Daily Links for 21.06.2010: UPC codes, Cloud Computing, Foursquare & South Carolina

• Code Read (Brand Week feature on UPCs & linked digital content)
• Foursquare Check-In Stickers Coming To A Store Window Near You (Video)
• Time to stop sitting on your data ¦ Guardian
• NYT columnist: “I could not name you an under-25 year old who subscribes to a print newspaper” | The Wall Blog

Code Read (Brand Week feature on UPCs & linked digital content) Lots has been said about the potential of UPCs & services such as Sticky bits (which allow content to be linked to bar codes and decoded by mobile app), but I think the strategic partnerships talked about in the article indicate a coming change. The potential to link content to UPCs, to be decoded by consumers during the shopping experience, requires mature ideas and serious brand commitment to deliver an engaging user experience. Campaigns with companies such as Pepsi may indicate that this level of support is finally there for the technology and can help to avoid it becoming just a fad.

Foursquare Check-In Stickers Coming To A Store Window Near You (Video) I'm a big fan of simple things like this to prompt users to engage. I keep finding Qype/Yelp stickers on the doors of pubs & businesses that you wouldn't expect & I'll be excited to see how widespread the Foursquare stickers become.

Time to stop sitting on your data ¦ Guardian As cloud computing becomes a more viable option for companies, the interesting focus comes on how this creates opportunities up the food chain (in design & development). While cloud computing may not seem to make a direct impact on marketing communications, the ability for startups and smaller agencies to utilize processing power and data flexibility which previously was out of their resource range can only bode well for greater efficiency and content creation.

NYT columnist: “I could not name you an under-25 year old who subscribes to a print newspaper” | The Wall Blog The New York Times has a chance of making its paid content plans work, but you have to guess that at least one contributor doesn't rate the paper's chances too highly. If the only people who buy newspapers in large numbers, and are prepared to pay online, are the over 25-year old age group then paywalls are going to have some serious issues when so many free alternatives still exist. Can Anyone Explain How Alvin Greene Actually Won? I know this is a little off topic for a marketing blog, but with the current push towards Behavioural economics & advertising, I thought I would throw in a little bit of consumer behaviour. For those not versed in South Carolina politics (of which Alvin Greene is the democratic nominee to run for senate), a virtual unknown beat an established candidate without any real advertising, speeches or campaigning. While the logical answer for this is some type of fraud, the newsweek article attempts to attribute some of it to illogical behaviour on the part of voters. While this isn't exactly an advertising application of consumer psychology, it contains interesting insights into individual behaviours.