World’s first NFC Murder Mystery Event

June 24, 2011 by Leave a comment

NFC Forensics

Yesterday evening a number of the Hypertag team had the pleasure of hosting the world’s first NFC Murder Mystery Game at Norfolk Network’s birthday event. The game was a huge success, encouraging delegates to interact with both the technology and each other. We wanted to do something different, and showcase how NFC can not only be an effective advertising and payment tool, but also incredibly fun.

Over 100 people at the event participated in the game. Delegates teamed up to take on the challenge, and each team was given a Nokia C7 as their ‘forensic tool’ for hunting out clues. Clues were hidden around the venue and the teams followed the trail, tapping items with embedded NFC tags to hunt out more information. They could revisit clues as often as needed to mull over the finer details of the mystery. Once they’d got an idea of the culprit, they returned to the start of the trail and accuse their suspect by tapping the phone to a Smartposter.

Murder Mystery Poster

The game was made more complex by the fact that some clues, when tapped, offered participants a choice of three pieces of evidence. They could choose to view any of the three but, once a choice had been made, they could no longer view the other two options. This increased the variety of clues between teams by giving them different pieces of information on which to base their final guess.

Participants said that the game was a ‘superb showcase [of the] technology’ and ’really enjoyable’ and many of the business delegates could see how NFC could help them reach the consumer in both a fun and effective way. NFC truly is the technology of tomorrow and we hope our Murder Mystery game has helped showcase just how far-reaching and adaptable NFC solutions can be.

Watch this space for more NFC fun! If you’d like to know more about what NFC can do for events, let us know. Likewise, if you’ve got a brilliant idea on how to use NFC and want to see it become a reality, get in touch.

Filed under First of its kind, NFC

Proxama’s CEO talks to Marketing Week

June 22, 2011 by Leave a comment

There’s been much rumour and conversation since last week’s announcement that network operators O2, Everything Everywhere and Vodafone are teaming together to provide a standardised mobile payment platform. Neil Garner, our CEO, spoke to Marketing Week, outlining what needs to be done next if brands and agencies are to grab hold of the many advantages of NFC. And since Sony Ericsson announced that the Xperia Play will be getting NFC soon, the technology is being discussed even more. Not only is it being seen as a payment solution, but also as an enhancement to gaming, socialising, and advertising. Today’s news that MasterCard’s James Anderson (Group Head and Senior Vice President for Mobile Product Development) has been appointed Vice Chairman of the NFC Forum is another exciting development in the world of NFC.

These have been the big stories. But we like to let you know about the latest, less publicised news, as well. So we’ve compiled our top five little-known facts of the last week.

Filed under Mobile Payments, NFC Marketing and Advertising, NFC Technology

Leading operators to bring m-payments to the masses

June 16, 2011 by Leave a comment

With today’s announcement that the UK’s leading network operators are cooperating on NFC, the technology going even further this year than some experts would have guessed. The venture between Vodafone, Everything Everywhere and O2 could mean a lot to businesses and consumers alike, including increased contactless infrastructure, large numbers of NFC phones on the market and greater research into how NFC really can transform our daily lives.

The collaboration will bring an end to any disparate outlooks among operators, and bring the consumer even closer to being able to pay for travel on their mobile, and purchase that morning coffee with a  single touch. Not only that, but in the future, users could use their phone to access their office, exhibitions and even their own home. Vodafone UK’s Chief Exec, Guy Laurence has said that in the mid term ‘their [consumers'] keys may also be integrated into their mobile phone… as a digital access card’.

This is certainly very exciting news for the industry and fantastic that operators are beginning to ramp up their NFC efforts. Proxama have been working on the technology since 2005 – so only six years too early! But now with a number of years’ experience, we’re looking forward to what happens next!

Filed under Mobile Payments

NFC hits the mainstream

June 3, 2011 by 2 Comments

NFC is really starting to hit mainstream marketing and advertising. With the launch of the UK’s first NFC advertising campaign, and the interest we saw at Screen Media Expo in marrying existing DOOH with groundbreaking NFC technology, marketeers are about to bring a whole new experience to the brand and the consumer.

The first few months of this year have seen a number of exciting developments in NFC; evidence that 2012 is turning into the breakthrough year for NFC that market leaders predicted.

 

When CEO Neil Garner spoke at last month’s Screen Media Expo on DOOH, advertisers were interested to see the advantages that NFC can bring to traditional screen advertising. Past experiments in interactive advertising, including the Lynx Excite: Angel Ambush showcasing augmented reality, are a clear demonstration of how consumers react more positively and have a more memorable experience when advertising encourages interactivity. Augmented reality is just the start, however. NFC can allow for the consumer to take this interactive experience away with them, in the form of vouchers, coupons, videos, information and more. NFC means that the advert can reach further than its geographical location because consumers can share it with friends and social media sites. It also allows brands and agencies to monitor participation with the promotion, allowing for continuous improvement across subsequent campaigns.

 

X-Men CampaignProxama launched the UK’s first NFC advertising campaign in May, with collaborators Posterscope and JCDecaux. This campaign allowed for the end-user to interact with posters for the eagerly anticipated X-Men: First Class film, accessing exclusive video footage and having the option to ‘Like’ the film on Facebook, increasing awareness of the film amongst their peers. The NFC tags used on the posters were compatible with every NFC phone and included optimised mobile content, so the campaign allowed for maximum impact.

 

And it’s not just NFC proximity marketing that’s creating a stir. With Barclaycard and Everything Everywhere, Google and even more big-name brands releasing news of future mobile wallets, m-payments look set to become a reality very shortly. Proxama and Tuxedo’s wallet can already be used in outlets with contactless infrastructure nationwide, including Caffe Nero, Subway and, more recently, McDonalds. The photo below shows our Chief Exec ordering a Big Mac meal quickly and simply, using our mobile wallet.

Mobile Wallet at McDonalds

Filed under First of its kind, NFC

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