Since we love codes here at JAGTAG, we can say that this was the year that QR Codes were everywhere at SXSW 2011 Interactive. Last year they were on the badges (in an implementation that never worked), while this year they were all over the trade show, on handouts, and scattered around Austin on billboards, bus stops, and posters. Interestingly, it was QR Codes and really nothing else. There weren't any datamatrix codes and only a couple of Microsoft Tags (one at the Microsoft booth).
The majority of the executions linked to a download of an app or a direct link to a website home page. The main other uses were to get people to follow on Twitter, Like on Facebook, or enter a contest, with a few companies using them to donate $1 per scan to various causes. There were some business cards with QR Codes, but those were still rare and often came from overseas attendees. In talking to people at trade show booths it seemed that what was working best was linking to app downloads (it's easier to link and download then it is to search the App store) and deep linking to specific web content via short URLs. JAGTAG got into the action with a campaign during SXSW Music, where reach to phones beyond smartphones with scanner applications was a bit more important.
There were some common problems in executions on display. Many QR Codes were printed with no surrounding description so it was a bit like playing QR Code Roulette every time a code was scanned. And a lot of times the scan didn't deliver a rewarding payoff (it's less effort to open a browser and type a homepage URL than it is to scan a code). Most companies also didn't shorten URLs so the encoded information was unnecessarily large - making codes larger than necessary and often more difficult to scan. A number of codes were printed too small and were unreadable. Growing pains on the parts of marketers are inevitable with new technologies.
It was an interesting experience to be in a moment and place where codes were absolutely ubiquitous. It's clear that there's massive potential in the space, but it will require better execution by everybody in the space to unlock that value.
What else was hot at the premier technology conference and meet up in the world?
With 20,000+ people descending on Austin, the competing group messaging apps Beluga and GroupMe were the most used new technologies at the conference. Basically allowing people to create something like a small group Twitter network, the category works phenomenally well at events to keep in touch with what everybody is doing. Twitter became the breakout technology of SXSW 2007 because it allowed people to follow conversations and people at the show, but in 2011 there can be too much noise on the network so new solutions are moving into the space to provide more useful conversations.
The other big buzz of the show was the idea that everything could benefit from adding game elements to it. Seth Priebatsch from SCVNGR kicked it off with his keynote about adding a game layer on top of the world, but panels and sessions throughout the conference were devoted to the ramification of just about anything - education, work, news, relationships.
Location-based services leveraging off the work FourSquare and Gowalla have done in the space were also everywhere. It was possible to find almost any mashup of location, social, commerce, and art/creativity in an app being pitched to attendees. Even though the focus of the event is always going to be on technology, events of the moment weren't forgotten and the conference promoted disaster relief for Japan through SXSWforJapan - raising over $100,000 so far.
FourSquare hooked up with main sponsor Pepsi to house the old school four square game complete with red rubber ball (the prize was a t-shirt if you got to the top spot in the game) and to throw a concert where tickets were unlocked by following the artist Big Boi and checking in around Austin via FourSquare. It was kind of like the digital equivalent of the Golden Ticket, except at SXSW Interactive every big name and free drinks party is up against a couple of other big parties and dozens of more intimate dinners, meet ups, and mixers for like minded groups (whether it be fashion bloggers, journalists, or zombies) so the rumor was that they had to open the doors to fill the auditorium when the Golden Ticket holders didn't show up having been sidetracked elsewhere.
The more intestine partnership was between Foursquare and American Express as AmEx trailed a loyalty program with Austin merchants. Any AmEx cardmember could sign up for a special loyalty program and then get $5 credited to their account for when they checked in via FourSquare and spent $5 at certain Austin merchants.
Chevy was pushing hard to make an impact with it's eco-friendly cars by offering both test drives and free rides throughout downtown Austin. They had charging strips/stations scattered throughout the convention center (as did AT&T and others),which are always a big draw for all the power-hungry gadgets on hand.
Microsoft launched IE 9 to friendly reviews with a fairly un-MSFT like event featuring Fences, The Head & The Heart, and Yasyaer. After living through IE 6, it was startling to overhear 20-something tech people saying "Microsoft is cool."
In many ways though they were all upstaged by Apple's pop-up store located a few blocks from the convention center. With lines a block long formed even before the store was announced, Apple sold the iPad 2 at a frenetic pace throughout the conference. With a 10 hour battery life and a perfect size profile, it became the "must have" device for blogging, Twitter, and note taking at the conference.
There were a lot of people, a lot of ideas, and a lot of free beer at SXSW Interactive again this year. Although there was no huge buzz product at SXSW 2011, it's clear that the next year's trends will continue to revolve around social and mobile, location based and game layers, and the many different mash ups that can come out of those fields. And we think codes are going to play a real part in those fields over the next couple of years.
We've always believed in reaching every possible phone in the market at JAGTAG, whether smartphones or feature phones. Our goal is to provide ways to reach the maximum number of people with a mobile message solution that starts with 2D barcodes , but then moves on into ongoing conversations.
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