Article Originally Published by Mobile Marketer
December 8, 2009

Marketers, advertising agencies and brand departments have been giving a lot of attention recently to the emerging mobile barcode market.

And why not? Mobile barcodes offer marketers an exciting opportunity — increase the value of brand marketing and advertising by adding measurable interactive functionality. With the placement of a mobile barcode, brands can give consumers access to information, multi-media content, promotional opportunities, retail store locations, discounts, samples and much, much more from brand marketing materials.

Now, that is something worth talking about. But there might be more to the conversation than you know.

As the market grows in the U.S., a number of different mobile barcodes have emerged. With these new mobile barcodes comes a sea of new terminology and capabilities creating barriers to understanding and differentiating between them.

If you are considering adding a mobile barcode to your brand marketing efforts, there are two key variables to consider when choosing a solution:

1. The degree of brand identity and customization you desire
2. The consumer experience and potential barriers to entry for participation

Pre-Generated vs. Customized Codes

Many of the more well-known mobile barcodes are pre-generated, meaning that the code has the same overall appearance regardless of the brand or product it is representing. Alternatively, there are customized codes that are capable of incorporating a brand’s identity or artwork directly into the code itself. Customized mobile barcodes can complement the advertising and reinforce the brand or product message.

Microsoft’s Tag is capable of including color and can be customized to include a background image while SpyderLynk’s SnapTag uses a brand’s identity as the centerpiece of its mobile barcode. SnapTags are created with any brand logo or product image and SpyderLynk’s Code Ring Technology, which provides tracking and differentiation capabilities.

Mobile Apps vs. Snap & Send

Depending on what type of mobile barcode you are using, the decoding and activation of the promised engagement occurs via one of two interfaces activated by the consumer:

1. Barcode Reader – Code is read by a barcode reader mobile application
2. Snap & Send – Code is read by the consumer snapping a photo of it and sending it to a number or email address

While a few handsets in the U.S. come with a barcode reader pre-installed, most consumers will have to download a barcode reader by visiting a website or an application store on their mobile camera phone. In the U.S., there are multiple types of mobile barcodes requiring readers and multiple types of barcode readers. While many readers can activate QR Codes, an open source code, proprietary mobile barcodes like the EZcode and Microsoft Tag can only be read by code-dedicated reader applications. In a world with multiple kinds of barcodes, consumers may have to find and download a reader for each type of barcode they want to activate.

Mobile barcodes offering Snap and Send functionality in the U.S. include SnapTags and JagTags. Consumers use their camera phone to snap a photo of these mobile barcodes and send the photo to the number or email address provided. The barcodes are then decoded and the promised message or link is returned to the participating consumer via SMS or MMS messaging. These mobile barcodes do not require a barcode reader or any type of application download, making them usable for over 200 million consumers in the U.S. today.

The exciting bottom line is that marketers in the U.S have multiple options for activating their advertising. All of the mobile barcodes mentioned above can increase brand engagement while providing sophisticated analytics about consumer behavior as well as the effectiveness of brand marketing and media initiatives. It’s important to know that you have options and that you can choose the code that best fits your brand and marketing objectives.

See the article at Mobile Marketer.com