The marriage between mobile device and marketing has been something businesses have been trying to do for years. This most recent move towards the altar just might work out.
Last week, a company called SnapTell, that offers image recognition-based mobile marketing solutions, announced that the Winter issue of Martha Stewart Weddings (available on newsstands December 29, 2008) will be the first women's magazine to utilize fully activated or "live" advertisements throughout the publication.
SnapTell's Snap.Send.Get solution, which the company states works with "virtually all camera phones" and does not require the consumer to download any special software, can take an image snapped by readers of any featured advertisement, and respond back instantly with content (coupons, special offers, additional information, etc.) from the advertiser.
Since Martha Stewart Weddings is the top selling bridal magazine, this experiment will be getting a lot of visibility and may serve as a proving ground for other interactive efforts. Let's just hope the advertisers make offers the readers can't refuse. Otherwise, this idea will end up in the "nice try" pile along with the CueCat scanner.
