Private Beta Now Closed

I've decided to end the private beta.  All existing codes will continue to work as long as I own the domain and maintain the database.  Since I like having all the short URLs and whatnot, this will likely be for a while.

If you have any questions about the project, email me or check this out:  http://4qr.me/invite

Agency Profile: MyThum Interactive

UDPATED:  MyThum was recently purchased by OLSON Interactive.

A North American leader in the mobile marketing space, MyThum Interactive knows QR codes.

In 2002, MyThum was one of the first companies in North America to be granted access to multiple carrier networks, enabling the ability to launch some of the first SMS short code programs in North America, including the first premium program to operate in both Canada and the United States. In 2004, MyThum created Canada’s first approved mobile commerce initiative and launched North America’s first live television text-to-screen programming. This was followed with the first fully-automated, user-generated television channel in 2005.

In 2006, they staged the first mobile-ticketed concert in North America and signed one of the first “mobile agency of record agreements in the marketing industry. These and other achievements were recognized by the Canadian New Media Awards in 2007 when MyThum Interactive was named Company of the Year, and by Deloitte who included the agency in their technology and wireless Fast 50 companies.

MyThum expanded their broadcast solutions in 2008 with MMS-to-screen and created the first fully transactional mobile ticketing solution in North America, which received a Best In Class award at the international Interactive Media Awards in 2009, a year in which they also opened a second office in New York and launched innovative campaigns incorporating iPhone applications, QR codes and mobile donations.

In 2010, MyThum’s capabilities continued to expand to include location-based services, mobile applications, social media integration and much more.

Success at #TwestivalTO

Last night in Toronto, at Tryst Nightclub, TwestivalTO raised a bunch of money for Concern Worldwide, a charity that's supporting Haiti and other charitable causes.

We were there too.  Unfortunately, as a 'start up' there is isn't a lot of money around to go sponsoring things, but what we can do is codes.  We provided a code that, during the time of the event, was directed to Concern Worldwide's donation page, and now the same code directs to Twitter.

Part of the fun of last night, being a Twestival and all, was that you could pretty much guarantee that every person there had a mobile device, and was going to share something.  The advantage of having a code available means that you can make the conversion a little easier for those looking to take action.

If your call to action is "Donate Here" but your link is 100 characters long,  you may want a short link-- but even better, a link that requires no typing.  That's the real advantage in this case. No typing.


Last night was really just for fun, and was a good test for us to understand what kind of response to plan, timing, and even things like what wording do you put around the code.  (Note: At the last minute we decided to add "Need a QR reader for your phone? got to http://4qr.me/software " to help those that had never seen a code and maybe needed some help with it.)

Yesterday I was browsing the App Store, and there are a BUNCH of free QR code scanning apps for the iphone.  At this point, if you don't have one, you should just go there right now and get one.  For Blackberry lovers, it's a little more of a hassle.  There are apps, but they're not all amazing.  RIM has added QR functionality to BBM5 but what would be great is a native, main-menu app that just starts the camera in scan mode and delivers the encoded data.  (Sound good RIM?  Let's do it!)

Code Idea: Mapping and Promos at the mall

Yorkdale, a large shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario was the recent guinea pig in a 4QR test.  The best way to use the code in this situation is to make it a service-centric interaction.  Instead of reading the entire map, the user could simply scan the 4QR and use a mobile directory/mapping application to find the stores of their choosing (while starting to walk in that direction...).

By having a different code on every map, the system can even place your "You are Here" location more accurately.  Taking it one step further, if each store had a code out front, the store could point the user to a promotional landing page-- then when the promotion is over, point them to a Facebook page.  All without changing the code on the wall.  

What would you do as a retailer to easily share variable data with your customers? Leave a comment.