Meredith Taps Microsoft 2D Tags As Standard

With advertisers expressing growing interest in mobile 2D barcodes, women’s interest publisher Meredith Corp. is adopting Microsoft Tag as the standard 2D bar code across its portfolio of magazines.

Meredith has already employed Microsoft’s Tag technology in publications including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies’ Homes Journal, Traditional Home and Recipe.com. The mobile tie-ins allow readers to watch how-to videos, browse and buy products from e-commerce sites and access special promotional offers.

The Microsoft Tag technology also allows advertisers to incorporate branded graphics including logos or custom artwork into the tag, making the odd pixel patterns somewhat more distinctive.

Other big publishers are also looking to cash in on mobile 2D bar codes.

Conde Nast’s Glamour has partnered with SpyderLynk to include “Social Snaptags,” which allow users to share editorial content and advertising via online social media. Rodale’s Men's Health first rolled out mobile bar codes in 2008 for advertisers, including Axe, Samsung, Westin, and PowerAde.

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In March 2010, Esquire positioned bar codes next to every product in its editorial section to encourage e-commerce. And Essence has used mobile bar codes in association with ads and editorial content, and also to promote the title's annual music festival.

Separately, a survey of advertising and mobile executives published by AT&T this week found that 88% of respondents expect their mobile marketing program to increase over the next year, with 41% saying they expect to see more mobile bar codes used in multiplatform campaigns. Some 66% of respondents said they expect mobile bar codes to be the main driver of mobile marketing innovation over the next year.

2 comments about "Meredith Taps Microsoft 2D Tags As Standard".
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  1. Steve Crowell from Yahoo!, December 7, 2011 at 9:30 a.m.

    Reminds me of VHS v. Beta back in the day...Who will win - QR or MSFT?

  2. Ryan Biggs from rbiggs, December 8, 2011 at 9:08 a.m.

    If Microsoft wins, it *will* be just like VHS vs. Beta (where the inferior format won). Why did Meredith choose Microsoft? QR is the free, open, established standard format, most code scanner tools support QR, and many new phones have built-in support for QR. Microsoft's format is proprietary and can only be used if people download Microsoft's code reader. What is the upside?!? I don't get it.

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