Over the past six months or so, there has been an interesting buzz in the mobile marketing world around a new form of advertising dubbed “Mobile Vision.” Mobile vision’s roots are in the highly specialized area of research known as computer vision and artificial intelligence.
Riding on the success of 2D barcode marketing campaigns in Asia and Europe, a handful of computer vision scientists have directed their object recognition research towards print media. With the prevalence of camera phones in the U.S. (over 80% in 2008 and over 90% in 2009), marketers are able to provide consumers with a highly unique opt-in experience by snapping a picture, sending via email, and in some cases MMS, and receiving a targeted response. What sets mobile vision apart from other solutions in mobile marketing, e.g., SMS and 2D barcodes, is that there is no need for a keyword entry (as in SMS) or specific barcode (2D barcode and reader). Through computer vision and artificial intelligence, marketing images are analyzed against a database of optimized images and return a specific response based on that ad. Typical responses are similar to SMS such as, WAP push, coupons, store locators, sign-up forms for sweepstakes, etc.
As mobile vision campaigns typically utilize mobile email vs. MMS (due to carrier connectivity issues in the U.S.) the response can be longer than the standard 160 character limit on SMS. Another advantage to delivering mobile vision conversations through email is the obvious opt-in of a consumers email vs. phone number as in SMS. Again, these are similar campaigns to the “traditional” mobile direct response just with a next generation delivery method. There is something to be said about the “coolness factor” by encouraging consumers to start a conversation through photo sharing. Consumers are overloaded with boring old school call to actions like 800#’s, generic homepages, brick and mortar addresses and clipping coupons. Initial campaigns have had positive responses from both consumers and brands, and surprisingly high response rates for such a new technology.
As mobile vision becomes more ubiquitous in print and outdoor campaigns, we anticipate consumer response to increase dramatically and possibly rival SMS in the not-too-distant future. The bottom line is that 2009 is the year of squeezing every last penny of revenue and brand recollection out of print advertisements. As with other mobile marketing solutions, we encourage you to do your own testing and tweaking with mobile vision in your next print campaign. Pongr is available to help you evaluate your best options and implement our image recognition based approaches.
About the Author
Jamie Has Written 23 Articles For Us!
Jamie is one of the co-founders of Pongr. He's been fascinated with hacking telecom equipment, dreaming up mobile games and artificial intelligence (plus lots of other stuff) for many years. He loves cookies and dogs.
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Brands, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Vision
