• Brandweek, Monday, June 21, 2010 10:29 AM

Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are using Stickybits, a mobile app that allows marketers to transmit digital information to users who scan a barcode, reports Noreen O'Leary. A shopper who scans a bag of Lay's potato chips, for example, can learn about the brand's partnership with local farmers.

Some observers see unlimited potential for the technology to open up a new communication mode. "Everything we interact with in the physical world can now be part of conversational media," says Bonin Bough, director of social media at PepsiCo. "Someone can scan in the U.S. and someone can scan in Asia and be part of the same conversation."

And early next month, Campbell Soup will use Stickybits for a sweepstakes it's running. But there are skeptics. Richard Laermer, CEO of RLM PR, believes UPC-based mobile apps like Stickybits are a fad. "The one reason it's not a trend is it has no wide-ranging implications," he say. "I mean, you do it and then what?"

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