Aug
17
2010

Digital Barcodes: The Present and Future of Mobile Marketing

digital-barcode

The past few years have seen many innovations in the world of mobile marketing, one of the biggest being the use of digital barcodes. Digital barcodes, or Quick Response codes, are barcodes that, when scanned using a mobile device’s QR code reader, lead users to promotional information designated by the creator. We believe digital barcodes will help mobile marketing finally break into the mainstream. They create a more intimate experience for users as well as increase the effectiveness and response time of opt-in marketing campaigns.

The biggest advantage to a digital barcode campaign is an increase in user engagement. Digital barcodes create a more enticing, personal experience for users that is hard to replicate in other mediums. They also have the ability to quickly show the success of a campaign based on the number of scans per location, which can be measured at any time. Additionally, digital barcodes can drive quality traffic to a company’s website or landing page, allowing for targeted marketing. Finally, consumers that use the bar codes are showing an immediate interest, making it easier for companies to get visitors to interact with their product or service.

This is perfectly demonstrated by a digital barcode campaign that was recently launched by Calvin Klein to support their new lines of X jeans. Billboards were placed in New York and Los Angeles with a digital barcode on them in place of the normally racy billboard. If scanned, the ad promised an uncensored version for private viewing. With the campaign, Calvin Klein enticed consumers to visit its site under their own volition and to engage with their new product in influencer markets.

QR Codes have also been used for other types of campaigns. The nonprofit group Women of the Storm used digital barcodes to rally support for restoration of the Gulf Coast after the BP oil spill. The Be the One Campaign, with the assistance of ScanLife, created a digital barcode that leads to their website. This barcode was then put on display in Times Square as well as printed on stickers and T-shirts. To date, it has resulted in over 120,000 people signing up to support their cause.

While there are many advantages to a digital barcode campaign, there are some drawbacks to be considered. The technology is still very new and in most cases requires a smartphone. Marketers will also need to make sure they have a significant web presence. With this type of campaign, companies must ensure that consumers will remain engaged once they hit the landing page or the campaign is destined to fail.

This technology is an exciting look into the future of marketing. We are currently utilizing one on our building for our Google business listing and believe that digital barcodes offer many options for engaging the audience with creative, versatile opt-in marketing campaigns. While there are still some issues to work around, this technology offers the ability take mobile marketing to a whole new level.

If you or your company is interested in learning more about the potential for digital barcode campaigns, please contact Michael Garten by phone (949.698.2983), on Twitter or through Linkedin.


Jun
21
2010

Interactive Day San Diego – A Review

IDSD

The 6th Annual Interactive Day San Diego has wrapped and we couldn’t have asked for a better day of fun and learning with industry thought leaders regarding mobile, web design, online video, SEO, social media, email marketing and more!

Together with SanDiego.com and Chad Robley, sponsoring IDSD 2010 was an honor for Mindgruve and we’re already looking forward to next year! If you didn’t get a chance to check out the event, here are our highlights:

Opening  Session: 2020 Vision: The Most Important Advertising Issues for This Decade with Jack Myers, Founder of M.E.D.I.Advisory Group
Jack Myers kicked things off by discussing the changes happening in the market today, forcing advertisers and marketers to be more innovative than ever. Read the full recap…

Email Plus with Joel Book, Exact Target
Pointing out that email marketing is nothing new and still a very lucrative business, Joel Book explained some key insights, including the fact that 75% of social media users say email is the best way for companies to communicate with consumers. Read the full recap…

SignOnSanDiego.com Social Media Demonstration and Q&A with Mike Hodges, SignOnSanDiego.com, and Indra Gardiner, Bailey Gardiner
Mike Hodges led the group in a social media demonstration, discussing the importance of creativity in order to have more consumer impact. Indra Gardiner also shared her thoughts on how social media guidelines are key to leveraging client and company interactions. Read the full recap…

Advanced SEO with Rand Fishkin, SEOMOZ.org
Rand Fishkin discussed the balance of SEO vs PPC budget and the four areas of SEO acceleration, laying out the formula to increasing individual rankings: low competition + high search volume + high value to visitor. Read the full recap…

Mobile Marketing with Amielle Lake, Tagga
Amielle Lake explained the marketing shift taking place in the industry, moving from traditional to digital to mobile marketing. Noting that the mobile target is millennials, digital moms and techie men, she emphasized that efforts are most effective when it is campaign driven to offer immediate and branded payoff to consumer. Read the full recap…

ValueClick Media Demonstration and Q&A with Tony Winders, ValueClick Media, and Tamara Bousquet, MEA Digital
Together, Winders and Bousquet provided session attendees with insight into the importance of ad exchanges, demand side platforms (DSPs) and ad verification in a media plan. Read the full recap…

Marketing Convergence – Are You Ready? with Warren Raisch, Digitaria
Warren Raisch led the discussion by providing key insights regarding marketing in the industry, noting that mobile is becoming the ultimate Channel Aggregation point and that 92% of social users trust a recommendation from people they know over the marketing channels. Read the full recap…

Luncheon Keynote: The Identity Web with Paul Ollinger, Facebook
Facebook’s Western Region VP of Sales discussed how the internet has changed social marketing to make it enormously effective for marketers, pointing out that relationships and authenticity will allow businesses to truly learn, grow and create a social web. Read the full recap…

“POV” Point of Video with Tod Sacerdoti, BrightRoll
Providing insights into the growing online video space, Tod Sacerdoti noted that online video advertising is the future and is the best place to involve yourself. Also offering tips for moving into online video advertising, Sacerdoti says it is important to test, measure and optimize, as well as remove under-performing content. Read the full recap…

Mindset Marketing with Denny Reinert, Placecast, and Andreas Roell, Geary Group
Using Placecast as an example, Reinert led the session with a special focus on reaching consumers while in the right mindset. For location-based marketing, an opt-in mobile service is the right way to engage with consumers. This and a combination of other factors create relevance and increase purchases. Read the full recap…

Website Redesign for Lead Generation with Rick Burnes, HubSpot
Burnes discussed that the purpose of a website redesign is to be found by more prospects and convert those prospects to leads and customers. All website redesigns should have specific goals in mind, while being aware that some design and taste sacrifices will need to made to generate traffic. Read the full recap…

Digital Download: What You Need to Know About Ad Networks with John Yearout, Undertone Networks
After reviewing the timeline of ad networks over the last 15 years, Yearout pointed out that as DSPs become more prevalent, ad networks need to deliver unique inventory, targeting, products, insights and research to stay relevant. Read the full recap…

Sorenson Media Demonstration and Q&A with Eric Quanstrom, Sorenson Media, and Montana Triplett, Tremor Media
Both industry experts made a point of saying that online video is still the wild wild west for marketing and advertising. A customized user experience should be based on your objectives. Read the full recap…

Google Analytics with Joshua Knox, Google Analytics
Google’s goal, as explained by Knox, is to speed up the web to improve conversion flow. Knox also led the group in better understanding the impact AdWords has in creating valuable traffic when used correctly. Read the full recap…

State of the Industry Roundtable
At the close of IDSD, Panelists Heather Blank, Responsys; Torrey Lincoln, LinkedIn; Brian Lynch, Yahoo!; Paul Ollinger, Facebook offered their thoughts on the State of the Industry as well as some companies to keep an eye on in the coming months.

If you’d like to learn more from or contact the presenters, a list of slide decks and twitter handles can be found at the San Diego Advertising Club Facebook page. We hope to see you next year at IDSD 2011!


Feb
3
2010

Mindgruve Launches New Campaign to Tell San Diego North’s Great Story.

sandiegonorth_story

New online campaign invites travelers to learn about San Diego North, visit and share their experiences.

SAN DIEGO,CA – February 3, 2010 – To start 2010 with positive tourism efforts, San Diego North Convention and Visitors Bureau enlisted Mindgruve, a San Diego-based Digital Media Agency, to develop and launch an online campaign that would engage travelers and encourage them to visit.

Launched January 22nd, the Great Story Campaign tells potential visitors to not be left without their great story by visiting San Diego North. Geo-targeting communities within driving distance of San Diego, including Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco, paid search and behavioral media points consumers to conversion-centric landing pages that showcase deals, events and contests.

“While the tourism world is familiar with ‘San Diego,’ the north region offers an amazingly diverse list of activities and amenities that many aren’t aware of. As a perfect location for exploring all of southern California, we hear amazing stories about what people find every day. This campaign encompasses what San Diego North is all about – no matter what you do while you’re here, you’ll leave with an amazing story to tell when you get home,” stated San Diego North Director of Marketing, Barbara Bovee.

In addition to a traditional online campaign, Mindgruve has also helped San Diego North embrace social media to connect with travelers, share stories and increase contest entry. Mindgruve President, Chad Robley explained, “Traveling is an extremely social activity. Through these channels, it becomes infinitely easier to share experiences, give or get advice, and learn about unique deals. Adding a storytelling contest about previous trips, provides yet another channel of content to excite travelers about their potential trip.”

The great story campaign has been immediately embraced by travelers with increased site traffic and social media interaction.

About San Diego North

The San Diego North Convention and Visitors Bureau represents approximately 300 hotels spanning from La Jolla to Oceanside. By combining the efforts of these hotels to offer a cohesive message, San Diego North engages and incites travelers to explore the northern San Diego coastline and all the amenities it offers. www.sandiegonorth.com


Jan
4
2010

Mindgruve’s Top 3 Predictions for 2010

As the Mindgruve gang dispersed over the holidays, we still had one job to do: Think about what will affect our industry most in 2010. When we all got back, we found our top three.

1. SEOcial Media
With the recent upgrades by Google and Bing to integrate Facebook and Twitter posts into search results, as well as the powerful new real-time and personalization functionality, creating a symbiotic relationship between SEO and social media will be key to getting results. With many clients already questioning the ROI of social media, this might confuse them even more, but here are some of the basics to get you started:

  • The bigger your social media presence, the more your links and content become available for search engines to aggregate.
  • The more frequently you update/interact on your social media – especially within popular/trending topics – the more likely you are to rise in the search results, including real-time results.
  • Monitoring micro-trends in your social media space will give you insights for adjusting your overall SEO strategy – providing your audience with more relevant and “clickable” results.

The list goes on, and as Google and Bing refine their new functionality, it will become more clear to how to make the most of it. For now, start thinking of your social media as an extension of your SEO efforts and vice versa.

2. Let’s Go GEO
What’s true in real estate is quickly becoming true in digital marketing: Location. Location. Location. The increased use of smart phones, localized search, geo tagging and augmented reality has opened the door to better access your target with relevant information, helping you find them, when they want you.

The area most likely for a boom of growth is the use of smart phones. Applications like FourSquare, Yowza and Yelp provide a location-based way to quickly find just about anything you’re looking for, as well as deals attached to it. Brand-specific apps like myStarbucks add another layer, offering store locators based on a variety of criteria and can alert other Starbucks fanatics of your whereabouts.

On top of that, Twitter is getting in on the act with it’s new geo tagging API. This means that geo tags will quickly be as important as #tags for joining conversations. Recent statistics by the National Retail Federation state that 60% of consumers will use social media to locate deals and coupons. Combine that with eMarketer’s finding that 45% of social network users in the U.S. will be accessing their social networks from their mobile devices, and we believe that location is quickly becoming a key component of conversions.

3. Micro Content Is Big Biz
We know, Twitter was already a big deal in 2009, but this year, people are actually going to figure out how to use it. Additionally, Twitter is in the process of rolling out several business friendly features.

Let’s start with the obvious. The new paid brand accounts offer something that has been lacking for most companies (and their marketing departments): user analytics and improved feed-back functions. These additions, along with rumored ad space, should make providing relevant tweets to your audience a lot easier. Based on who they are and what they tell you, your Twitter now provides unlimited uses, such as a perpetual newsletter, talent recruiting, product/service launches, customer support, niche group building and contests.

Speaking of contests, “Tweepstakes” have become a proven source for increased interaction. And according to a recent Razorfish study, special offers (like contests) drive engagement, “consumers not only want to engage with brands, but engaging with brands is having an inordinate effect on affinity for brands and the likelihood to purchase.” Additionally, “of those surveyed, 64% had made their first purchase from a company as a result of a digital interaction…”

Whether you like it or not, in 2010, Twitter will be a key player in garnering a dedicated audience and encouraging them to partake in your products and services.

Of course, these are just predictions. The only thing that we are 100% sure of is that the landscape we work in changes daily, if not hourly, and we will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry-leading brand, digital and social media successes to our clients. Happy 2010!