snoopstar underlines its commitment to innovation & added value in retail in parallel with the introduction of 2D codes
snoopstar, the award-winning augmented reality technology for brands, becomes a Solution Partner of GS1, the leading organisation for the development and implementation of global standards in the supply chain. The partnership coincides with the 50th anniversary of the barcode and its gradual replacement by 2D codes with the GS1 Digital Link, an innovative solution to improve product communication and the customer experience.
For 50 years, the barcode has played a crucial role in identifying and tracking products. More than 6 billion times a day, products are connected to the digital world via scanning at the checkout. Now GS1, in close collaboration with industry and retailers, has announced the evolution of the barcode into 2D codes. With the aim of creating more information and transparency at all levels, consumers will in future be able to access product details, instructions, sustainability information, product ratings and much more in combination with the new “GS1 Digital Link”. As a Solution Partner of GS1 Switzerland, snoopstar will actively shape the future of product communication and further expand its leading position in the industry.
“We are proud to be a Solution Partner of GS1,” says Thilo Reichert, CGO of snoopstar. “This partnership underlines our commitment to innovation and added value in retail. Together with GS1 and its partners, we will work to establish new standards and solutions for product communication to improve the customer experience and strengthen brands. We look forward to bringing our expertise on a global scale and making our AR technology available to even more brands so they can achieve maximum impact with minimal effort – and use every package circulated in the millions as a new marketing channel.”
With its designation as a GS1 Solution Partner and the accompanying promise to further implement GS1 standards, snoopstar is positioning itself as a central contact for a new dimension of the Customer & Brand Experience. Klaus Finken, founder and managing partner of snoopstar together with his brother Chris Finken:
“The introduction of the GS1 Digital Link opens up completely new possibilities for companies to present their products and values and interact with their customers. With our snoopstar technology, we have been pursuing a similar approach since 2019. Using augmented reality, we are building a unique bridge between analogue and digital communication channels. In this way, we not only enable additional digital information directly on the product, but also create interactive brand experiences that inspire visually and emotionally.”
“It’s about more information, inspiration and interaction in print as well,” adds Chris Finken. “Brands decide themselves which digital content they present on the product. Many are already using our AR technology to connect their printed snoopstar physical products (such as packaging) with digital information (such as videos and websites) via augmented reality. This works via app recognition or – most simply – via a so-called “snoopcode”. Users can scan the code on products, labels or packaging and access attractive multimedia content with their smartphone. In this way, every analogue touchpoint becomes a multitude of digital touchpoints. Every package available in millions in the retail trade, optionally every bottle or even every beer mat, becomes a new multimedia marketing channel with enormous reach. The AR experience only needs to be set up once for each product or product line and can be flexibly adapted to regions or promotions at any time.
Agencies and companies can design the augmented reality experiences themselves at low cost. As a licensing partner of snoopstar, they use a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that gives them access to a modular system. Klaus Finken:
“In the coming years, brands worldwide will add the new GS1 2D code with Digital Link to their product packaging. It is high time to become active now and think about how you want to present yourself as a brand in multimedia terms – and whether you are also betting on the megatrend of augmented reality with snoopstar at the same time. Because AR opens up particularly attractive possibilities to enrich the customer experience and offers completely new ways of – measurable – interaction between brand, consumer and consumer. With a CPM and reach that no other marketing channel can match.”
About snoopstar – Activating Brand Stories
snoopstar is the award-winning augmented reality technology for brands. We connect the printed, analogue world with the augmented, digital world and turn every print product into an interactive experience. With the snoopstar app, users can experience digital content on their mobile phone display by pointing the camera at a target object and clicking on relevant information in a targeted way. Without the app, the augmented reality experience can be accessed by code.
www.snoopstar.com / www.gs1.ch
