print is now interactive with ScanLife

Posted by tobysturgill in business, feature, social media on June 21, 2010

ScanLife is a great app that’s making the Print medium more interactive. “Interactive Print” does sound a bit like an oxy-moron, but this just seems to be the next step in the Evolution.

ScanLife produces a 2D boxcode that can be programed to do a multitude of tasks. One code may take your smart phone to the ad’s website, or if the article or ad is about an artists’ debut album, the code might take you to iTunes to download an exclusive single. Or maybe the code is on your business card. Once someone takes a picture of it with their camera phone through the ScanLife app, all of your contact information can be automatically inserted into their contact/address book. That, is cool.

The way it works is simple. Download the ScanLife app from the App Store, “scan” (take a picture) of the boxcode/barcode within the app and let it take you to where you need to be. That’s it!

Now print ads can offer you more information about the product they’re talking about. Stores can now offer exclusive incentives to those with the app. Artists and musicians  can now sell tracks right from a print ad. Who knew?

Below are examples of how business are using ScanLife:

Esquire Magazine is using ScanLife as part of their  “Esquire Collection” which details the essential wardrobe that every guy should have.  25 codes are connected to each individual item throughout the layout which gives readers a menu of options in one-click.

Morgans Hotel Group celebrates their 25th anniversary with a code that links to video and offers.

Scan this code to see blooper videos of a Fanta commercial in Scandinavia.

This code links to the book’s Amazon.com page for easy on-the-go online purchase.

Scan this code to get animated desktop wallpaper from NIKE.

How can you and/or your business use ScanLife?

will it blend? featuring iphone

Posted by tobysturgill in advertising on January 22, 2009

Here’s the lastest and greatest in a viral marketing campaign from Blendtec. A high-powered blender manufacturer.

Tom Dickson asks the famous question: “Will it blend?” and then shows that, yes, the blendtec blender will blend anything. Everything from a garden rake to the iPhone gets tested. Pretty smart, eh?

While I’m happy to see their website URL consistant with the campaign (www.willitblend.com), I’m a little dissapointed in how outdated it looks. If you want to order a blendtec blender it links you back to the corporate sales site which looks… well, corporate and doesn’t fit the marketing of Will It Blend.

Hmmm…a little disjointed and perhaps a bit out of touch with today’s ever changing market, but smart videos.

the iPhone at WAL-MART?!

Posted by tobysturgill in business on December 8, 2008

The iPhone is reportedly on its way to Wal-Mart, with store employees telling Bloomberg that the company may begin selling the device this month.

While Wal-Mart – the nation’s largest retailer – would certainly represent a huge distribution channel for the already hot-selling iPhone, one has to wonder if the move would jeopardize part of the mystique surrounding the Apple brand.

Will this be a brand-decimating marriage? Does it cheapen the Apple Brand? What do you think?

Snow Patrol App for iPhone

Posted by tobysturgill in Uncategorized on November 10, 2008

Wow. Talk about thinking outside the box. Snow Patrol’s new album “A Hundred Million Suns” now has its own application for iPhone and the iPod Touch. And best of all it’s FREE!

The app houses all of the bands “special features” for the CD like lyrics, behind the scenes videos and links to third party sites: Facebook, myspace, etc.

The technology and creativity on this is what blows my mind. You can zoom in and out of the starfield, tap on an origami star, pinch it to open it and read song lyrics for a particular song. Other origami stars house behind the scenes videos of the band in the studio.

Behold evolution, y’all.

Check it out and download it here!

How To: take a screenshot with your iPhone

Posted by tobysturgill in Uncategorized on September 30, 2008

I just accidentally figured out how to take a screenshot on my iPhone! And I thought I’d share.

Yes, you can now take screen shots on your iPhone.

To take a screen shot, hold down the home button and then push the top button. The screen will flash and the resulting image will be placed on your camera roll. From there, you can sync it back to your computer, e-mail it to friends, or do anything else you can do with any other photo in your camera roll. Have fun!