or at least what Laura aims to accomplish in the time left. She tells me activity around recruiting a new CEO will probably in the late Q1, early Q2 timeframe.)