Visa Inc. collaborated with Neustar Inc. for a mobile sweepstakes to showcase the power of 2D bar codes at the GSMA's Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Spain.

Using their camera phones, Mobile World Congress attendees were able to download a bar code reader application at http://www.getreader.com. As part of their Welcome Packets, attendees received a faux Visa gift card and were invited to scan the 2D bar code on the back each day to enter the "Check Your Balance" contest for a chance to win 50 euros ($68 USD).

?Visa recognizes the power of these mobile bar codes,? said Diane Strahan, vice president of mobile services at Neustar, Sterling, VA. ?A bar code is a call-to-action?it?s saying scan me, snap a picture of me, and brands love it because it?s a call-to-action that takes you straight up the marketing value chain.

?A bar code encourages consumers to take action, and Visa likes it because it can take you all the way to commerce,? she said. ?Bar codes can take consumers from awareness, interest and desire to action, from a payments and mobile money transfer perspective.?

Neustar offers directory and clearinghouse services to telecommunications service providers. The company administers the U.S. Common Short Codes directory, which provides special numbers for SMS and offers mobile messaging services to wireless carriers and marketers.

Mobile bar codes represent the newest area of focus for Neustar.

?For Visa and many brands that are interested in selling something, bar codes take you right to action by delivering a coupon you can take right to the cashier, and you can connect commerce to your code,? Ms. Strahan said.

?You can transfer money using a bar code, so it?s not just a call-to-action,? she said. ?They can be used for commerce.?

Check Your Balance contest
Visa and Neustar asked Mobile World Congress attendees to answer a question testing their creativity, and the most creative answers won a Visa 50-euro gift card every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

Winners were notified by text message, and were able to claim their prize at the Neustar booth in Exhibit Hall 2, #2D49.

Those who do not have a phone supporting a bar code scanning capability were able to come to the Neustar booth, where they were introduced to bar codes and entered the contest.

No purchase was required to win. Attendees could scan the bar code once a day and enter a different answer each day.

Visa and Neustar issued the following call-to-action via a handout to Mobile World Congress attendees:

It?s quick and easy:
1) Download a free 2D bar code reader application using your mobile browser at www.getreader.com
2) Use the reader to scan the 2D bar code on the back of the attached card
3) Answer the simple question: More people go with Visa. Where would you like to go with your Visa card?
The most creative answers will win, so be creative!

Neustar announces mobile bar code interoperability
Also at Mobile World Congress, Neustar announced the debut of its Mobile Barcode Clearinghouse Services.

The initiative is designed to help expand the reach and targeting capabilities of advertisers and enterprises using 2D bar codes, drive adoption among consumers and enable interoperability among wireless carriers, ad agencies and application providers.

The clearinghouse is an important component of Neustar's mobile Internet services strategy, which bridges carriers and enterprises and assists with their delivery of products and services to customers.
Several of these services have already seen uptake among carriers.

Neustar's bar code clearinghouse platform provides a method for companies that produce and distribute bar code readers to interoperate with other companies who create bar code campaigns.

This cooperation helps establish bar code adoption, which is essential for brands and advertisers to deploy this new mobile marketing medium.

Neustar intends to build a centralized, trusted clearinghouse that empowers a scalable, competitive and innovative marketplace, and at the same time ensures that any participating campaign enhances the overall ecosystem and educates consumers.

This coordinated approach is designed to let each of the participants benefit from the efforts of the others, including participation from barcode leaders NeoMedia Technologies, 3GVision, Mobile Data Systems and Mobile Discovery, all of which are using the Neustar clearinghouse.

Neustar said that the clearinghouse is open to other industry players who wish to benefit from the mass market and scale that can be achieved through an open, interoperable approach.

Establishing standards for the interoperability of barcode technology across global networks is a critical step in making large scale mobile services, like mobile offers, a reality, according to Visa.

The partners are working to integrate Visa and Neustar technology. Visa said that this is but one example of the many mobile services the company plans to deliver to financial institutions, merchants, consumers and carriers.

Ms. Strahan said that bar codes offer direct-response accountability through measurable ROI and enable advertisers to adjust their content based on near real-time tracking of each campaign's performance.

For consumers, bar codes offer a shortcut to accessing mobile content, information and mobile commerce.

Neustar's technology provides marketers and content providers with a way to link physical media directly to mobile content.

As we have seen with common short codes and text messaging, ease of use and access across global networks is critical for mass-market adoption, according to Yankee Group.

?We initially did a technical trial to demonstrate that interoperability could be achieved, and this is the commercial launch of a bar code clearinghouse that enables carriers, brands, agencies and application developers to interact to launch campaigns using this powerful medium,? Ms. Strahan said.

?No matter the type of bar code, the operator or the country, it will all work? she said.

?As long as the company is connected to the clearing house, Neustar will normalize the technology across many different scanners, many different codes and symbologies, many different carriers, and we allow them all to interact and interoperate.?

It is a truism that the only way advertising works for large brands if it has wide reach.

?No matter what phone you have, you can use SMS, and now we need to make it so that you can scan a 2D bar code using any phone you may have,? Ms. Strahan said. ?The value proposition is simple: A consumer can click on a 2D bar code, and it will work, no matter what phone they have or what carrier they use.

?Bar codes are measurable, and they are dynamic, and that is powerful for marketers,? she said. ?Interoperability is critical because advertisers need to reach scale.?