Variable Bar Code Coupon [ Edited ]

[MichaelM375]

I have a client that would like us to create a campaign for them that would include a coupon containing a bar code unique to each user.  Our client would like the bar code to contain the unique player ID# and a variable dollar amount.  Anyone have an idea how to do this?  The easiest way would be to treat it as a font, but unfortunately CC does not have that option.  Thanks for any brilliant ideas out there!

[MichaelM375]

Doh!  Nevermind . . . it wouldn't do any good to send an email with a variable data barcode on it anyway.  If the recipients doesn't have that particular bar code font installed on thier computer (which would be like noone), the code would render as plain text.  So, now my task it to figure a way to imbed a bunch of variable images dynamically from a database.

[Cutty__Powers]

Michael:

Coupons are a huge part of the campaigns we work on. Just curious on what kind of business this is that wants the "variable" coupon and what there reasoning is.

Getting square pegs to fit in round holes always interests me!

Jim

[MichaelM375]

It is a casino.  Casinos are very big in giving their players "comps" based on their level of play.  So we would generate coupons with variables such as player ID, coupon amount, etc. that would then either 1) be redeemed at the players club desk; or 2) in some cases, inserted directly into a slot machine.  In any event, I have to now find a means to import the bar codes as variable images as trying to do it with a font will not work.  Thanks for you interest!

[Clique_Marketing Trusted Contributer]

Michael,

The barcode might be easy to integrate with a POS system but as you may have discovered not something that CTCT supports. I don't think you'll be able to use CTCT for your custom insertion.

It might not be the product you need for your application.  You can certainly fill a custom field with text or a numerical value but inserting a src=to be placed into the actual HTML may not be possible.

Its rather easy to insert a unique numerical value into a custom field.  Would that be a workable solution in place of the images?

Tony Schaefer
Constant Contact Solution Provider and SMS Marketing Specialist
www.cliquemarketing.biz

[MichaelM375]

Tony,

Thank you for your response.

What I'm going to try next is inserting, as a custom text field, a URL with a query string such as http://mydomain.com/barcode?id=1234 that a user can click.  That, in turn, will redirect to my web server which will generate a unique bar code image on a landing page that the user would print and present for redemption.  Using the URL plus query string as a custom text field works - I tested it yesterday. 

My challenge today is to build the rendering engine on my web server to create the variable image.

What do you think of that idea?

[MichaelM375 · Accepted solution]

Finally had time to resolve this.  I created javascript that will take an alpha- numeric value and render it as a Code39 image on a web page.  Therefore, end users will not need a barcode font installed.

[edwardh540]

Although you have solved your problem, I think maybe there is another better way to solve your problem. Actually, you can generate barcode coupon in Excel spreedsheet, which would generate barcode based on the information on other columns.

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Tagged: Barcode

[MichaelM375]

@edward540

I understand the idea of including it as a field in an Excel spreadsheet.  However, CC does not have a rendering engine that would translate it into a barcode image in an email.