As 2012 comes to a close, it’s always good to take a step back to reflect on the evolution of everything over the past year. 12 months are an eternity in the mobile space and 2012 has been particularly full of innovations and remarkable events. Here are some of the year’s highlights:

SUMMER 2012 OLYMPICS –THE FIRST MOBILE GAMES EVER

The London Olympics have been to Mobile Engagement what Woodstock has been to Rock ‘n Roll: the moment where Mobile Engagement officially joined the mainstream by becoming the focal point of social, m-commerce, location-based experiences, and apps. The ScanLife Mobile Engagement Platform helped bring all of these experiences to life, generating 36% more connections than Foursquare check-ins during the games, according to published LOCOG numbers. Check out the Olympics video and case study to see it all in action: Olympics webpage to download the case study!

APPLE LAUNCHES THE IPHONE 5 WITH PASSBOOK

After months of speculation, Apple finally released its 4G-enabled iPhone 5. Of all its new features, the one we are most thrilled about is Passbook. The proto-wallet stores boarding passes, loyalty cards, coupons, event tickets etc. to display the information in the form of a mobile barcode (QR Code, PDF-417, and Aztec) to be used in a store, concert venue or wherever appropriate. It’s a big first step towards enabling m-commerce, m-payments, and m-identity, and more. This approach exposes mobile barcodes to millions of people around the world and is among the best things that could happen for the mobile barcode industry. Thank you Apple!

NEW APP. NEW FUN.

2012 will be known as the year when scanning mobile barcodes became fun. The ScanLife app now includes new social features: users can like what they’ve scanned and share their favourites with their networks – a great way to create gift wish lists. Users can also create an electronic contact card in the form of a QR Code right from the app: enter your details et voila! You can share your contact details in one scan with the “QRcard” feature. The app is now sexier too: iOS users can choose over 20 themes. Dreaming of the beach?  We have a cool summer theme – palm trees included.  If you’re more of a sports nut we have an entire pack dedicated to baseball, basketball, football, and more. On the other hand, Android users are enjoying a whole new user interface with The Hub. The Hub is the first thing you see when you open the app, and it gives you easy access to everything in ScanLife – your history of scans, live scan activity from around the world, the ability to customize your scanner screen from Settings, and of course the scanner itself from a super cool animated iris. All of these new features are just the beginning in a major evolution to make it easier than ever for users to discover and share information.

Intrigued? Try it out yourself:

Google Play Android Store

Apple App Store

THE MAJORITY OF MOBILE USERS OWN A SMARTPHONE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?

2012 marks the first time when the majority of mobile users possess a smartphone in the USA and Europe. This fact has profound implications for businesses: smartphones now serve as the most common starting point for our digital lives across devices with nearly 100% of smartphone owners using their device to go online every day, 85% of smartphone owners seeking local information and 1 in 5 make a purchase after finding that information. As a result, mobile is evolving into a channel in its own right. The table below shows the most popular mobile tactics businesses use to engage their customers, according to research by eConsultancy.

Several factors explain the prominence of QR Codes as a mobile channel. For one, they’ve become a highly effective medium when executed properly. Research by Nellymoser shows that average response rate is 6.4%, versus only 4.4% for Direct Mail and the 4.3% for catalogs, according the Direct Marketing Association. Indeed, as our own trend report shows, 2D barcode scanning increased 71% during 2012.

THE RISE OF MOBILE-SAVVY RETAILERS… AND CONSUMERS

Retail is perhaps the domain where Mobile Engagement has had the greatest impact. Research by eConsultancy shows that the number of consumers who have made a purchase on mobile since 2011 have more than doubled, from 12% to 28% in the US and 13% to 25% and in the UK. For retailers and brands, this trend brings unprecedented opportunity to connect with shoppers. For example, Tesco, which pioneered the concept of virtual store during 2011, extended its virtual stores in Q1. As a result, their app is now the number one shopping app in Korea, with nearly one million downloads since it was launched last April. The most impressive of all is Chinese retailer Yihaodian, which opened 1,000 virtual stores located in iconic areas of Shanghai, Bejing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The video below shows what a virtual store looks like.

The ubiquity of mobile has also caused the “showrooming” effect, which is the tendency consumers have to go to a brick and mortar store to do for merely research and then purchase the goods online. In fact, in the UK, 43% of respondents said they had used their mobile to compare prices and look at product reviews while out shopping (up from 19% in 2011). Among US consumers, the number has increased from 20% to 50% year over year. Our whitepaper, “The Showrooming Effect. How Retailers can use QR Codes to Create Opportunity”, outlines several ways to tackle this obstacle.

SCANLIFE UNLEASHES A SMARTER MOBILE ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM

To help brands create more relevant mobile experiences, the ScanLife team worked around the clock to launch dynamic new features:

1 – Mobile Landing Pages with Analytics

To aid our customers in understanding post-scan behaviors, we’ve added another valuable piece of business intelligence to the ScanLife platform: any ScanLife business customer that creates mobile landing pages from our platform can now view click-tracking data generated from those pages. Learn what this means for your business now.

2 – Language Detection

We already have codes that change dynamically based on the operating system or number of scans. Now we are thrilled to announce our latest innovation which uses language detection to deliver content that is unique to the language of the user’s device. Find out how it can be used here.

3 – Designer Codes

In April, ScanLife released custom design functionality, where marketers can create a custom design code, with their logo embedded, in seconds. But wait, it gets better: our QRcheck™ technology automatically verifies the readability of the code. If it doesn’t meet a certain level of readability, it will automatically warn the creator. Discover more now.

AND THE WINNER IS…

December was another fun month here at ScanLife! Our highlight was been winning the Business award for Mashable’s Innovation Index for 2012. We’re completely honoured and humbled to be recognized among the prestigious group of leaders who are revolutionizing the digital and social landscape around us. You can check out Mashable’s formal announcement here. This award is especially meaningful for our entire team at ScanLife, which is driven by the mission to create new and better ways to transform our lives through technology.  We’re grateful to everyone who voted and appreciate your continued support of what we do here.

As we look to 2013, we are more energized than ever to develop new ideas, push the boundaries of possibility, and unlock tomorrow’s innovations.

We wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Last week was another fun one here at ScanLife!  We won the Business award in Mashable’s Innovation Index 2012! We’re completely honored and humbled to be recognized among the prestigious group of leaders who are revolutionizing the digital and social landscape around us.

You can check out Mashable’s formal announcement here.

This award is especially meaningful for our entire team at ScanLife, which is driven by the mission to create new and better ways to transform our lives through technology.  We’re grateful to everyone who voted and appreciate your continued support of what we do here.

As we look to 2013, we are more energized than ever to develop new ideas, push the boundaries of possibility, and unlock tomorrow’s innovations.

Thanks again to all!

As the holiday shopping season continues in full swing, so the ScanLife contests!

Play the “Connect with ScanLife Contests” and you could win a $200 Amazon Gift Card!

Connect with Facebook Contest:

Simply connect your ScanLife app with your Facebook account and you are automatically entered to win a $200 Amazon Gift Card!

1. Launch the ScanLife App
2. Click the ‘More’ tab
3. Then click ‘Connect with Facebook’ at the top.
4. Done.

Yup, it’s that simple!

Connect with Twitter Contest:

Following the below easy steps via Twitter and you will be automatically entered to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card!

1. Follow us on Twitter @ScanLife.
2. Tweet @ScanLife based on the directions provided via Twitter on the day of entry.
3. Each tweet or retweet represents one contest entry.

Both contests end December 17th. Good luck!

ScanLife In-App Facebook Contest Rules & Regulations:

• The contest starts on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. EST and is scheduled to end on Monday, December 17, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. EST.
• You will automatically be entered into the Contest upon completion of the following steps:

1) Download the ScanLife App (www.getscanlife.com).

2) Entrant must then connect to Facebook from the ScanLife app

3) Once entrant connects to Facebook within ScanLife app, the In-App Facebook connection constitutes one (1) entry into the Contest.

4) At the end of the Entry Period, Scanbuy will randomly select a winner in its sponsor role and absolute discretion from all of the entries

• Only qualifying entries received during the Contest Period will be accepted. One (1) entry per entrant per weekly promotion for the duration of the Contest Period will be accepted.
• To be eligible for the prize, contestants can only win from Scanbuy one time within 60-day period
• The giveaway is open to anyone in the world who is over the age of 18.
• If you are selected winner, you will be sent an email with details on how to claim your gift card. You must respond within 48 hours to claim your prize.
• Scanbuy will not use or share, with a third party, any information collected for direct marketing purposes. We respect the privacy rights of individuals.
• Scanbuy employees and friends/family of employees are not eligible.

ScanLife Retweet Contest Rules & Regulations:

• The contest starts on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. EST and is scheduled to end on Monday, December 17, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. EST.
• You will automatically be entered into the Contest upon completion of the following steps:

1) Follow the ScanLife page on Twitter (the handle is @ScanLife).

2) Entrant must then tweet to @ScanLife based on the directions provided via Twitter on the day of entry.

3) Each tweet or retweet constitutes one (1) entry into the Contest.

4) At the end of the Entry Period, Scanbuy will randomly select a winner in its sponsor role and absolute discretion from all of the entries submitted in response to the retweet request posted by Scanbuy

• Only qualifying entries received during the Contest Period will be accepted. One (1) entry per entrant per weekly promotion for the duration of the Contest Period will be accepted.
• To be eligible for the prize, contestants can only win from Scanbuy one time within 60-day period
• The giveaway is open to anyone in the world who is over the age of 18.
• If you are selected winner, you will be sent an email with details on how to claim your gift card. You must respond within 48 hours to claim your prize.
• Scanbuy will not use or share, with a third party, any information collected for direct marketing purposes. We respect the privacy rights of individuals.
• Scanbuy employees and friends/family of employees are not eligible.

With the release of our latest ScanLife app, you can help the ScanLife community discover the very best by liking the items you scan.  Plus, you can save all of your favorites to your Facebook page for later.

To get you all in the social holiday spirit, we bring to you the ‘Like it to Win’ Holiday Giveaway, a simple way to win big during the shopping season.

Here’s how to play:
1) Scan any barcode or QR Code

2) Click the “heart” icon located  at the top of your screen (make sure you’re connected to Facebook in order for it to count. You can also do this in the ‘Settings’ tab in your ScanLife app)

3) You’re now automatically entered to win!

We will give away a $50 Amazon gift card every day, plus a $500 Grand Prize. The more you scan, the better chance you have to win!

Our Daily Winners:

11/21 – Don G.

11/22 – Mariam B.

11/23 – Kelly M.

11/24 – Philippe O.

11/25 – Kellie R.

11/26 – Lorena J.

11/27 – Joe C.

11/28 – Lauren B.

11/29 – Ashley C.

11/30 – Sherry N.

12/1 – Andrew B.

12/2 – Dominik O.

12/3 – Shannon A.

Stay tuned for more winners – it could be you!

Rules & Regulations:

• The contest starts on Tuesday, November 20th and is scheduled to end December 3rd at Midnight EST.
• You may enter as often as you would like, the more items you like, the better chance you have to win.
• The giveaway is open to anyone in the world who is over the age of 18.
• You must connect to your Facebook account from the ScanLife app for your likes to be counted. This can be done from Settings or More.
• If you are selected winner, you will be sent an email with details on how to claim your gift card. You must respond within 48 hours to claim your prize.
• Scanbuy will not use or share, with a third party, any information collected for direct marketing purposes. We respect the privacy rights of individuals.
• Scanbuy employees and friends/family of employees are not eligible.

At ScanLife, we are constantly developing new ways to personalize the mobile experience and make it as relevant as possible for the person scanning a QR Code.   We already have codes that change dynamically based on the operating system or the number of scans on a code, and now we are thrilled to announce our latest innovation which uses language detection.

Watch the video below to see it in action:

This dynamic QR Code action detects the language setting of the user’s device to deliver content that is unique to that language. There are two obvious scenarios for this kind of technology:

1. A marketer or publisher has content in 2-3 languages within a specific diverse country (like Canada or the US) and now they can run a single code that automatically delivers the right content.
2. A marketer is running a campaign across multiple countries (like Europe) and now the same code can deliver any number of experiences based on the native language of the user

Now ScanLife offers a simple way to connect to a diverse customer base with no additional programming:

• Choose from 12 different languages
• Offer up to 6 different experiences
• Based on settings from the device, regardless of location
• Works with any app around the world

If you’d like to learn more about Language Detection or to discuss other ways for smarter mobile engagement, please contact us at info@scanlife.com

The 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games officially wrapped up, and ScanLife was thrilled to be a part of this global event.  These Olympics marked the first time that mobile truly became part of the games in every way – social, commerce, location awareness, apps – and the ScanLife platform helped bring all of these experiences to life.

The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) used ScanLife to deploy over 50 QR Codes on Game-related signage, physical publications, e-tickets, and more.  ScanLife’s platform has been developed over the past five years to handle potential capacity of  8 million scans a day, and we already handle traffic from over 150 countries.

LOCOG saw 15 million Olympic app downloads and created a social network of over 5 million from around the globe. By using the ScanLife platform, they were able to see how people were engaging with their mobile content in real time with data like location, demographics, OS, country of scans, and top codes.

Heat map showing where traffic developed around the Olympic Stadium:

QR Codes delivered an easy and valuable way for visitors to view more information, get more social, and make purchases from virtually anything.  In fact, ScanLife generated 36% more connections than Foursquare check-ins during the games, according to published LOCOG numbers.

Check out the video below to see it all in action:

If you like what you see and want to get more charts, stats, and images, go to our Olympics webpage to download the case study!

Here at ScanLife, we are very excited because Wednesday the 29th will mark the beginning of a major evolution of our apps that will change how we all discover and share information from the world around us.  Every month, millions of people like you use ScanLife, and our other apps like BIDI in Spain, to connect with the physical world.  You do this because you are interested in discovering information from the things you see every day – a can of Coke, a magazine article, a coupon offer, a Facebook page.

These connections are happening every second of every day, so now we want to make it easier for you to access this information and to help you discover even more. It’s not just what product is in front of you right now, it’s about getting access to new and relevant information from anywhere.

On Wednesday, August 29th a new version of our Android app will be released which you can see for yourself if you scan this QR code…

The start of a new quarter is always a good time to take a step back and reflect on the latest developments in the industry. Today is no exception, as we’ve hand-picked the best and most innovative QR Code campaigns from the 2nd Quarter, 2012.  It’s fantastic to see examples from all over the globe, and from a variety of industries.  Kudos to these marketers for creating amazing customer experiences using this dynamic technology!

Company: Procter & Gamble
Industry: Consumer Goods

A clever blend of m-commerce, social media and fun: PGMobile used shopping trucks with QR Codes on the side to allow New Yorkers to purchase Procter & Gamble products for home delivery. The trucks locations were tweeted by @PGMobile and shoppers could tweet requests to bring the trucks right to their office or apartment block. Learn more about it here.

Company: Coca Cola
Industry: Beverage

To promote the popular EURO 2012 Tournament, Coca Cola used ScanLife powered QR Codes on millions of packages throughout Spain. The codes connected users to a mobile series of exclusive videos about the competition and drove downloads of the ‘SmileWorld’ app, Coke’s new mobile social network. Never before has a major brand used ScanLife on a scale quite like this! Find out more here.

Company: Emart
Industry: Retail

Emart, the Walmart of Korea, wanted to launch a lunch time promotion. They came up with the idea of a QR Code, in which its shadow rotates according to the time of the day – like a sundial. As a result, the QR Code only worked from 12pm to 1 pm. Once scanned, the code activated a promotion on Emart’s m-commerce website or in stores. Watch the video below for more:

Company: Americanino
Industry: Apparel

Americanino, a Chilean fashion brand created a pop-up QR Code event which ‘hypnotized’ young consumers and tried to get them to strip off in public. Those who were bold enough to do so were rewarded with a free Americanino outfit. Check out the video to learn more:

Company: Rockport
Industry: Footwear

Rockport used QR Codes during an outdoor event involving a box display with people hanging off the edges to show the new line of shoes. The displayed featured codes on the sides that took users to a mobile optimized landing page where they could learn more about the product. Users could then tap to buy the shoes on Rockport’s mobile site. But there’s more…

Company: Volkswagen
Industry: Automotive

Volkswagen recently launched a QR code campaign to promote its line of commercial vans – Crafter. The campaign featured a huge structure with a QR Code made with actual boxes of oranges. When people scanned it, they would be directed to a video of how those boxes would fit inside a Crafter. Thanks to this promotion, Crafter increased brand awareness by 224%  and sales by 70%. See the video below for more:

Company: Handy
Industry: Hospitality

Handy, a US-based seafood processor, enabled restaurant owners to enter a 6 digit lot number found on packaging into a trace register widget on the Handy website. They could then download a QR Code for adding to the restaurant menu. Customers would scan the code to follow the fish’s journey from catch to plate. Discover more here.

Company: Budweiser
Industry: Alcoholic Beverage

Global beer brand Budweiser unveiled its new mobile “Track Your Bud” marketing initiative. The campaign integrated QR Codes into producing packaging, allowing consumers to track their specific beer’s history back to one of the 12 American Budweiser breweries. Thirsty for more? Read here.

Company: Axe
Industry: Consumer Goods

As part of a new risqué campaign for Axe Body Spray, the most popular bars and discos in Puerto Rico were given virtual peepholes, i.e. QR Codes, which let men to peek into the girls bathroom. The codes resolved to a set of steamy videos and even even steamier clips if shared on Facebook. The results were pretty spectacular. “Peep” the video below for more:

Company: Turquoise Cottage
Industry: Hospitality / Entertainment

Knowing that patrons typically go out drinking for about five hours, Turquoise Cottage, a bar/restaurant in India, created the “Buddy Stamp” to keep the night both safe and fun. The stamp was comprised of a QR Code that users could scan at various times throughout the night. Now here’s the best part – consumers were delivered different content depending on the time of a scan. A wonderful example of dynamic marketing! Watch the video below for more:

Inspired? So are we. For more information on how to leverage mobile engagement, join our Linkedin group “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement“, or check out our website, or simply contact us.

We’re thrilled about the release of our new ScanLife 4.2 app for iPhone, which helps you connect with others in a whole new way.

What’s New?

With ScanLife 4.2, you now have the ability to create your personal contact code, or as we like to call it – “QRcard”. Just click “My QRcard” in the “More” tab, enter your contact details and voila! Your very own QRcard is ready to be scanned and shared with anyone.

Plus whenever there’s  a change in your contact info, you can adjust it by editing your QRcard details at anytime! Just remember you will receive a new code.

You can also easily sign up for a free ScanLife account right from the app to access your codes online at any time. Simply click the banner below your QRcard to get more codes and join thousands of other ScanLife platform users.

Additional Features to ScanLife 4.2:

• Web Code Prompt: After scanning a web code, view the URL before launching the website so you know what your linking to.
• Call Code Confirmation: When scanning a call code, you can now verify the number before making a call.
• New Product Prices: For all you shoppers out there, extra pricing comparisons have been added when scanning UPC barcodes on products.

In need of our brand new iPhone app? Scan our OS Detection Code below to download it directly to your phone:

Be sure to leave us a rating and review to let us know how we’re doing! Thank you for the support.

Certain trade shows have become a must for any self-respecting marketer seeking to keep on top of the latest innovations. Marketing Week Live, one of the largest trade shows in Europe, occurs in London every year during June. The event offers up an exceptionally valuable platform for marketers to share their lessons on the first half of 2012. And we’ll be there to discuss with you the latest developments in the mobile barcode space. 

When: Jun 27 – jun 28, 2012.

Where: London, United Kingdom.

Let’s talk: If you’re attending, stop by our booth at A435 for a chat.