Angel Anderson, associate experience director at Crispin Porter and Bogusky said at the OMMA Mobile conference other if there's no value on the other side of the QR code formula it won't drive retail shopper traffic. "Often you go to all that trouble and what do you get? Price comparison is a little flat." Meghan Messenger of NextJump said marketers who want to devise mobile location-based programs at retail must market to women as 90% of all shopping is done by woman. She said, further, that if marketers focused only on women in New York City they would reach …

How do you crack the code on mobile barcodes? The panelist agreed both standard codes and 2D codes should go well beyond price comparison data to offer deeper product information and related content to help encourage higher sales. Using codes to help streamline the checkout process would be another plus but the hurdle is that retailers are behind in adapting the in-store experience to mobile, especially in updating POS systems to handle mobile checkout. Meghan Messenger, VP of Merchant Services and Marketing, Next Jump, added that merchants should start by gaining a better understanding of their customers in creating …

At the OMMA Mobile Conference panel on mobile at retail Molly Garris, digital strategy director at Leo Burnett's Arc Worldwide said agency research last fall showed shoppers are still old fashioned when it comes to coupons. "They get coupons together and make shopping lists. We found people have started making lists on the notepad app that comes standard on iphone. but there are better apps out there for this." And she said the agency found that consumers with smart phones are still cutting out physical coupons. "There are so many better ways than clipping coupons like grocery IQ. But …

Yep, it’s coming, promises Shehryar Khan, CEO of Übermind. “Mobile checkout is coming,” he promises. “Convenience and utility coming from apps” -- That’s what agencies, brands, and developers should be thinking about, says Khan. More broadly, he sees a “clear trend in bridging the gap between real and virtual worlds.” The problem, however, is that top shoppers, i.e., women in New York City, aren’t shopping with their phones. So says Meghan Messenger, VP of Merchant Services and Marketing, Next Jump. “Texting and phone calls is where all the shopping is being done,” she qualified -- but not with apps and …

The topic is mobile retail, one of the fastest evolving parts of the mobile ecosystem, with digital coupons and rewards, emerging mobile payment systems, and location-based technologies like geo-fencing. Moderator Chuck Martin, director of MediaPost's Center for Research, led off asking about what kind of mobile shopping activities people are doing. Molly Garris, Digital Strategy Director, Arc Worldwide, pointed out that consumers are increasingly shifting from tasks like making shopping list and clipping coupons to mobile tools like GroceryIQ app for creating lists and storing and redeeming mobile coupons. Chuck noted the Center's research has shown ROI is highest …

When all else fails, should brands and agencies target ads based on consumers’ specific phone models? “That makes no sense,” insists Jordan Greene, Principal/Mobile Media, MellaMedia. “It’s not about the device, it’s about the consumer.” On the contrary, “People are their phones,” says Christopher Keune, Digital Analytics Manager at RAPP. Case in point, there are distinct differences between owners of iPads and iPhones, according to Keune. Bad example, according to Greene. “There’s a big difference between those two devices,” he said. But, “When it comes to specific handsets, making audience inferences is very dangerous.” Taking Greene’s side is Sacha Xavier …

In the final morning keynote, Louis Gump, VP of Mobile, CNN, offered a brief history of mobile apps and advertising, going back to 1996 to the trusty old PalmPilot and early app developers like AvantGo. But it wasn't until the arrival of the iPhone and Android in recent years that apps really exploded on the scene. Putting aside the ongoing debate about apps versus the mobile Web, Gump says companies need both--like two wheels on a bicycle--to meet the needs of different consumers. His rule of thumb guidelines: start with the consumer in mind; build a mobile Web site; build …

Kicking off this morning's second keynote, Louis Gump, VP of Mobile at CNN, is talking about a bet he made with his family (on vacation in North Carolina) over the location of a beach. His wife thought it was one way, while Gump thought it was in the other direction. Long story short, the message was there are different ways to look at anything -- including Southern landscapes and the mobile marketplace -- and better communication aids every situation. More messages -- specifically for brands trying to figure our their mobile strategy: A) Start with consumers (and the behavior …

The panelists agreed that testing directly with consumers is critical to the mobile development process because of all the moving parts the medium involves and the more personal nature of the technology. Chris Brown, VP, Product Management for Apartments.com, said that as the company builds out a new app for Android, it starting the wireframe, or prototyping process, by getting consumer feedback from the start, while trying to mimic the real world experience as much as possible in testing. Kraft's innovation director Ed Kaczmarek agreed, saying the company likes to put concepts in front of consumers early to make sure …

In the morning's first panel session including mobile innovators including FedEx, Intel, and IBM, Ed Kaczmarek, director of innovation for Kraft was skeptical about Augmented Reality, one of the more hyped mobile technologies of the last couple of years. He said too many AR executions he's seen are simply gimmicky with little use. If Kraft, which developed the popular iFood assistant app,  could figure out a way to "put utility behind it" and make AR relevant to customers, it will look at pursuing more aggressively. And when it comes to working with agencies on mobile advertising and initiatives, Kaczmarek …