A marker is a real-world image or object you will use to reveal your blipp. For example, press pages, packaging, T-shirts, posters, business cards and album covers, etc. The opportunities are endless if you follow a few simple guidelines.
Think carefully about what to use as your marker, and within which media-types you will promote it. This is critical to the success of your blipp.
One image can be configured to unlock many different experiences and reused within different formats (for example, the same logo or image can be re-used on packaging, a T-shirt, in press pages, or on an outdoor poster); or many different images can be configured to trigger the same content experience (for example, various press ads, or product packaging variants).
Marker Requirements
- PNG or JPEG format
- Less than 0.5 MB
- Accepts RGB, not CMYK
- Between 300-800 pixels in width and height.
What makes a good marker?
The busier, more complex and unique a marker is, the better (for example, photos make great markers). Images with lots of contrast, angles and reference points for the app to recognise also work well. Markers should be as unique as possible such as photographs you have taken.
For print markers, we recommend using a full poster, flyer or press page rather than small elements or images within it. Some exceptions include:
- Large format/broadsheet publications where a whole page is too large for the user to capture within camera view on their mobile device
- Product packaging where there is one consistent image or logo on the label, enabling all variants to be recognized rather than having to configure each option separately.
An example of a good marker:
(PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE AS YOUR MARKER)
(PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE AS YOUR MARKER)
What to avoid in your marker
Lack of contrast within the image, simple shapes, and reflective or curved surfaces do not make the best markers.
Using generic icons or shapes and text will lead to a high chance of your experience not triggering or triggering an alternative experience.
A poor marker may still work, but tends not to be as instantaneous or 'sticky,' and can give your blipp a flickery, unstable effect.
For more information and examples of suitable markers view our marker guidelines (.pdf available for download at the bottom of the post)
An example of a bad marker:
(PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE AS YOUR MARKER)
(PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE AS YOUR MARKER)
Testing your markers
Always test your markers thoroughly - in the sort of environment in which it will be blipped - before committing it to print. Think about:
- How the user will be sitting or standing
- How the user will be holding the product and their phone
- Ambient light levels
Check the efficacy of your marker quickly by uploading it into blippbuilder and adding a few of our pre-populated buttons.
Marker data-tracking
The Blippar data tool tracks the performance of markers, so if you want to evaluate the ROI of each different medium or usage-type, use different markers to track each one's unique response. For example, if you use the same marker image in a press and outdoor campaign you won't be able to identify which medium has converted better for you.
Configuring different images will help with this and could even inform your media buys. For example, use different markers within various publications to test conversion rates.
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