- ComQi’s Passport platform won an award for In-Store Engagement at the 2013 Shopper Innovation Awards. The Passport application allows users to use their smartphone to control content on a digital signage screen to play games, select videos on demand, get money-off coupons and link to their Facebook and Twitter feeds. The product has been deployed in cinemas and fast food outlets in the US and Israel. The Shopper Innovation awards are an annual event presented by Strategy - an industry body for Canada's marketing community.
- The award stated: ComQi issues a Passport for digital play - ComQi's Passport was created to bridge the virtual and physical retail environments by allowing consumers to interact with content and messaging on digital screens using their smartphone. Content on the screen is paired with a unique QR code, which users can scan to access product information, coupons, loyalty programs and interactive gaming. It can also incorporate social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, so that consumers can share their experiences with friends. Consumers have access to way-finding information, "what's on" listings and specific offers, with some companies also integrating queue management, reservations and ticket purchasing systems. The Passport differentiates itself from other mobile-focused applications in that it uses HTML5 technology to allow rich web-based apps to run on any device, therefore consumers never need to install an application on their phone.
- "We are very pleased to have won this Shopper Innovation award for Passport - especially as it was given to us by Canada's marketing community and Passport was developed in Canada. Passport allows retailers and other venues to integrate all digital customer touch-points within a venue into a single solution. This platform closes the loop between online and offline by identifying and targeting customers to give them a personalized experience using a combination of digital signage, music, mobile, touch, social and the web," said Ajay Chowdhury, ComQi's CEO.
- Passport was deployed in August 2012 and has now won two awards for excellence in the Digital Signage Industry. The first award was from the Digi Awards, winning the Best New Content Management Software, Web-based, in Digital Signage Technology.
