Mobile Barcode-Image Marketing: Make It Free And They Will Come?

Days after we reported on American students at Case Western University being unimpressed by mobile barcodes, news surfaces from the two-year old Hong Kong company MyClick, an image recognition mobile marketing firm as it calls itself, that it has signed a deal with Pepsi to create an advertising campaign for it in China, aimed at 12-24 year olds.

MyClick's technology works much like mobile barcodes, but instead of consumers snapping a picture of a 2D barcode, or QR code, they take a picture of any image?such as a logo, or a photograph?that is bordered by a MyClick frame. MyClick's frame acts much as a 2D barcode, sending users to a specially created mobile web site for more information, or downloads. Pepsi is using MyClick in its latest promotional contest where consumers are being asked to create a profile on any of China's six major online portals for a chance to appear on Pepsi cans, which will come out during the Summer Olympics.

What's interesting here, especially in light of the recent disappointing trial at Case Western University is that MyMedia is apparently doing quite well for itself in China, having already racked up an impressive number of campaigns with big international brands, including Coca Cola, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Estee Lauder, Northwest Airlines, Adidas and Pizza Hut among others. Similarly in Japan, 2D barcodes have been an enormous hit?where they appear on everything from biscuits to passport visas.

So what separates east from west in the take up of barcodes and image mobile marketing? It's not downloading the barcode/image reader that's the problem?as MyClick requires consumers to download a client as well. There may be a tiny argument that clicking on a logo or photo is more appealing that clicking on a barcode--but it's negligible at best. Cost looks like the most obvious culprit. In the Case Western trial, students were turned off because they had no idea how much snapping on a barcode would actually cost them?as prices varied depending on a student's carrier and data plan. Moreover, students balked at the idea of having to pay for advertising. MyMedia does it differently: images are free for users to click on as well as the airtime on the web site that consumers are sent to. Advertisers pay MyMedia per click, which then splits the revenue with the carrier. (release)

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