Mobile Tag Aims for Global Leadership in Point-of-interest Media

NEW YORK, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Already one of the world's leading mobile applications for scanning printed and embedded codes of all kinds, Mobile Tag is making a series of strategic moves to gain recognition as a global leader in point-of-interest media and marketing services by capitalizing on its strengths in analyzing data gathered in mobile transactions.

The moves coincide with the significant increase in usage of mobile barcode business across the globe, as recent surveys in France and the United States have demonstrated.

In France there is now an 89 percent awareness level of mobile barcodes among consumers, and a 54 percent usage rate. In the U.S., Nellymoser, Inc. reported a 228 percent increase in advertisers placing codes in magazines during the first quarter of 2012 versus the same time last year, and BizReport.com reported a 439 percentage increase in codes used in ads and editorial content from January through December 2011.

Given the steady growth in code scanning and its ties to business intelligence, Mobile Tag CEO Alexis Helcmanocki is expanding Mobile Tag's efforts that emphasize to marketers the value of the company's robust, scalable cloud-based data-analytics platform available through the company's point-of-interest media services. No stranger to data analytics, Helcmanocki is drawing upon a career-long background in collecting and analyzing data from consumer transactions with firms such as GfK Group, Ipsos and Consodata.

In the U.S., Mobile Tag draws upon a strategic marketing relationship with AT&T to deliver point-of-interest services to business customers under the AT&T Mobile Barcode Services brand. In France, where Mobile Tag owns market share of more than 80 percent among code scanners, the company is working with more than 250 leading brands, retailers and marketing agencies, with similar efforts under way in other countries worldwide.

Mobile Tag gathers essential data for marketers at the point of interest, when users of the company's award-winning app on their smartphones scan 'tags' – including UPC barcodes and QR codes – on products, posters, point-of-sale material and more to obtain unique offers, useful information or marketing messages.

"Mobile Tag is uniquely positioned to help marketers improve mobile transactions and consumer interactions because of the type and depth of data we capture and analyze after people have used their Mobile Tag app to scan tags," said Helcmanocki. Based on a study conducted in France by GfK Group in January 2012, he continued, "Now we're seeing independent research demonstrating that -- when properly deployed -- mobile bar codes have:

• A massive positive impact on the ROI of media investments, improving brand awareness by more than 24 percent
• Improved brand consideration by more than 17 percent
• Swayed brand preference by more than 9 percent, and
• Shown improvement in actual purchases by more than 10 percent.

"Such impacts are critical to marketers faced with fading ROIs across their fragmented media investments," Helcmanocki said.

The Mobile Tag app enables the company to capture all the meta-data related to a scan -- such as location, object of interest, time, and life state of the user-- so that its analytics engine can support marketers' efforts to improve the value of future interactions with users and better understand rapidly shifting market dynamics.

"Our scanning technology has been adopted widely, both in the United States through our relationship with AT&T, and in Europe," said Helcmanocki.  "While there are many code-scanning apps available, many often lack the capabilities to capture data and deliver the quality information analytics that Mobile Tag offers. The data we collect at the point of interest brings value to marketers and advertisers by providing quantitative and qualitative consumer market intelligence that truly can elevate both the brand and user experience in mobile transactions."

Helcmanocki said the transition from a focus on being a scanning-only-technology company to the new emphasis on point-of-interest media and marketing involves constantly re-evaluating the skill sets essential to Mobile Tag's success, including the capabilities of employees the company needs to hire and those already onboard.

The company recently recruited Fernando Saturno as Mobile Tag's Product Director and Chief Marketing Officer. A veteran marketing strategist and technologist in the U.S. and Europe with Yahoo!, Yell Group, AOL Europe and a succession of startups, Saturno has extensive international management experience in corporations and startups.

Saturno's strengths include product life-cycle management of web and mobile products; building, managing and motivating multinational teams in the U.S., Europe and Latin America; extensive knowledge of online revenue models, and business development.  His duties at Mobile Tag include directing the company's product and marketing efforts and a 50-strong development team to extend the company's leadership in point-of-interest media services.

Helcmanocki said Mobile Tag is currently recruiting for other key positions in the U.S. and Europe to support its growth.

Mobile Tag gained prominence with a universal reader that scans all three global standard codes – UPC, QR or Datamatrix.  Available for iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Windows Phone 7 devices, the app comes preloaded on certain devices and is available free to end users.

About Mobile Tag
Mobile Tag connects brands with people when it matters the most – at the point-of-interest.  Using the Mobile Tag smartphone app, users simply scan 'tags' (barcodes, NFC chips, etc.) on products, posters, POS material, etc. to instantly receive marketing messages, useful information or unique offers.  Combining the latest advances in mobile tagging and data analytics with its extensive database of tag data and user information, Mobile Tag's point-of-interest platform provides brands with unsurpassed ability to understand and engage with consumers worldwide.  Mobile Tag sells both directly and through strategic marketing partners who deliver point-of-interest services to their business customers. Selected from hundreds of companies, Mobile Tag has been named a Red Herring Europe Top 100 winner for 2012, recognized for their technological innovation.

SOURCE Mobile Tag