Summary: The bar code, invented 60 years ago by Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, currently is all the rage in marketing. Thanks to their first patent filed Oct. 20, 1949 under “Classifying Apparatus and Method,” retailers can speak a novel language to customers.
Microsoft’s Tag bar code is the version Jones Apparel employs in their fall Rachel Roy campaign. Consumers can hear model Jessica Stam chatting up her fashion involvement via mobile-activated hang tags through an online video.
According to Stacy Lastrina, CMO for Jones Apparel, it will include “fashion tips, product information, and the back story on the line’s creation.”
The Gap already is a scan ahead, using the bar code in a direct mailer for their Gap 1969 Premium Jeans.