Queue It Up

The used-car industry isn't synonymous with technological innovation, yet admitted techie Jacob Madden still plans to motor ahead with big plans.

A computer engineer with the bulk of his experience in robotics, Madden seeks to import the fast-growing mobile phone marketing field to the world of used cars. “It's a not a traditional techie area to sell a techie product,” says Madden. “But we see this as a tool to sell more vehicles.”

Madden, 30, will rely on that theory to grow CogPower Automotive Solutions into a niche player in the billion-dollar used-car industry. His method is through QR codes, an advanced version of the ubiquitous UPC barcodes placed on thousands of products. QR stands for quick response. It is a two-dimensional matrix of lines and patterns that direct users to Web pages with information.

While the technology is used today on a multitude of products, from magazines ads to beer, it was actually first used in the auto industry, going back to the early 1990s. “It was slow to take off,” says Madden, but “QR codes are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.”

Madden hopes to quickly ride that popularity to a scalable business. A Sarasota native, Madden launched CogPower Automotive earlier this year. It's a division of CogPower, a Web development firm Madden founded in 2011, after his career centered mostly on startup robotic engineering firms in California.

CogPower Automotive is where Madden projects the most growth. In fact, he says if CogPower Automotive meets its goal to penetrate even 1% of the nationwide market — 200 used-car dealerships — it will reach $1.5 million in sales. The company will charge fees to dealers for each QR code it sets up and then maintains. “I expect to start seeing strong traction,” by the third and fourth quarter, Madden says.

Madden intends to reach out quickly to dealers because he thinks full-service marketing firms will soon catch on to the trend. “We're not a comprehensive marketing solution,” says Madden. “We don't want to be that kind of company.”

Madden, instead, wants to keep the process simple. A dealer who signs up for the service will get a batch of QR codes. Each code matches a specific car on the lot. The dealer sticks the code to the car, usually in the front windshield.

After that, a potential customer can scan the code into a smart phone, which will take the user to the car's QR code Web page. The Web page has the car's pertinent data, from prices and pictures to a Carfax report. Madden's firm handles the software side of the QR code. The firm maintains the code based on data it receives from the dealer.

Madden says by providing the software behind the QR code, he allows a dealer to set up a 24-hour salesperson. So when a customer comes by, say after hours or on Sunday, he or she can still access information about a vehicle.

Madden has so far signed up three local dealerships to a test run of the system, including Wilde Jaguar and Wilde Lexus in Sarasota. Madden's father, Jeff Madden, is an Internet sales manager with Wilde Jaguar, which gave the firm a head start.

Madden, however, is confident the company can expand out of Sarasota soon. He recently hired two independent salespeople to reach out to dealers. He also generated buzz about CogPower Automotive with a booth at the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual convention in Las Vegas in February.

“Going local is good confirmation to the business model,” says Madden. “But in reality nothing stops us from being in every market.”

THINK FAST
With goofy-looking black squares on a white background, QR codes might seem like something only tech-savvy programmers can assemble.

But the technology, at least for simple tasks, is relatively easy for any business to incorporate into its marketing strategy. Anyone with a mobile phone that has a QR code reader application can immediately access a trove of data on the website where the code shuttles users. The applications are usually free.

Several websites have step-by-step instructions of how to set up the codes, both on the front end, and what a user will see in the code.

One trendy aspect of QR codes these days is to add the codes to a business card. So, when someone hands out a business card at an event, say a Realtor, the QR code can take a recipient of the card to the Realtor's website, with contact information and current listings.