<b>Battling the Down Economy:</b> With one click, technology takes tags to a virtual level

Bailey Nurseries in Newport, Minn., is not afraid to lead the charge when it comes to new technology. This year, the grower included something new in all of its advertisements in consumer magazines. The strange-looking box filled with squares isn’t a puzzle or the latest game craze. It’s a 2-D tag, or mobile tag, and it’s the portal to a wealth of information for consumers.

This futuristic-looking barcode is a link to an online experience, accessed through a mobile device. When a tag is scanned or photographed, it takes the consumer directly to a specified website. In the case of Bailey Nurseries, the consumer is taken to the Endless Summer website.

“It’s a useful tool with a lot of potential,” said Jonathan Pedersen, brand and development manager at Bailey Nursery. “We’ve been doing consumer focus groups across the country for the last few weeks, and at least one or two people in each group know what the mobile tag is. The rest were at least intrigued by it.”

To access a mobile tag requires a user to download a software application to a smart phone.

“This type of technology is aimed at younger consumers, and it’s still in its infancy,” Pedersen said.

Bailey used the tag on consumer magazine ads and on point-of-purchase materials in 2010. The icon in the ads took the consumer directly to the Endless Summer site where she could find the nearest garden center that carried the Bailey hydrangeas. The icons on the POP provide customers with cultural information, including how to change the flowers from pink to blue or overwintering advice, Pedersen said.

“It has some great applications. Once we get our database built up, we can use it for more information such as companion plants,” he said.

The customer service applications are numerous, and they applicable to the entire industry.

“Growers could use a mobile tag to direct customers to a two-minute video on how to plant a tree,” Pedersen said.

In 2011, all Endless Summer tags will include a mobile tag.

The mobile tags go far beyond being a cool gadget that creates buzz with consumers. The 2-D tag allows Pedersen to track the clicks and website visitors generated by the icon.

Pedersen advises growers interested in using this technology to make sure the site tied to the icon is easy to view on a mobile device.