Article 8: "They Know What You Eat." Smart Business, January 1, 2001

IT issue or application of interest: Source data automation-Codes on products

Why it’s important: Automation is important to a business because the codes on products lead to more efficient marketing.

What did I learn: Frank Everett, president and CEO of Reach Marketing describes “the Code” that is linked to a specific product.  Each individual product a consumer purchases could eventually have a code that assists researchers in identifying consumers.  Researchers could eventually know who buys what products, how often, how they paid, and any other relevant information needed to assist marketing of a product.  Everett states that most packaged-goods companies already have some type of system in use to assist their marketing department.  The Code that Reach Marketing developed uses either an alphanumeric sequence or auto-identifier microchips.  Future technology breakthroughs may enable merchandisers to code all consumer goods.  Kevin Ashton, executive director of the Auto-ID explains that the future advances in this area are so large that it is hard for people to believe.