Ever had trouble deciding which product is right for you when faced with an aisle of options? Herbal Essences discovered this dilemma was a purchase barrier for potential customers, so as part of its recent brand relaunch, the company created an innovative campaign that helps answer the question, “Which Herbal product is right for my hair?”

At more than 53,000 retail stores across North America, Herbal products have a “shelf talker” highlighting the key benefit of each product line. Even better, the display includes a Microsoft Tag. Shoppers can use their smartphones right at the shelf to scan the Tag and visit Herbal’s mobile site, which provides full product details, along with user reviews, quizzes, and hair tips. The mobile site can even be toggled to Spanish for Hispanic customers.

What do you think about Herbal’s approach? Could Tag (and a mobile phone) be the ultimate shopping companion? Let us know on Tag’s Facebook or Twitter pages.

At the start of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, USA Today launched its Mobile Hoopla contest which let fans scan a Tag from the Sports section and build a bracket on their mobile phone. After completing their bracket, fans were automatically entered into a national contest with a chance to win an XBOX 360 console with Kinect. At the end of the tournament, the top 5 players who made the most accurate picks by the end of the NCAA Tournament will win!

Fans also had the ability to match their brackets against their Facebook and Twitter friends, creating personalized leaderboards to track each other's progress.

Even if you didn't get a chance to build a bracket, you can still scan the Tag to view real time game scores and get insights from USA Today's Sports page. Scan the Tag or visit mobilehoopla.usatoday.com on your phone to get in on the Mobile Hoopla!