10 March 2011
Burberry and Lancome have embedded QR codes into their online display advertisements to connect consumers with branded mobile content.
Basically, the content in the online ad and its landing page are transferred to the consumer’s mobile device as a result of the scan. For example, a brand can encourage sharing via social media and can give store locations to consumers that scan.
“The ads are not Flash-based, but HTML5 and compatible for mobile,” said Will Price, CEO of Flite, San Francisco. “Brands do not have to worry about creating a new advertisement for different channels, because this is compatible for all of them.
“The codes provide an imbedded, immersive experience for the consumer,” he said. “The brand experiences let them read white papers, share with friends and watch videos. “It’s where the industry is going.”
Flite has developed these transferrable advertising units for luxury brands. They are optimized for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone and iPad.
Starting with statistics
The new technology can tell brands not only what consumers did, but how much time they spent on the site, how many times they clicked-through and what they most interacted with.
For example, Lancome’s total ad interactions on all of its ad units for its Tresor campaign from Dec. 17 – Jan. 31 was 3,759,182.
Lancome ad unit on Glam.com
Users shared the ad on Facebook 85 times and on Twitter 120 times.
The average time spent on the unit was 33 seconds and it had 5,771 total click-throughs.
Brands can use this information to understand what their consumers spend the most time on and why. This can help with future campaigns, mobile applications, optimized sites and ad placement on the Web and on mobile sites.
Mobile component:
Consumers can interact with the ad when they see it on the Web site, or click on the mobile section.
Users are required to have a camera and WAP enabled phone, then download the QR Code reader, and scan the QR code in order to participate in the mobile component.
Burberry mobile component:
After the bar code scans, it takes them to an optimized site where they can browse a brand’s Twitter feed, YouTube, Facebook and store locator.
When users click on “Share,” they can share the widget links through social media, email or SMS.
Users can also opt to install it on their mobile phones as an application.
Luxury brands can look at this as an alternative to mobile apps, which are expensive to build. Instead of building an application and having to go through app stores to distribute it, brands can do it themselves.
Additionally, this is a good way for brands to use mobile for a specific campaign or event that they are trying to promote.
“There should definitely be an official Burberry app, but if Burberry is trying to do an app just for Fashion Week or the Royal Wedding or something else episodic or campaign-oriented, this is much better and much cheaper,” Mr. Price said.
“It’s important to luxury brands to be able to convey a brand message and it’s hard to do that in image and tagline,” he said.
“Putting things like this on the Web and allowing users to be better storytellers and providing that opportunity in ways that tell a story and allow people to feel more connected with the brand.”
Via Rachel Lamb www.luxurydaily.com