NeoMedia Technologies has rolled out its first pilot program in the US for its patented qode   technology that links consumers and their mobile phones directly to information and offers on the Mobile Internet.
The program includes display ads running several times a week for 13 weeks in The News-Press, the daily newspaper for Fort Myers, where NeoMedia is headquartered, and where it is launching the US  flagship location of AutoXperience, a NeoMedia business unit that offers rejuvenation and preservation products to the automotive industry.
The NeoMedia program marks the first time in the US that newspaper ads will incorporate a two-dimensional smartcode that can be scanned by the qodereader software installed on a mobile phone to link to an offer on the Mobile Internet. The offer for the pilot is a 10%-off coupon from AutoXperience.
The ads invite consumers to visit the AutoXperience website, where they can download the qode mobile software, if their handset uses the Symbian Series 60 operating system prevalent on Nokia handsets. Other handset users can access the offer by means of the web-based version of the qode window part of the software, to which they are directed as part of the download process.
We are testing the future of advertising via newspaper ads which link to the screens of consumers cell phones, says NeoMedia Mobile President, Martin Copus. This pilot program brings to life what advertisers and marketers have been searching for and talking about for years the ability for one-to-one, 24/7 communication with consumers, with all the multimedia possibilities of the mobile Internet. While NeoMedia is excited to launch this pilot program for qode in conjunction with the grand opening of our AutoXperience business in the US, we are looking ahead to bringing this ground-breaking technology fully to market, cross different operating systems in the US and overseas, in the very near future.