More than 450 advertisers, marketeers and media agency representatives attended the Singapore Press Holdings' ZapCode trade launch and many were immediately impressed with the myriad of ways the mobile technology can be used to store and distribute information.
The trade launch at Swissotel, The Stamford, this morning is the climax of weeks of teaser ads, promotions and reports about this revolutionary mobile technology in Singapore Press Holdings publications.
ZapCode was developed by a South Korean professor several years ago to enable kids to access online content indefinitely.
A ZapCode ambassador demonstrating the ease of usage
Users simply point their mobile phones at a colour code on an ad, known as the Zapcode, and take a snapshot of it. The photo is sent to a remote server by Internet and a corresponding image, video or website link will be returned for viewing.
For example, in The Straits Times today, Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi is portrayed topless but with her back to the camera. Readers are asked: What's superstar Zhang Ziyi doing topless in Tokyo. This is followed by the teaser: Zap this to see more. "This" refers to a square comprising geometric patterns of colours.
Such an ad represents a leap in information technology because a simple colour code is able to provide access to a variety of media available to the consumer.
Users now no longer have to memorise or write down a specific URL to access a website they want.
Neither are they place-bound by information.
As long the ZapCode is captured on their mobile phones, the corresponding information can be viewed from anywhere or on the go.
The technology holds great promise for the advertising industry because of the way in which companies can now provide product information beyond the initial ad itself, by including ZapCode for consumers.
Speaking at the ZapCode launch, Mr Leslie Fong, Executive Vice President of SPH's Marketing, highlighted SPH's strategic collaboration with Colorzip SEA, the company which holds the rights to this patented technology. SPH New Media Pte Ltd is its master distributor and licensee in Singapore.
Mr Fong said ZapCode is an example of print media adapting and evolving in the face of ever-changing communications technology.
Participants in the fair testing the new technology
On fears that print mediums like newspapers will succumb to fierce competition from online and mobile devices, Mr Fong declared: "We in SPH have no intention of retreating into our fortress as we wait in fear for the barbarians to batter their way in."
"Our newspapers still lead in terms of reach and market share of adspend, after factoring out the hefty discounts you and I know exist in the trade. I serve notice here and now that we will do everything we can to not only hold on to that lead but also expand it."
He added that SPH will continue to invest in or acquire new technologies and platforms - to ensure that it stays relevant in the changing media landscape and useful to its partners and customers.
"ZapCodes add an interactive element, a new dimension to 2-D advertisments. They open up a whole new vista," said Mr Fong.
Mr William Tan, General Manager of SPH NewMedia, the subsidiary of SPH marketing the new venture, was equally optimistic.
On the launch of ZapCode, he said: "It is a small step for man, a giant leap for the phone".
"The phone has become the central focal point of personal communications and we are riding on this wave," Mr Tan added.
Ms Wang Li Na, general manager of consumer marketing, M1, who was at the trade launch, said: "Advertisers can start to really measure the effectiveness of their advertising. The phone is more than just voice and SMS."
Almost every major mobile phone manufacturer in the market has ZapCode-compliant models. More than 50 per cent of mobile phones in the market are currently compliant.
Mr Winston Goh, product marketing manager for Dopod International tells AsiaOne: "We've actually got several business handsets certified for use."
Zapping with the colourful, high-tech code is already a fad in cellphone-mad Japan.
Mr Tan says that there is even a cult following among Japanese teens, who use the technology to convey information on accessories and fashion. He is upbeat that this fad will also take off in Singapore.
So far, the response has been encouraging, with more than 12,000 hits on the ZapCodes placed in various SPH newspapers. Readers zapping them stand to win a Sony Ericsson mobile phone in a promotional contest launched last month.
Three travel agencies have also signed up to feature ZapCode in their ads for the upcoming Natas Travel Fair, which opens on Friday.
Mr John Moore, CEO of Colorzip (SEA), said: "We will use Singapore as our development field laboratory for all the GSM markets around the world."
He added that although it looks so easy and simple, the technology is "actually quite revolutionary".
"From a small little coloured image now you can can see a TV commercial in a newspaper. How radical is that?" he said, adding that ColorZip is in talks to launch the technology in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India, and in Europe this summer and the US later this year .
