Tag: scanning qr codes

NEW YORK, NY, JANUARY 23, 2014 – For the first time ever, fans will have the power to unlock exclusive content and rewards from authors by using image recognition technology to turn regular book covers into interactive media experiences. Author and TED speaker Sunni Brown has partnered with mobile tech company, BestBuzz, to leverage their proprietary technology and mobile app for her latest book release, The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently , published January 9 by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Brown is ranked one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business and one of the 10 Most Creative People on Twitter by Fast Company, and her TED Talk on doodling has drawn more than a million views. Her book was recently named an Amazon Best Business Book of the Month and CBS Sunday Morning aired her story.

“This is an exciting and connective breakthrough for readers and authors. It gives me the ability to have direct touchpoints with my revolutionary doodlers. The BestBuzz platform is innovative, and provides exciting, visually rich tools to deliver relevant and valuable content to my readers, like infodoodles, webinars, exclusive sneak-peek chapters, how-to videos, special offers, and rewards you can’t get anywhere else,” says Sunni Brown, author of The Doodle Revolution. “It’s empowering.”

To trigger the image recognition experience, smartphone users can download the free BestBuzz mobile app or text the word DOODLE to the number 63566. Upon opening the BestBuzz app, users align the target shown on their screen with the book cover of The Doodle Revolution, which will buzz when the experience is triggered. Doodle fans will unlock exclusive content and advocates are prompted to support the author by sharing with friends on social media to help spark the Doodle Revolution movement.

Image Recognition technology has received steady buzz from top media outlets and tech blogs and is one of the hottest trends for 2014. Founder and CEO of BestBuzz, Carrie Layne, says, “Image Recognition technology is the latest addition to the BestBuzz platform, which gives our partners the ability to select the mobile activation triggers that best align with their marketing strategies and overall campaign goals. Another function of the platform is that our partners can connect real-time marketing content to social media rewards, making it simple for them to deliver an exciting and valuable experience to customers through print media, in-store displays and even product packaging.”

Sunni Brown says, “My team and I are leading a global campaign for visual literacy, what we refer to as a Doodle Revolution, and BestBuzz has built a revolutionary tool that helps me communicate and amplify my movement to reach new audiences and engage more deeply with established audiences. I love watching the buzz spread around the world from my dashboard in real-time, and it’s been an extraordinary experience discovering the BestBuzz team’s impressive capabilities.”

About The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently (published by Portfolio/Penguin Books January 9, 2014)

What did Einstein, JFK, Edison, Marie Curie, and Henry Ford have in common? They were all inveterate doodlers. These powerhouse minds knew instinctively that doodling is deep thinking in disguise–a simple, accessible, and dynamite tool for innovating and solving even the stickiest problems. Sunni Brown’s mission is to bring the power of the Doodle to the rest of us. She leads the Revolution defying all those parents, teachers, and bosses who say “Stop doodling! Get serious! Grow up! “She overturns misinformation about doodling, demystifies visual thinking, and shows us the power of applying our innate visual literacy. The Doodle Revolution was named an Amazon Best Business Book for January, 2014, and was recently featured in a CBS Sunday Morning story on Sunday, January 19.

About BestBuzz

Ranked as one of the Top 10 Hottest Startup companies by Startup America and Tech Cocktail, BestBuzz is a social amplification platform that helps businesses create, manage and deliver real-time content to fans that scans mobile activation codes from product packaging, in-store displays and print media. Users can download the free BestBuzz mobile app to discover and unlock rewards from their favorite local businesses, brands, media publications, and consumer products. Start scanning QR codes, UPC barcodes, images and logos marked with the BestBuzz icon to instantly earn points and unlock exclusive offers from partners.

To learn more visit: http://sunnibrown.com/ and http://bestbuzz.bz/or follow @sunnibrown and @best_buzz.

Smartphone users have a wealth of information available to them by scanning QR codes on products and in advertisements, and will now be able to make charitable donations through the same format.

QR codes to aid 6,000 charities

The start-up Paystik has launched a campaign to raise charitable donations for over 6,000 charities using the QR code as a means to make quick and easy payments when consumers wish to donate to a charity of their choosing. The goal is to use QR codes for easy payments to both charities and small businesses. Both can sign on with Paystik to produce QR codes, thus reducing problems with billing and advertising.

The result will be an app for smartphones, allowing consumers to send quick and easy payments. Project C.U.R.E. will begin a campaign this week with direct mail. Last year, this organization reached out to consumers for charitable donations over the holidays and supplied over $40 million in medical care and supplies around the world. This campaign will be aimed at merchants this year.

QR codes gaining in US

The US has been a hard sell for mainstream use of QR code for payments. Companies like Paypal, DigiMo, Qriket, and Doxo have been accepting payments through QR, though none have become a huge success in that category. It is thought that smartphone saturation in the US could see a change in that regard, with smartphone use steadily on the rise. Still, a QR code is often a hard sell in the US. Some consumers are still not sure what their purpose is and are not aware of how to use the technology.

Co-founder James Ioannidis said, “Obviously, the first time is the hardest. But after on-boarding them, we see consumers making repeat transactions.” He went on to explain that he feels aiding charities will bring Paystik success where other campaigns featuring QR code have faltered. The biggest obstacle is getting the consumer aware of the code and to also download the app.

About Paystik

The company of New Stanford is a three-person operation based in Stanford Venture Studio at the Graduate School of Business. At the present time, the company is bootstrapped, meaning they have no outside investment. Ioannidis is a former program manager with Microsoft.