Shoot and know

Dutch ShotCodes enables interaction between real world objects, and online camera phones. Shoot and know!

Hardly a week goes by without another company unveiling a new service (often based on barcode or RFID scanners) to facilitate the interaction between people and physical objects. Still, Dutch ShotCodes has managed to take a original shot at this market with a visual approach that will appeal to consumers because, well, visuals always appeal to consumers. What is it? In their own words: “Today, businesses cannot get people to use their mobile phones to browse the internet. This is because typing in domain names on a phone is a time-consuming and frustrating process. ShotCodes change all of this, radically. ShotCodes are offline web links. When captured by a mobile camera, ShotCodes instantly and effortlessly take users to any desired location on the internet on their phones. ShotCodes are easy to make and can be tied to any web address.” Businesses can make their own ShotCodes and add them to existing print media or turn them into brand new tools for sales and customer interaction. End users can download free software (via sms/texting) and install it on their mobile phone. This software, which is available for major mobile phone brands and types, enables phones to act upon ShotCodes. For a demo, see: www.shotcode.com/data/movieformat.” The company makes money from offering integrated solutions to corporate users, charging 27 euro cents per successful scan. It counts Heineken amongst its first clients, who used ShotCodes as part of a pub-based game in The Netherlands.

Opportunities

Whereas the online world is a click-and-know environment, the offline world still displays massive disconnects between consumers’ 24/7, street roaming curiosity and the instant gratification of finding an answer or more detailed information online. So partnering with the like of ShotCodes (or similar initiatives such as Semacode) to help consumers conveniently find more info on your brand and products, wherever they are, seems like a good target to set for 2006. Just so you know, our sister publication trendwatching.com will soon publish an update on its related ready-to-know trend, showcasing the ShotCodes of this world, and the many ways to make money from this trend. Stay tuned!