The From Line

Say goodbye to the days of needing a routing number or credit card to pay a store or vendor electronically. Say hello to a real game changer in electronic payments that combines mobile email, SMS and QR codes. Big banks are partnering to allow phone-to-phone, bank-to-bank payments.

Read more to learn what this means for merchants, e-tailers and marketers...

Marketing Trend

Our trendwatchers are seeing a growing need for even the savviest of marketers to educate themselves on workflow improvements. The concept of how to mass-produce automated marketing campaigns (without reliance on excessive human interaction) is not difficult to implement, yet many businesses aren’t aware of the right strategies. Furthermore, while the cost of marketing mediums has decreased due to the rapid growth of online advertising opportunities, production costs have skyrocketed. This leaves marketing budgets vulnerable to what our experts call The 21st Century Marketing Paradox – a cost shift from channel to production. 

Latest Marketing Trend to Watch:
QR codes were popularized more than five years ago in Japan and are now used globally as physical world hyperlinks. Like updated versions of traditional bar codes, QR codes are images that can be scanned to relay information. A code scanned by a smartphone instantly links a user to mobile content, fostering greater customer engagement. Big brands are adopting this strategy and you can, too.

Early adopters helped create a 'mystique' surrounding QR-led urban games because they could access exclusive content. (See fun examples here and here.) But now mainstream consumers are seeing more QR codes everywhere. U.S. companies were a bit behind in adoption of these codes until now.

Here are just some of the places people see QR codes in their daily lives:

• Catalogs, newspapers and magazines
• Events - tickets, badges, booths
• Outdoor signs - billboards, window clings
• Clothing and accessories - labels, inventory
• SMS  - coupons, contact information
• Mobile apps - coupons, contests