Blippar gives users the ability to transform their world by injecting life into various everyday objects. Simply by pointing the camera on your smart device towards recognised visual 'markers’ you can open an interactive realm featuring unique experiences such as offers, entertainment and animations. These markers can be anything from print to actual objects which reward Blippar uses with an instant surprise.

London based Blippar launched in 2011 by a team of entrepreneurs with the aim of creating a platform for media and brand owners. The somewhat revolutionary app allows, theoretically, for an interactive advertising experience from a number of different brands and products through the single lens of the camera phone. The speed of image recognition is what CEO and Founding Director Ambarish Mitra feels stands Blippar apart from competitors, describing the experience as looking through a ‘magic lens’. Blippar also allows media and brand owners to monitor how users are engaging with their advertising by providing them with real time data, a function which has been enabled purely through Blippar.

The Blippar experience is a form of advertising which relies on the consumer for their initial input. It is therefore important that customers can give productive feedback which can mould and shape the growth of the app and the way in which media and brand owners use the app. Blippar of course realise this crucial aspect and have explained that the app must follow the needs of the consumer and not vice versa.

Smartphone ownership is the fastest growing global technology trend, a fact which carries huge implications for those working within the field. Blippar have teamed up with big names such as Tesco, Cadbury and Eurostar, thus propelling Blippar as a brand in itself.

Initially founded by Ambarish Mitra and Omar Tayeb, the idea came when playing with the image of the Queen on a twenty pound note in a pub. The company has now experienced a huge amount of growth, gaining over 350,000 users in 5 months and earning Omar Tayeb Young Innovator of the Year at The Guardian’s Digital Innovation Awards. He explains, “The last nine months have been fantastic for Blippar and we’ve got a load of improvements to our technology coming down the pipe soon, so hopefully the rest of 2012 will be even more exciting”. We can’t wait.

Mitra states that exhibiting at CES was the first initiative of entering the US market which allowed them to create a platform to leading brands in the States. He also believes that the key ingredient to a successful campaign is providing the customer with exactly what they want whilst simultaneously pushing brands to communicate with the customer on exactly what content is ‘blippable’. Mitra’s favourite ‘blipp’ comes from Heinz Tomato Ketchup which transforms a ketchup bottle into a recipe book and gives customers the opportunity to win daily prizes. He wants to make Blippar something routine, something that can become an everyday habit rather than a strange concept.

Earlier this year Blippar received seed funding from Qualcomm Ventures, the size of the investment was not disclosed.