Why Smartpox is Brilliant

Band posters. Movie posters. The latest bulletin board scattered with your city or town’s upcoming events is a mainstay of our culture, and continues to be a valuable advertising opportunity for the local band or rising star. Today’s advertising mediums have been greatly impacted by the Internet, combining fantastic new ways for the ultimate message delivery. Whether it’s cell phones, media devices, clever advertainment segments, or even YouTube-style snippets that are e-mailed to the potential listener, consumers are becoming more media-friendly and on the lookout for the next creative attraction.

Smartpox introduces a new wave of advertising for the band and music culture; the site’s recent launch is defining a fresh new way to create marketing buzz. Simply put, Smartpox is a hybrid of barcodes and cell phone-enabled advertising. Advertisers (bands, musicians, the local marketeer or representative) simply plug in their details and a music clip onto the website, which creates an automatic barcode for that information. The barcode can be printed out and stuck on flyers, posters, or any media item for the public. To ‘decode’ the barcode, all the user has to do is scan the code into their cellphone which hyperlinks to the information. Phones do need to be enabled to download the Smartpox reader, and Smartpox has made efforts to make this process smooth and efficient.

It’s the ultimate connection between online and offline information distribution. Smartpox has filled the niche market need of attracting a specific audience and giving them exactly the information they want. As more people begin to pick up on the trend, they can easily identify the Smartpox barcode at a glance. As a social networking tool, Smartpox allows the user to connect with other people using the system. Since it allows today’s MySpace generation to easily and conveniently add URLs, phone numbers, and notes, it works like a very smart business card.

Embedding URL’s is a popular advertising venture in Japan, especially since younger generations are comfortable with using their cell phones and other digital gadgets for information retrieval on a regular basis. Because of the rise in cellphone use and consumer need for wireless-enabled and cameraphones in the U.S., a business model like Smartpox has great potential to pick up speed around the country. Shotcodes run on a very similar concept; users create accounts online to match up their cameraphone with their profiles. Xbox, Heineken, and other companies looking for innovative ways to connect with consumers have run different campaigns to increase brand awareness and launch product events and highlights.

Look closely at your next movie poster or band billboard where innovation and new opportunities are making their way. Today’s social networking tools and behaviors are providing new ways for advertisers to connect with their audience, and increase the chances of spreading their message. Ideas like Smartpox combine technology and online presence, and can play a role in how consumers behave, react to advertising, and learn about their favorite activities.