This partnership aligns Scanbuy’s ScanLife mobile bar code technology that allows users to capture a 2D bar code via their camera phones, and Zavers. Zavers is Zave Network’s incentive network that replaces paper coupons and instead digitally links consumers, manufacturers and retailers.

Together, ScanLife and Zavers will make it easier for consumers to find coupons, save them to their Zavers account and redeem them at participating retailers.

Mobile Marketer editorial assistant Jordan Crook interviewed Thad Langford, president/CEO of Zave Networks, Kansas City, KS. Here is what he had to say:

What is the strategy behind this partnership?
The Zave Networks/Scanbuy partnership is an extension and combination of both companies’ strategies.

This is a continuation of Zave Networks’ strategy of making promotions easier to find and use by consumers and enhancing measurability for retailers and manufacturers.

In addition, it is a continuation of Scanbuy’s strategy of using the camera phone as the link between the physical world and the digital world.

With this partnership, retailers and manufacturers can put a 2D barcode representing a coupon within physical advertising, and the consumer can easily save that coupon to their Zavers account by taking a picture of it with their camera phone. In real-time, the retailer or manufacturer will be able to see when that coupon is saved, and whether it is leading to sales at retail.

What challenges does it address and for whom?
The Zave Networks and Scanbuy partnership addresses challenges for all stakeholders —manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

For manufacturers, it addresses the lack of measurement they receive from current coupons and provides a way for consumers to engage with their advertising.

For retailers, the partnership provides an important enhancement to consumer loyalty programs, an ability to offer store-specific campaigns, and operational efficiencies in the process of redeeming and settling coupons.

For consumers, the combination of Scanbuy’s Scanlife application and the Zave Networks’ platform provides an easy, environmentally-friendly way to find, save and redeem offers without the hassle of paper coupons.

How is this different from previous mobile campaigns?
The Scanbuy and Zave Networks partnership provides an opportunity for a consumer to engage with a brand’s advertising through the convenience of a mobile phone and receive value in return.

Using the Zave Networks’ platform, coupons are redeemed easily by swiping an existing loyalty card at the cash register, a process that consumers are already familiar and comfortable with.

Manufacturers receive measurable results well beyond clicks and views, to know whether their campaign is working to drive sales at retail. In addition, retailers can use the partnership to design and implement retailer-specific campaigns and enhance loyalty programs for their customers.

Why mobile?
Mobile coupons are attractive to manufacturers and consumers because they can be discovered anywhere and anytime, on the consumer’s terms.

This is an especially important benefit when it is used in store. Using the Scanlife application, manufacturers will be able to include 2D barcodes representing offers in point of sale advertising materials — effectively reaching consumers at the point of decision.

Consumers will be able to get valuable offers as they are trying to make their decision, and using the Zave Networks platform, are able to save and use a coupon in the same store visit.

In addition, mobile allows manufacturers and retailers to communicate with a difficult to reach, but attractive, demographic of consumers who are open to using their mobile device this way. 

Where do you see mobile taking us in the future?
Beyond current functionality, mobile will continue to grow and become an increasingly important aspect of the digital promotions experience.

Innovation will continue in all aspects of the consumer’s experience, enabling benefits such as delivering offers to the mobile phone as the consumer enters the store, presentation of offers as part of mobile search results and location-based services, and use of the mobile device as an identification method at the point of sale.