Tagpreneure (7) - "28 Weeks Later"

After posting a video and a blog we proudly introduce the project "28 Weeks Later".Many thanks to Gia :-)

Who are you? (a short presentation of your company)
I am an independent new media consultant who has worked closely with 20th Century Fox in the UK on various films (notably, '28 Weeks Later', 'Sunshine', 'Daywatch'). I also work as a science/technology journalist and broadcaster.

In which field do you use mobile tagging ? (a description of your campaign or project)
We used QR Codes in our campaign for the '28 Weeks Later' DVD release in the UK the aim of which was to start to introduce the general public to the idea of QR Codes as a first step to 20th Century Fox using them more widely in the future.

Why do you prefer 2D barcodes to other technologies like sms services, bluetooth or RFID ?
For marketing purposes, 2D barcodes have a much greater curiosity factor which has helped to generate press interest. In the UK, there have been several SMS-related 'scams' (by sending or sometimes even receiving an SMS message you are automatically signed up to an expensive subscription service which is very difficult to quit), so there is a wariness amongst the general public about using SMS for anything other than messaging friends. Also, with bluetooth most people don't have their phone set to 'receive all' as they are worried about privacy issues and not having control over what they receive. 2D barcodes allow people to stay completely in control of the information they receive. Also, it makes accessing the internet from their mobiles extremely easy.

What was the reason for choosing this particular barcode ? (like QR Code, Data Matrix, Beetagg, Shotcode, etc.)
We chose QR Code purely because it is the most well-known.

What goals do you want to achieve whith mobile tagging ?
Obviously, our main goal with '28 Weeks Later' is to let as many people as we can know that the DVD has been released! In the long term, however, 20th Century Fox is actively looking at ways of using QR Codes to allow people to purchase cinema tickets or DVDs via their mobile phones, as well as giving people a new way of seeking out film-related information. So, the 28 Weeks Later campaign is the first of, hopefully, many steps 20th Century Fox is making towards 'going mobile'.


What role do you see mobile tagging having in the future ? ( predictions in the future on the development of the technology )
I see it as a gateway to the mobile internet, as if very clear in Japan. If European companies haven't already made their sites mobile-ready, they need to start now. Like the web, early adapters- and innovative adapters- of the mobile internet will have a distinct advantage over everyone else who thinks it's 'just a fad'.

Have you any further questions or comments to contribute ?
On the 28 Weeks Later website, we provide a web-based QR Code encoder and decoder to allow people to 'play' with the codes without needing their mobiles to have a reader. http://www.28weekslaterdvd.co.uk/QRcode/