QR Codes NOT Going Mainstream

Reposting this excerpt from StoreFrontBalkTalk...

I often thought QR codes were just for geeks. Then I started seeing them all over America, not just in The Bay area, Mountain View and New York City. So, I thought they were going mainstream. Maybe not.

Survey: 83 Percent Of Young Shoppers Can’t Handle QR Codes
Written by Evan Schuman

August 17th, 2011

Given the current retail fascination with QR codes—with recent trials at Tesco on subway walls, Macy’s on products, American Express on beer cans and eBay on practically everything—it stands to reason those little boxed lines are doing rather well.

A recent credible survey, however, found that not only are most younger consumers oblivious to what QR codes are, but the many who do know what they are can’t get them to function. In short, 83 percent of the 1,300 14- to 24-year-olds surveyed couldn’t access a QR code regardless of how good the offer was. Looks like some people skipped an important step in product rollout.

That news is pretty bad, given the strong mobile interest—or general high-tech and experimentation comfort level—of that demographic. If they’re confused or apathetic, the numbers won’t likely get better as surveys examine consumers in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. This particular survey was conducted between May 20 and May 30 by Youth Pulse (a.k.a., YPulse), which tracks marketing trends among the 14- to-24-year-old segment.

The survey breakdowns also hold little optimism. Some 64 percent said they had no idea what a QR code was, even when shown a picture of it. That picture part negates the possibility that they knew what QR codes were and had to use them but simply didn’t recognize the name.

Read more: http://storefrontbacktalk.com/e-commerce/survey-83-percent-of-young-shoppers-cant-handle-qr-codes/#ixzz1XlQwDtLe

AP Wants to Drive Mobile Deals For Members

Paid Content reports AP wants to strike mobile deals for members. This just sounds like an organization trying to find relevancy while in decline. I certainly hope local media doesn't rely on AP to negotiate deals for them. Media needs to move quickly and aggressively into mobile and AP is not known for either of those traits.

PaidContent: [AP] authorized management to negotiate business models and develop platforms with content distributors, search engines, device manufacturers and others on behalf of members and the news industry. That mandate does not include pricing."

Location-Based Ads More Effective

This research reinforces what PlaceCast found with their GeoFencing tests .. LBA is very effective ---

U.S. Consumers Significantly More Likely To Respond To Location-Based Mobile Ads Than Other Mobile Ad Types | Wireless Week: "The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) and its official research partner, Luth Research (www.luthresearch.com), today released the latest Mobile Consumer Briefing, a monthly survey of U.S. adult consumers about their mobile marketing behaviors and opinions. Available exclusively to MMA members, the new survey shows that nearly one in four U.S. adult consumers uses mobile location services, with usage highest among Apple iPhone owners."

Mobile Users Like Geo-Targeted Ads

Not only do mobile users want personalized services, they like geo-targeted ads, according to a recent survey by eMarketer.

The recap of the study makes a point of highlighting “Geo-fencing” by 1020 PlaceCast, which provides personalized marketing messages to shoppers based on their location.

The responses to the 1020 Placecast ShopAlerts program were as follows:

* 60% said the location-triggered messages were “cool” and “innovative.”
* 79% claimed to be more likely to visit a store.
* 65% made a purchase.
* 73% were likely to use the service again.

While the cool and innovative comments may wane as this type of advertising become more common, you have to be excited to hear nearly 80% of the recipients would be more likely to visit a store due to the ads.

"Push" Technology Gets It's Due

I've been thinking a lot about push technology lately. It was a buzz term in the late 90's. I was outspoken for years that it would not work. Suddenly, I realized (sorry if I am slow) some very compelling "push" technologies (not called push) are emerging with the proliferation of smart mobile devices.

I was doing my usual reading around hyper local, GeoWeb, etc., when I came across this post on TechCrunch about ambient streams. If you look at the Venn diagram it closely aligns with my own thoughts in this blog.

The author, Edo Segal, says, "The Holy Grail is a filter which only serves up information which is relevant based on who you are, your social graph, what you or your friends are doing now, what you or friends have done before, and in context of other information you are consuming."

That's where the similarities end. Segal goes on to hypothesize that this combination of Realtime Web, Published Information, Geolocation Data, and Social Communications via an intelligent filter will change how we experience reality.

"A very useful metaphor is that humanity is constructing its own synthetic sixth sense. An ambient sense that perceives the context of your activity and augments your reality with related information and experiences. Increasingly, we will be sensing the world with this sixth sense and that will change the way we collectively experience the world, "Segal wrote.

I'm not one to predict the future. I'm pretty grounded and practical. So, I'll just say that I think he is on to something. This augmented reality is coming, or is here in some forms already. To me, it is essentially a push technology that will change the way we view the world in a very literal sense and possibly in a philosophical sense.

Finally, push is getting its due.