How near field comms will impact 2013

Kristina: How does the Blue Bite platform work?

Mikhail Damiani, CEO and Co-Founder, Blue Bite: The Blue Bite Platform allows us to enable mobile interactivity at any outdoor advertising location using a variety of mobile technologies including NFC, WiFi, QR, Bluetooth and SMS. As the world of mobile advertising is continuously changing and evolving, rather than picking one specific technology and trying to make it work for every campaign, we match the brand, campaign objectives and target audience with the most appropriate technologies to ensure the best results.

Kristina: What types of content can be uploaded/created using your platform?

Mikhail: Given the power of the mobile handsets today, there is almost no limit to the content we can deliver to users in a mobile campaign. This includes anything from rich media (videos, songs, pictures) to application downloads, offers, coupons, web-based mobile games and apps, social media and many more.

Kristina: The mobile space is exploding with shoppers this holiday season - are you seeing more shopping engaging through NFC/QR Code options?

Mikhail: Shopping with the mobile phone has been growing exponentially over the past few years. GSI Commerce recently reported that they saw a 287% increase in mobile purchases on Cyber Monday over last year. As people are becoming increasingly comfortable with making purchase with their phones, the ability to drive those sales with NFC and QR has also increased. This year we have launched numerous campaigns that allow shoppers to make purchases directly from outdoor media advertisements enabled with our mTAG® (NFC and QR) solution.

Kristina: What can brands do to create a code that will make consumers scan?

Mikhail: The most important factors driving consumer interaction with both NFC and QR are the quality of the call-to-action and the value of the engagement. The mobile engagement zone needs to be clearly visible and provide easy access for the user to tap (NFC) or scan (QR). The messaging on the creative also needs to convey the ultimate value of the interaction to the consumer. If the offer or content is attractive enough, then people will engage.

Kristina: In creating these types of campaigns, which types of content are the most engaging - or does it depend on the brand involved?

Mikhail: From our experience, users like entertainment and monetary based content the most. Free multimedia downloads work very well and coupons and offers with significant incentives are also attractive. The content also depends on what is most appropriate for the brand involved as well as its relevance to the location of the mobile campaign.

Kristina: What do you expect to see from NFC over the coming year?

Mikhail: We are strong believers in NFC and are excited about its prospects in the coming year. There is a big push by some large players to enable NFC payments and mobile wallets. This type of broad application will drive NFC adoption by handset manufacturers and consumers. However, we see the near-term opportunity in simply making physical/digital connections easier.

Tags: Blue Bite, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile trends, near field communications