NeoMedia Partners With Costa Rican Carrier ICE

NeoMedia Technologies, the global leader in camera-initiated barcode transactions for mobile devices, has partnered with ICE, the leading mobile network operator in Costa Rica, to create a new measurable mobile marketing platform using 2D barcode technology.

The NeoMedia platform will enable retailers, banks and other organizations to build a mobile marketing ecosystem that will drive innovative mobile-based marketing applications that, for the first time, can track, trace and measure consumer activity.

ICE, the only telecom operator at this time in the Costa Rican market, will deploy NeoMedia's NeoReader® on camera phones, transforming the phones into barcode readers that provide immediate access to Internet-based content and services.

Consumers use the phones to scan 2D barcodes on product packaging, advertisements, retail displays and publications. The codes open up a vast range of potential for product marketing, incentive-driven promotions, and value-added benefits to be offered to the consumer.

Each scan that triggers a visit to a promotional site can be traced and tracked, enabling 100 percent measurable activity and feedback on the performance of the promotion, and therefore 100 percent measurable ROI on the mobile marketing spend.

NeoMedia representative Agilos will provide in-country support for ICE, and will work with both NeoMedia and ICE to sign up agencies, companies and customers to the mobile marketing ecosystem.

"Using the mobile as an effective and efficient marketing tool is the goal of every mobile operator," said Orlando Cascante Moranga, MBA Director Customers Division - Telecomunicaciones, ICE. "The NeoMedia platform will catalyze individual, interactive dialogue between our customers and companies in Costa Rica, strengthening customer loyalty and adding massive value to the mobile device as a marketing tool."

"The mobile industry can now deliver the solution that is at the top of every marketeer's wish list -- and provide a new revenue stream for the mobile operators," said Iain McCready, Chief Executive Officer of NeoMedia. "This solution is the real deal -- a traceable mechanism that delivers the message directly to potential customers, can evaluate feedback and capture demographic data for future use and doesn't waste one cent of the investment made in the technology."