Newest NCF technology predicted to have “huge impact”

BMW has teamed up with London-based tech start-up Tamoco in an attempt to revive the flagging fortunes of the print advertising sector.

Tamoco has created a new form of new field communication (NFC) tag that closely monitors the activity of readers when deployed in print media.

Although it is based partly on the old QR codes, which are still used, the technology is much more sophisticated and allows companies to track customer behaviour and leads much more accurately. Readers’ responses are tracked in a cloud-based software platform.

Since its inception two years ago, Tamoco has been developing the technology with such media giants as US-based AT&T. Event tie-ins to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology include its usage at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Its first appearance in print was in the Der Spiegel quarterly spin-off Spiegel Wissen. BMW are the first major company to back the technology through an NFC-enabled advert in the publication.

Tamoco executive chairman Sam Amrani told Growth Business the latest NFC technology breakthrough could have a “huge impact” on the future of print marketing.

“This technology is embedded into pretty much all smart phones now so almost everyone is able to interact with it,” he said. “We believe this is a great way to bridge the gap between physical and digital.

“Research shows that a large proportion of people will interact with the QR codes in magazines, but recently the interest has just started to wane as people have become fatigued with the slightly worn technology. This new adds an extra level of functionality for the customer.”