QR codes are one of the ways a simple mobile phone can turn something into an adventure, from travelling back in time to having a good shopping experience.
How?
Let’s find out.
The lowdown for QR codes, short for Quick Response, is that they’re two dimensional barcodes that can be used as a virtual shortcut to what your’re proposing to your customers or viewers.
Originary from Japan in 1993, these little barcodes mainstreamed in 2011, and doubled in usage in 2012. According to Emarketer, those aged 18-34 have the highest awareness and usage of QR codes.
Research by Accenture, titled ”Social Media on TV,” found that 28 percent of 1,000 television viewers had interacted with a QR code, in comparison to 18 percent for a Twitter hashtag.
QR code stores are also taking off in a big way. According to online platform Shop2Mobi, 300 such virtual stores were launched in 2012, with an estimated 2000 being planned this year.
They can be used to hold URLs, contact information, business cards, videos, ads and pretty much everything digital content entails.
If you’re from the US or Australia, where 54% of males and 46% of females who had knowledge of QR codes had gone on to use one, you might have met them by now.
Even so, let’s track this splendid creature down and see what the bloke’s up to.
QR codes are fascinating and feisty creatures and their natural ecosystem varies by country and culture.
Their wild habitat is often on city buildings, pavements, bookstores, convention stands, magazines, windows, billboards, fast moving consumer goods, bus stop ads, but in the end it varies on what you intend them to do.
Here’s some examples of how QR code marketers and innovators managed to tame these majestic and wonderful creatures and transformed them into an adventure of engagement and fun.
QR code + Augmented reality = An adventure through history
In Romania’s capital, Bucharest, Chronovizor developed what they call a time travelling Augmented Reality app.
The idea was simple and effective. They imprinted on the pavement in special historic locations around Bucharest two foot prints where you can stand on, a QR code and the message ,,This QR code is a window through time”.
Scanning the QR code led you to install the app and downloading it. After the download, by using AR technology, a video filmed in the 1930s and 1940s in Bucharest would overlap with what you were seeing around you.
Where you would see normal people walking by a coffee shop in real time, you’d take a glimpse at people from 80 years ago walking in front of a shoe store.
The campaign was an innovative idea and it was the first to be introduced in the world in such a manner and it also raised awareness about QR codes.
You can view a live demonstration of how the app works [QR codes are one of the ways a simple mobile phone can turn something into an adventure, from travelling back in time to having a good shopping experience.
How?
Let’s find out.
The lowdown for QR codes, short for Quick Response, is that they’re two dimensional barcodes that can be used as a virtual shortcut to what your’re proposing to your customers or viewers.
Originary from Japan in 1993, these little barcodes mainstreamed in 2011, and doubled in usage in 2012. According to Emarketer, those aged 18-34 have the highest awareness and usage of QR codes.
Research by Accenture, titled ”Social Media on TV,” found that 28 percent of 1,000 television viewers had interacted with a QR code, in comparison to 18 percent for a Twitter hashtag.
QR code stores are also taking off in a big way. According to online platform Shop2Mobi, 300 such virtual stores were launched in 2012, with an estimated 2000 being planned this year.
They can be used to hold URLs, contact information, business cards, videos, ads and pretty much everything digital content entails.
If you’re from the US or Australia, where 54% of males and 46% of females who had knowledge of QR codes had gone on to use one, you might have met them by now.
Even so, let’s track this splendid creature down and see what the bloke’s up to.
QR codes are fascinating and feisty creatures and their natural ecosystem varies by country and culture.
Their wild habitat is often on city buildings, pavements, bookstores, convention stands, magazines, windows, billboards, fast moving consumer goods, bus stop ads, but in the end it varies on what you intend them to do.
Here’s some examples of how QR code marketers and innovators managed to tame these majestic and wonderful creatures and transformed them into an adventure of engagement and fun.
QR code + Augmented reality = An adventure through history
In Romania’s capital, Bucharest, Chronovizor developed what they call a time travelling Augmented Reality app.
The idea was simple and effective. They imprinted on the pavement in special historic locations around Bucharest two foot prints where you can stand on, a QR code and the message ,,This QR code is a window through time”.
Scanning the QR code led you to install the app and downloading it. After the download, by using AR technology, a video filmed in the 1930s and 1940s in Bucharest would overlap with what you were seeing around you.
Where you would see normal people walking by a coffee shop in real time, you’d take a glimpse at people from 80 years ago walking in front of a shoe store.
The campaign was an innovative idea and it was the first to be introduced in the world in such a manner and it also raised awareness about QR codes.
You can view a live demonstration of how the app works](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pWIgasqkGlA#!)
The genius behind their idea was that they responded to a collective emotional feeling present in Romania today. And that is the nostalgia for the 1920s – 1940s period, where Bucharest was dubbed ,,Little Paris.”
What lesson did this little AR + QR code experiment taught us?
QR codes can respond to an emotional feeling and have a lot of success with it.
Another example of QR code best practices is what Square Enix did with their PC game Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
They used QR codes in a two pronged strategy. The first step was to create a [QR codes are one of the ways a simple mobile phone can turn something into an adventure, from travelling back in time to having a good shopping experience.
How?
Let’s find out.
The lowdown for QR codes, short for Quick Response, is that they’re two dimensional barcodes that can be used as a virtual shortcut to what your’re proposing to your customers or viewers.
Originary from Japan in 1993, these little barcodes mainstreamed in 2011, and doubled in usage in 2012. According to Emarketer, those aged 18-34 have the highest awareness and usage of QR codes.
Research by Accenture, titled ”Social Media on TV,” found that 28 percent of 1,000 television viewers had interacted with a QR code, in comparison to 18 percent for a Twitter hashtag.
QR code stores are also taking off in a big way. According to online platform Shop2Mobi, 300 such virtual stores were launched in 2012, with an estimated 2000 being planned this year.
They can be used to hold URLs, contact information, business cards, videos, ads and pretty much everything digital content entails.
If you’re from the US or Australia, where 54% of males and 46% of females who had knowledge of QR codes had gone on to use one, you might have met them by now.
Even so, let’s track this splendid creature down and see what the bloke’s up to.
QR codes are fascinating and feisty creatures and their natural ecosystem varies by country and culture.
Their wild habitat is often on city buildings, pavements, bookstores, convention stands, magazines, windows, billboards, fast moving consumer goods, bus stop ads, but in the end it varies on what you intend them to do.
Here’s some examples of how QR code marketers and innovators managed to tame these majestic and wonderful creatures and transformed them into an adventure of engagement and fun.
QR code + Augmented reality = An adventure through history
In Romania’s capital, Bucharest, Chronovizor developed what they call a time travelling Augmented Reality app.
The idea was simple and effective. They imprinted on the pavement in special historic locations around Bucharest two foot prints where you can stand on, a QR code and the message ,,This QR code is a window through time”.
Scanning the QR code led you to install the app and downloading it. After the download, by using AR technology, a video filmed in the 1930s and 1940s in Bucharest would overlap with what you were seeing around you.
Where you would see normal people walking by a coffee shop in real time, you’d take a glimpse at people from 80 years ago walking in front of a shoe store.
The campaign was an innovative idea and it was the first to be introduced in the world in such a manner and it also raised awareness about QR codes.
You can view a live demonstration of how the app works [QR codes are one of the ways a simple mobile phone can turn something into an adventure, from travelling back in time to having a good shopping experience.
How?
Let’s find out.
The lowdown for QR codes, short for Quick Response, is that they’re two dimensional barcodes that can be used as a virtual shortcut to what your’re proposing to your customers or viewers.
Originary from Japan in 1993, these little barcodes mainstreamed in 2011, and doubled in usage in 2012. According to Emarketer, those aged 18-34 have the highest awareness and usage of QR codes.
Research by Accenture, titled ”Social Media on TV,” found that 28 percent of 1,000 television viewers had interacted with a QR code, in comparison to 18 percent for a Twitter hashtag.
QR code stores are also taking off in a big way. According to online platform Shop2Mobi, 300 such virtual stores were launched in 2012, with an estimated 2000 being planned this year.
They can be used to hold URLs, contact information, business cards, videos, ads and pretty much everything digital content entails.
If you’re from the US or Australia, where 54% of males and 46% of females who had knowledge of QR codes had gone on to use one, you might have met them by now.
Even so, let’s track this splendid creature down and see what the bloke’s up to.
QR codes are fascinating and feisty creatures and their natural ecosystem varies by country and culture.
Their wild habitat is often on city buildings, pavements, bookstores, convention stands, magazines, windows, billboards, fast moving consumer goods, bus stop ads, but in the end it varies on what you intend them to do.
Here’s some examples of how QR code marketers and innovators managed to tame these majestic and wonderful creatures and transformed them into an adventure of engagement and fun.
QR code + Augmented reality = An adventure through history
In Romania’s capital, Bucharest, Chronovizor developed what they call a time travelling Augmented Reality app.
The idea was simple and effective. They imprinted on the pavement in special historic locations around Bucharest two foot prints where you can stand on, a QR code and the message ,,This QR code is a window through time”.
Scanning the QR code led you to install the app and downloading it. After the download, by using AR technology, a video filmed in the 1930s and 1940s in Bucharest would overlap with what you were seeing around you.
Where you would see normal people walking by a coffee shop in real time, you’d take a glimpse at people from 80 years ago walking in front of a shoe store.
The campaign was an innovative idea and it was the first to be introduced in the world in such a manner and it also raised awareness about QR codes.
You can view a live demonstration of how the app works](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pWIgasqkGlA#!)
The genius behind their idea was that they responded to a collective emotional feeling present in Romania today. And that is the nostalgia for the 1920s – 1940s period, where Bucharest was dubbed ,,Little Paris.”
What lesson did this little AR + QR code experiment taught us?
QR codes can respond to an emotional feeling and have a lot of success with it.
Another example of QR code best practices is what Square Enix did with their PC game Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
They used QR codes in a two pronged strategy. The first step was to create a](http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/06/21/deus-ex-human-revolution-qr-missions-scavenger-hunt) over various locations both online and in the real world — in a variety of locations including marketing and public relations materials, in-store advertising, the official website and Facebook page, that offered game related products.
They achieved a lot of hype for the game and increased their visibility over and customer base.
The second step was to actually implement QR codes in the game which unlocked unlocked additional content and improved the narrative experience.
One core concept of QR codes success revolves around accessibility and an efficient call-to-action attached to it.
We can take a poster with your favorite artist giving a concert and the poster has a QR code on the right side. You scan it and it directs you to a landing page from where you can buy a ticket.
Similarly, during the 2012 London Olympics, Scanlife found that the proportion of individuals interacting with QR Codes was 36% higher than with Foursquare.
Last but not least, research shows that the average engagement post scan with click was 62%.
One trend we should see in the following year is their proliferation in multiple channels, especially in entertainment and games where customers are eager to buy content and products affiliated to it.
Although there are a lot of partisans to the idea that QR codes are dead, in reality their effectiveness relies on what you combine them with.
QR codes are not dead, they’re just often times badly approached.
By themselves, these codes are nothing more than a convoluted picture thrown on a window or billboard.
However…
Add to it an image to what the customer gets if they scan the QR code, then Bob’s your uncle and you started off on the right foot.
QR code marketing is about eye-catching propositions and visual effects.
The story goes as far as how you market them effectively and coupled with augmented reality, creative marketing, gamified experiences, product offers, social features and passion, QR codes are still a valuable resource when firing up a mobile strategy.
As awareness of QR codes increases, they can go beyond simple shortcuts and spiced with smart marketing, they can strengthen the relationship between mobile users, brands and companies.
The heart of the matter?
QR codes done smart are very much alive and kicking. They just need a little love.
What’s your take on the power of QR codes? How can they be implemented in an effective marketing strategy? Post your comments below.
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Related article and content: US Ahead of Western Europe in QR Code Usage
