"One piece of plastic to rule them all" is how marketing startup SnowShoe bills its impressive stamp collection. And we're not talking postage stamps here. These are small ink-less stamps that interface directly with smartphone touch screens to deliver information. The user presses the stamp against the screen and the mobile browser will be triggered to deliver whatever marketing interaction that is embedded within the stamp.
The company explains:
No RFID. No NFC. No beacons. Definitely no QR codes. Just clever plastic!
The stamps themselves mimic fingerprints, creating a short of unique Braille that identifies specific actions through customizable and non-repeatable patterns. It's like having dozens of fingers hitting the display in just the right way, which can then be moved around so that only one action could be called for with a particular configuration.
By providing an agnostic way to interact with the smartphone, the startup has created a physical marketing device that can be brand-customized and conversion-rich. There's also no battery so the timeframe is infinite as far as usefulness.
SnowShoes would be perfect tradeshow handouts, eliminating paper in favor of digital interactions. Tour companies could place information on a digital brochure and then simply hand these out to interested parties, who may be more inclined to convert within a multimedia rich environment.
Hotels could place these in-room to deliver local activity information or other marketing promotions on demand. These would be far less intrusive than beacons everywhere and since SnowShoe requires no native app download, it's accessible to everyone.
The startup recently closed a $3.5 million round to expand the platform further, which has already triggered the interest of 3,500 developers.
This is yet another example of how infusing tech into real-world objects can drive immense marketing potential — especially in a visually-rich industry such as travel.
Read more about the new product here.