Repo Men, which opens March 19, is using barcode technology in its promotion. The movie is set in a future where people can buy artificial organs called “Artiforgs” from a company named The Union.  They are very expensive and can be bought on credit, but if a recipient misses a payment a Repo Man, who keeps track of payments by bar code scanners, removes the organ.

The promotion for the film includes a movie poster with a traditional barcode. Users scan these codes with a mobile scanning application, decode them and link to an organ catalogue, video clips, a guerilla web site supposedly representing a movement to resist The Union and a contest where players follow clues to find and catch one of four “runners” to win $7,500.

The Repo Men campaign joins a growing number of examples in which barcode technology used in print ads.  Magazines such as Esquire and InStyle are adding interactive graphics that require barcode readers to see complementary content. As more consumers install barcode reading apps to their smartphones, this will become a viable and complimentary mobile extension strategy particularly with a younger target audience that is more SMS inclined .

The Promodem Content Management Dashboard can be used to manage and deploy rich, user generated content in a timely manner. Our Dashboard permits you to customize the look and feel of the content and to use social media to extend your message anywhere.

This new Dashboard Features:

Simple Submission Process

Flexible User Registration and Login

Administrator Moderation and Control

Leverage Engagement and Involvement with Feedback Options

Push Contest Content Social Networks

Easy to Use Design Integration

Click here to open and view the PDF that explains how our Content Management Dashboard can be used to collect, monitor and display user generated content submissions here.

Contact Promodem for additional information, free consultation, and to arrange a demonstration of our Content Management Dashboard at 905 852 2615.

According to a recent survey from Performics and ROI Research, consumers are more willing to engage with – and buy from – brands on social networking sites than previously thought, especially if the ads and marketing messages they receive include offers for discounts, specials, deals, freebies, points or sweepstakes,

The joint study was undertaken to learn how various segments of consumers use social networks in their daily lives, specifically with regard to the purchase process for different types of products, and in relation to other media channels.

More than one-third (34%) of online social networkers say they have used a search engine to find information on a product, service or brand after seeing an ad on a social networking site, and 30% of respondents have learned about a new product, service or brand from a social networking site, the study found.

Moreover, the messages that resonate best with social networkers are the ones that make them feel as if they are getting preferential treatment, money-saving deals, or building points toward bigger rewards. Some 32% say messages about printable coupons on social sites resonate with them, and 28% say messages about sales or special deal notifications resonate with them.

The study results also indicate that consumers frequently talk about, recommend or review products on social networks:

• 46% say they would talk about or recommend a product on Facebook.
• 44% of Twitter users have recommended a product.
• 36% of YouTube users have gone to an online retailer or ecommerce site after learning about a brand on a social network site.

Social networks are creating a monumental shift in how people communicate with each other and with brands. One in four respondents have four or more active social network accounts and more than one quarter access their Facebook or Twitter accounts at least once a day via their mobile phone. Performics and ROI also asked the 30% (about 1,000 respondents) who didn’t qualify to take the full survey why they choose not to use social networks. More than three-fourths (77%) cite a lack of interest,  28% note privacy concerns and 27%  just don’t have the time. Only 13% say they don’t “want all the connections.”

The Performics and ROI study provide a compelling reason for marketers to keep better tabs on consumer behavior as social networks continue to gain steam.

Coca-Cola’s social media Happiness Ambassadors are on a mission to find happiness in the 206 different countries that sell Coca-Cola products throughout the world in 2010.

With the campaign, Coca-Cola is tapping regular people to be their “Happiness Ambassadors” and travel the world for the whole of 2010 and document their quest via blog posts, tweets, YouTube videos, TwitPics, and other social media mentions.

A three-person team will begin their journey on January 1, 2010 and attempt to travel more than 150,000 miles in 365 days, visiting each of the 206 countries where Coca-Cola is sold. On the way, they’ll get to experience the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and the World Expo in Shangha. Their duty is to engage with local denizens and uncover what makes them happy, openly document and share their experiences online, and complete tasks in each country as determined by online voters.

Visit the web site to stay on top of the Happiness Tour.

Pizza Hut announced that it has generated more than $1 million in sales from its iPhone and iTouch application within three months of launch. The app, which enables users to order pizzas and other foods as well as play games, offers an ongoing 20% discount on all orders.

The news reinforces the growing importance that mobile is playing in the marketing strategies of major pizza chains including Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s, which for years have benefited from the success of their online ordering programs.

The app’s discounted ordering also illustrates the lengths that pizza chains are going to in order to attract and retain customers in this increasingly competitive arena.

Pizza Hut Sees Incremental Sales

Pizza Hut’s iPhone app, which has been downloaded by nearly 1 million users, will be supplemented with applications for other mobile devices including RIM’s BlackBerry, Google’s Android devices, and the Palm Pre.

The company believes that over the next three to five years, a growing number of online transactions will migrate to smartphones. However, the company said that the iPhone app is also generating new, incremental sales that would not have otherwise occurred.

Pizza Hut said that while its wireless application protocol (WAP) site has steadily attracted new users, the iPhone app generated more instant results.

Domino’s Optimizes for Mobile

Rival Domino’s debuted a new version of its mobile ordering website that is optimized for the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Google Android devices. The company’s Facebook and Twitter followers were offered an early preview to test the beta version of the mobile site. Dominos has said that mobile ordering was growing at an average rate of 20% per month, with the majority of orders coming from iPhone customers.

The contest web site effectively split the site in half, very much like the prize itself and allowed winners to automatically forward the same prize to charity organization of choice.

A unique idea for Cadbury and a good lesson in terms of corporate social responsibility that also does an excellent job also in supporting its brands (Halls, Trident and Caramilk among the others).

Visit the Purex 3 in 1 website to learn more and enter the contest. The Grand Prize will consists of $5,000.00 cheque (Cdn.) towards any Spa Getaway of the winner’s choice.

After you’ve entered the contest you can post a review about Purex 3 in 1 which will then be posted on the site.

Following on the heels of thier successful Curling Getaway Contest last fall Uncle Ben’s is back with another contest to warm up your next family dinner this winter. The Uncle Ben’s Family Dinner Contest. There are 10 Grand prizes to be awarded including a four piece Starline Bamboo Steamer set and a Lagostina Original eight piece cookware set. Users can enter with a up to six different Uncle Ben’s product code numbers

Using our new “Content Management Dashboard”, to enter the contest users submit a Werther’s upc product code number and then tell Werther’s how they would share $5,000 with someone special, share $5,000 within their community and what they would do with $5,000. At the end of the entry period, the independent contest organization will randomly select two hundred entries from all eligible entries received.

The Selection Committee will review and score all two hundred entries based on the following criteria: (i) originality of the “Share the Joy” essay including how the spirit and theme of the contest are described within the essay (40 points out of 100); (ii) significance of why the entrant is selecting their “someone special” and “community organization” (30 points out of 100); and (iii) how the entrant will use their $5,000 (30 points out of 100) (together, the “Criteria”). Judging for a Finalist will conclude within thirty (30) business days of July 5, 2010.

Click here to view the web site.

If you have signed up to receive our YoWinner newsletter be sure to add newsflash@yowinner.com to your email safe list so you don’t miss out on any new updates and contest listings!

Here’s what’s new.

Your My YoWinner Page

This page has been redesigned to provide you with an easy way to manage your favorite contests. You will no longer have search for the contests you want to enter. Once you’ve found one you like, add it as a favorite and it will instantly appear on your My YoWinner page. Your points have been moved from the top area of the page down to here, replaced by what you are doing. For more details, check out our blog post.

Notifications

Now whenever one of your friends does something on YoWinner that relates to you, you can be notified by email. We have turned this feature on for everyone, but if you don’t want to receive the emails we’ve provided a link to turn them off in every email and your can read these instructions.

Chatterbox

What is the Chatterbox? It is a place where you can chat with your friends. Whenever you leave a message all your friends can see what you’re saying. More details can be found in our blog.

This is the first of many changes that we have planned for YoWinner over the course of the coming months and we hope to have more ads served up on the site as Win Ohn and the crew at Gorilla Nation start to spread the YoWinner gospel amongst online media buyers and promotions agencies.

Please continue to send us your comments. We enjoy hearing from you and we are committed to make YoWinner the best contest site in Canada and to bring you the best promotions.